The Medic update, also known as the August 1st, 2018 Google algorithm update, caused significant changes in search engine rankings for websites in the health and wellness industry. This update affected websites that offer medical advice, alternative medicine, and healthcare-related products and services. This update was designed to ensure that search results provide users with accurate and trustworthy information, particularly in the health and wellness industry.

Understanding the Medic Update

The Medic update was not just about medical websites; it was also about the quality and expertise of website content. The update focused on website E-A-T, which stands for Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness. Google was looking for websites that provided authoritative content, written by experts in their field, and that were trustworthy sources of information. This update aimed to address the problem of unverified information and fake news on the internet.

The Medic update had a significant impact on websites that were not compliant with Google’s E-A-T standards. Many websites experienced a drop in traffic and rankings, and some even lost their rankings completely. The update affected both small and large websites, and even websites that had previously enjoyed top rankings in Google search results.

Optimizing for the Medic Update

If you are running a website in the health and wellness industry or any website that provides advice or information, it’s essential to optimize your website for the Medic update. Here are some tips to optimize your website for the Medic update:

1. Focus on Expertise

Ensure that your website content is written by experts in your field. Your content should demonstrate your knowledge and expertise in your industry. You can achieve this by having a team of experts in your industry write your website content, or by outsourcing your content writing to professionals who have experience writing in your industry.

2. Increase Authority

One of the ways to increase your website’s authority is by building high-quality backlinks. Backlinks are links from other websites to your website. The more high-quality backlinks your website has, the more authoritative your website becomes. You can increase your website’s authority by creating high-quality content that other websites will want to link to, and by building relationships with other websites in your industry.

3. Enhance Trustworthiness

One of the ways to enhance your website’s trustworthiness is by ensuring that your website has a secure connection (HTTPS). You can also increase your website’s trustworthiness by having a clear and transparent privacy policy, and by ensuring that your website content is accurate, up-to-date, and verifiable. Additionally, you can include testimonials and reviews from satisfied customers to enhance your website’s trustworthiness.

4. Improve User Experience

The Medic update emphasized the importance of providing a positive user experience for website visitors. You can improve your website’s user experience by ensuring that your website is mobile-friendly, has a fast loading speed, and is easy to navigate. Additionally, you can use schema markup to provide additional information about your website’s content to Google and enhance the user experience.

5. Focus on Local SEO

If you are running a local business, it’s essential to focus on local SEO. You can do this by creating a Google My Business profile, optimizing your website for local keywords, and building local citations. Local SEO can help your website appear in Google’s local search results, which can increase your website’s visibility and attract more customers.