It starts with a tweet.

“🚨 Big ranking fluctuations today. Anyone seeing this?”

You gulp your coffee. You check your analytics. Your top-performing blog post just dropped 17 spots overnight. The page that took you two weeks to write? Now buried under a Reddit thread and a Pinterest board from 2014.

And just like that, you’re spiraling.

Welcome to the rollercoaster of Google updates — where your self-worth is tightly coupled to a search algorithm you don’t control.

The Symptoms of an Algorithm Update

• Sudden spike in panic Googling: “google core update april 2025 site tanked”

• Compulsive refreshing of Search Console, even though you know it updates once a day

• Texting other SEOs: “Are your rankings weird or is it just me?”

• Bargaining: “Maybe if I update all the H1 tags right now, Google will forgive me.”

Why It Feels Like an Existential Crisis

You did everything right.
You followed the guidelines. You avoided shortcuts. You even fixed those canonical tag issues no one else noticed. And now you’re being punished — or worse, ignored.

There are no clear answers.
Google never says, “Here’s why your traffic tanked.” You get vague advice like “focus on helpful content” while a scraper site outranks you.

Your income might literally depend on it.
If you’re an SEO freelancer, consultant, or agency, a core update can feel like a coin toss on your rent.

It’s not just your site. It’s your identity.
You’ve tied your skill, value, and reputation to results. So when those tank, it’s not just your rankings that take a hit.

What You Can Actually Do (Instead of Screaming)

Wait. Seriously. Just Wait.
Google updates roll out over weeks. Don’t start dismantling your site on Day 2. Let the dust settle before making any big changes.

Audit, but Don’t Panic
Run your usual checks:

• Did traffic drop across the board or just for certain pages?

• Is it affecting all your clients or just one niche?

• Any changes to site speed, indexation, or crawl errors?

You might spot something fixable — or you might just confirm it’s a Google thing, not a you thing.

Talk to Other SEOs
This is the time to lean on the community. Reddit, Twitter/X, private Slack groups — you’ll feel 10x better knowing others are in the same boat. Misery does love company, after all.

Use It as a Teaching Moment
Clients will ask, “What’s going on?” Be ready with a calm, educated response:

“Google just rolled out a broad core update. These usually affect rankings temporarily while the algorithm reevaluates content quality across the web. We’re monitoring performance and adjusting as needed.”

You sound calm. You sound competent. You didn’t even flinch.

Get Some Fresh Air
Seriously. Go outside. Touch a tree. Drink something other than coffee. Remind yourself you are not your traffic graph.

The Truth About Updates

Google doesn’t hate you. It doesn’t even know you exist. It’s trying (and often failing) to reward the most useful content. And yeah, sometimes good sites get hit. Sometimes bad ones win.

But SEO is a long game. What matters most isn’t what happens the day of the update — it’s what you do afterward.

So take a breath. Pour another cup of coffee. And maybe give that Reddit thread a read.

You’ll be okay.