Why It Matters
Google has fundamentally changed how it ranks websites. Here's what your developer should have told you.
Timeline of Changes
Google Core Update
The biggest algorithm update in years. Google deindexed hundreds of low-quality sites overnight. Sites that were ranking for years suddenly disappeared from search results.
Mobile-First Indexing Complete
Google now exclusively uses the mobile version of your site for indexing and ranking. If your mobile site is slow, broken, or missing content — that's the only version Google sees.
AI Overviews Go Global
Google's AI now answers questions directly in search results. Fewer people click through to websites. The traffic you do get is worth more — and harder to earn.
Core Web Vitals as Hard Ranking Signal
LCP, CLS, and INP aren't suggestions — they're ranking factors. Sites that fail these metrics are actively penalized in search results.
The Incentive Problem
What your developer should have told you
Most web developers charge in one of two ways: per page, or per month.
Per page means more pages = more money. There\'s zero incentive to consolidate content, improve existing pages, or delete pages that aren't performing. Your 40-page site might only need 8 pages — but nobody\'s going to tell you that when they charge per page.
Per month means the check comes whether the site works or not. If your site hasn\'t improved in 6 months, ask yourself: what exactly are you paying for?
A good developer should be proactively showing you Core Web Vitals scores, Google Search Console data, and PageSpeed reports. If they\'re not — it\'s not because they don\'t know. It\'s because the numbers would raise questions they don\'t want to answer.