Should You React to a Google Update or Wait It Out?

This has been written after a chat with a client who was panicing that Google had reduced the number of pages of their site that they showed as “indexed”, hopefully, by the end of the article you will understand a little more about the reasons and what to do.

If you run a small business website, you’ve probably heard about Google updates. Maybe you’ve even panicked a bit when one dropped. One day, everything looks normal. Then the next, you notice Google has indexed more (or fewer) of your pages—but the number of clicks from search results hasn’t changed. So… should you do something? Or should you just wait and see what happens?

Let’s break it down in a friendly, no-jargon way, and talk about what you can do when Google makes changes—and your site starts acting a little odd.

What Even Is a Google Update?

Google updates its search system all the time. Most of these updates are small and no one notices. But now and then, there’s a big one—what people call a “core update.” These are like full-on system rewires where Google changes how it decides which websites should show up first when someone searches.

Sometimes Google is trying to clean up spam, improve search quality, or give people better answers. Other times, they change how they look at things like page experience, backlinks, or helpful content.

What Happens After an Update?

For some businesses, it’s all good. Rankings go up, more people visit their site, and life’s great. But for others, it can feel like a mini disaster. Pages disappear from the top search results, or your site looks like it’s being ignored by Google.

But here’s the weird bit: sometimes the number of people clicking through from Google (your search traffic) doesn’t change—but the number of pages indexed by Google does. That’s confusing, right?

Wait, What’s Indexing?

When we talk about pages being “indexed,” we mean Google has added them to its library. If a page isn’t indexed, it’s like it doesn’t exist in Google’s world. People can’t find it through search, even if it’s live on your site.

So, when the number of indexed pages goes up or down after an update—but your search clicks stay the same—it’s like Google’s quietly rearranged your bookshelf, but hasn’t taken or added any readers just yet.

Should You Panic When Indexed Pages Change?

Nope. Not right away. Here’s why: Google updates don’t always settle instantly. They can roll out over days or even weeks. And during that time, things can look messy. Pages come and go from the index, rankings bounce around, and the data in Google Search Console might not match up with what you expect.

Sometimes, Google even “tests” changes on live sites. You might lose a bunch of pages from the index on Monday, then see them come back on Thursday.

What If My Clicks Haven’t Changed?

This is actually a good sign! If people are still finding and clicking your site just like before, it means your most important pages—the ones doing the heavy lifting—are probably still okay.

When your clicks stay the same, but indexing changes, it usually means Google is rethinking how much of your site it needs in the index. That’s not always bad. It could be ditching duplicate pages, tag archives, or old stuff it thinks no one needs (after all, if you have a section for news on your site and it still shows news from 5 years ago, is it really needed in the Google results?).

When to Wait

So, let’s say Google just rolled out an update. Your indexed pages drop a bit. But your traffic and clicks are steady. What now?

• Wait 2–3 weeks. Let things settle. Google might restore some pages, or even index new ones.
• Keep an eye on Search Console. Watch your clicks, impressions, and which pages are showing in search.
• Don’t make big changes straight away. Changing too much can confuse Google even more, and leave you not knowing what has worked and what hasn’t (remember that just because you change or add a page today doesn’t mean that Google will read it and update it’s index immediately).
• Don’t chase the index. There’s a temptation to immediately react and try to get the pages back into the index, either by resubmitting them to Google, changing the content or navigation, or even by getting links to the missing pages (often not great quality links).
• Talk to your developer (if you have one). Ask them to check your sitemap, robots.txt, and whether your pages are crawlable.

In short: if your website is still getting the same traffic, don’t freak out just because a few indexed pages disappeared. Google might be tidying up its library, not punishing you.

When to Act

That said, there are times when you should do something. If your indexed pages suddenly drop to nearly zero, or you’ve lost key landing pages (like product pages, contact forms, or blog posts that usually get loads of clicks), it’s time to look deeper.

• Are your pages set to “noindex” by mistake? This can happen if someone updates a plugin or your CMS settings.
• Are your pages blocked?   Check your robots.txt file to make sure that you haven’t accidently blocked access to some pages, or as I’ve seen happen, the entire site.   There are many tools to test if the file is valid, such as https://technicalseo.com/tools/robots-txt/ that allows you to type a page url and it tell you if it’s blocked or the robots.txt report on Google (linked to from the page at https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/6062598?hl=en ) that says if the format is correct.
• Did your site go down briefly? Google might have dropped pages if it couldn’t reach them, although if it was a one-off occurance you are likely to get away with it as Google will tend to try again.
• Did Google say anything? Sometimes they post about major updates and what they’re targeting—like spam or low-quality AI content.
• Are you seeing spammy backlinks? It’s rare, but dodgy links can hurt your reputation.

How to Check What’s Going On

If you’re not sure what’s happened, here are a few things to check:

1. Google Search Console

This is your best friend. Head to the “Pages” report under Indexing and look at what’s listed as “Not Indexed.” Google usually gives a reason, like “Duplicate without user-selected canonical” or “Discovered – currently not indexed” or Crawled – currently not indexed”.  Each of these reasons have an explanation on https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7440203#crawled

2. Page Clicks

Go to the “Performance” section in Search Console. Filter by pages. Are your top-performing pages still getting clicks? Great. Are new ones missing? Make a note, but remember that this report doesn’t always show all clicks so can be a little misleading.

3. Crawl Errors

Under the “Settings” look at the crawl stats report for any crawl issues (shown under both the “Host status” and “By response” sections. If Google can’t access your site properly, it can’t index it.  If the problems exist for long enough Google will start to de-index pages as it may assume that the pages, or site no longer exists.

4. Site Search

Try a “site:” search on Google. For example, type site:yourdomain.com into the search bar. This tends to show what pages Google currently has indexed.

Why Google Might Drop Pages Without Affecting Clicks

This one’s a bit of a mystery, but it usually comes down to this: not every page on your site is useful to search engines. And not every indexed page gets clicks.

If you’ve got loads of tag pages, filter pages, old news articles, or near-duplicate blog posts, Google might quietly stop indexing them. If those pages weren’t bringing traffic anyway, you won’t notice a drop in clicks.

So, What Should a Small Business Do?

Here’s a simple plan that works for most small websites:

• Don’t panic if clicks are steady. Indexing changes alone aren’t always a sign of trouble.
• Wait a few weeks. Updates need time to settle. Acting too soon can backfire.  Over the past 25 years there have been several times that I’ve seen the number of index pages drop for a site, only for them to reappear a few week later.
• Make a content plan. While you wait, look at your site. Are there old posts or pages that are no longer valid that you can improve, combine, or delete?
• Focus on helpful content. That’s Google’s main focus these days. Write clearly, answer real questions, and be original.
• Stay updated. Follow Google’s Search Central Blog or check Twitter/X for posts from SEO experts who break down updates in plain English.

How Long Should You Wait Before Doing Anything?

In most cases, give it 2–4 weeks. That’s enough time for Google to settle the update and re-index your pages if it’s going to.

If, after that time, you’ve lost important pages, clicks have dropped, or your site feels broken, then it’s worth taking action—either yourself or with the help of a developer or SEO consultant.

One Last Thought

Google updates can feel scary, but they’re not always a bad thing. Sometimes they help small sites by clearing out bigger spammy ones. Other times they just change how your pages are understood.

If your clicks are holding steady and your customers are still finding you, then don’t stress about a few indexing changes. Keep doing what works, check in regularly, and stay calm.

In the world of SEO, patience is often more powerful than panic.

Need Help Watching Your Site?

If you’re not sure what’s going on with your site after an update, drop us a message. We’re happy to help check your Search Console data, explain what you’re seeing, and give simple advice—no tech-speak, no panic, just real answers.

Running a small business is hard enough. Your website shouldn’t be a mystery on top of it.