Google may be favouring simpler websites during updates.

When Google reprocesses the index, efficiency becomes a tie-breaker. Cleaner websites are easier to crawl, easier to parse, and easier to reassess. Bloated templates, oversized scripts, and heavy DOM structures create crawl friction that slows everything down.

If your best content sits behind layers of unnecessary code, you are not just slowing users down. You are slowing Google down too.

Action:

Audit your high-value service templates. If scripts, layout elements, or styling load before your core content, you are making it harder for Google to reach the part that actually matters.

The problem is rarely your homepage.

Most sites are clean at the top and messy deeper down. Suburb pages, archives, and older templates often carry the most structural baggage, which is exactly where visibility tends to weaken first.

Action:

Check your secondary pages. If they are heavier, slower, or less structured than your core pages, you are feeding Google a less efficient version of your site at scale.