The Shark Tank

Google’s most recent core update is done rolling out. The March 2024 core update began on March 5, 2024, and lasted 45 days until April 19, 2024.

According to Google, this update has been among the most comprehensive. It involves changes to several core systems and ends Google’s stand-alone helpful content update, which was rolled out on August 25, 2023.

Google’s goal in rolling out the helpful content update was to reward user-oriented content, penalize search engine-focused content, and improve Google user’s overall experience.

Focus on Quality

The recent update on one part hopes to achieve the same goal, but it goes much further. According to Google, it is one of the many steps it is prepared to take to stay up to speed with evolving web and spam tactics.

Google sought to address several issues in the update, including reducing low-quality and unhelpful content. Initially, Google hoped to reduce unhelpful and low-quality content by up to 40 percent, but it says it exceeded that goal by close to 45 percent.

Other Changes

Improvements in quality are not the only changes the update has brought about. Google also updated its help center page by outlining how site owners can debug drops in their ranking in the SERPs.

Google also created a feedback form where site owners can seek a review of their ranking if they believe their site was wrongly targeted. Because of the many changes overlapping each other in a short span, there has been substantial volatility in the SERPs, with SEO experts having problems pinpointing exactly what is impacting sites.

End of Helpful Content Updates

However, in the last few days, Google has come out to indicate that the volatility is set to recede, and it is only then that site owners can start investigating their performances and effecting changes that will help win back their positions.

Following the update, google algorithms are now better at understanding “unhelpful” pages. According to Google, the term unhelpful refers to pages with low-quality content and sites created to rank for specific keywords rather than provide quality.

Google will no longer announce helpful content updates because the helpful content system has now been merged into the core update system. The last helpful content update was on September 2023, and its impact was felt by quite a number of sites, which have since then been recovering, only to be rattled once again by the March update.

What To Do if You Have Been Hit

Google hasn’t been clear about what site owners can do if their site has been affected by the recent core update. However, it has attempted to calm fears about the volatility, stating that it will cool down in the coming days, but has yet to provide concrete timelines.

According to Google, negative rankings may not always imply that something is wrong with your site, so waiting may be your only option. Google has also offered a list of questions that can help you troubleshoot.

Reach out to BluShark Digital for help regaining traction and staying updated with emerging changes.