Take a deep breath everyone – there’s a new Google core update.
Google recently announced that it began to roll out a new core update, which the tech giant said could take two weeks to complete.
Once the rollout is fully implemented, Google will update its ranking release history.
Google’s core updates are known to significantly impact search ranking, which in turn affects traffic and ad revenue.
That’s why, as a publisher, it’s critical to stay informed and understand what you can do to stay on top.
What’s a Core Update?
Every so often, Google makes broad changes to its search algorithms. It calls this a core update.
According to Google,
Core updates are designed to ensure that overall, we’re delivering on our mission to present helpful and reliable results for searchers.
The last core update was in September 2022.
Core updates have significant impacts on SERPs (search engine results pages), which means you need to be prepared for a significant change.
What’s the March 2023 Core Update?
While Google hasn’t publicized the specifics on the March 2023 core update, we can draw two primary conclusions based on previous core updates:
Quality Content Will be Prioritized
Google has been prioritizing quality content over articles written solely for SEO purposes.
It’s safe to say that this shift will play a significant role in this update.
Therefore, it is crucial to focus on creating content that prioritizes the reader’s experience over SEO tactics.
Site’s Technical Aspects
Make sure your site’s technical aspects are up to par. This includes site speed, mobile responsiveness, and proper indexing.
You can check Google’s Page Speed Insights to see how your site’s core vitals are doing.
If there is something that needs improvement, do so ASAP.
What to Do if Your Site Is Impacted?
To start, Google makes very clear that publishers who have been impacted by a core update don’t have anything wrong with their sites.
With that in mind, after the May 2022 core update, Google cautioned:
We know those with sites that experience drops will be looking for a fix, and we want to ensure they don’t try to fix the wrong things. Moreover, there might not be anything to fix at all.
Bearing that in mind, what can you do?
Over the years, Google has sent mixed messages about how to recover from a core update.
On the one hand, it explained that a site might not recover until the next core update is released.
On the other hand, John Mueller, head of Google Search Relations, indicated that it’s possible to recover traffic without waiting for the next core update.
Here are some tips to keep in mind if you’ve been negatively affected by the core update:
Do Your Best to Stay Calm
Yes, it’s extremely difficult, we completely understand. You rely on your ad revenue and a drop in traffic means that you will earn less.
But the worst thing you can do is panic and begin changing fundamental strategies or elements of your site.
Remember, it could take two weeks until the rollout is complete. That being said, it’s possible that the changes you are seeing now aren’t permanent.
Therefore, do your best to be patient until the rollout is complete and then assess the impact.
Identify Which Content Was Most Affected
Using an SEO tool, research and identify which of your content was most impacted by the update.
Yes, it’s possible that all of your content was affected. But it’s also possible that only a specific portion of it was.
Optimize Your Content
Once you’ve identified which of your content was impacted the most, start optimizing.
As noted above, this should be done with a person-first approach, meaning that the content should be optimized for user experience and not for SEO.
Does your article repeat the same thing over and over again? Does it cover all of the relevant aspects? Do you put the most important information at the beginning of the article?
These are all questions you should be asking while optimizing your content.
Competitor Research
If you were ranking for a keyword prior to the update and now aren’t, check out the articles that are currently ranking the best.
Remember, if you were affected by Google’s core update it doesn’t mean that you did something wrong. It just means that Google is now prioritizing different things.
That’s why you should learn from the top-ranking articles. See how they are written, how the layout is, and then optimize your content accordingly.
If you continue producing quality content and make sure that your site’s technical performance in optimized, there is no reason that your site won’t make a full recovery.
Maximize Your Ad Revenue
Now more than ever, it’s important to ensure that you are maximizing your ad revenue potential.
A great way to do that is by partnering with a Google Certified Publishing Partner (GCPP) like Adnimation, which has a proven track record of helping publishers generate the highest possible ad revenue.
To learn more about how we can help, feel free to contact us for a free consultation.
