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The March 2024 Google Core Update emphasizes high-quality content, penalizes low-quality AI content, improves mobile user experience, and enhances spam detection. Sites must focus on E-E-A-T principles and adapt their SEO strategies for better rankings and visibility.
What Does the March 2024 Google Core Update Mean for Websites & SEO?
The March 2024 Google Core Update has sent ripples across the digital landscape, prompting website owners and SEO professionals to reevaluate their strategies and adapt to the evolving search engine algorithms.
As Codepoet explores the intricacies of this significant update, it becomes clear that adapting to these changes is paramount for maintaining visibility and relevance in the competitive online sphere. Let’s unravel the implications of the latest Google Core Update and shed light on what it means for websites and SEO best practices.
A Google Core Update substantially modifies Google's search algorithm, fundamentally altering how websites rank in search results. These updates enhance the algorithm's ability to evaluate web pages, ensuring users receive the most relevant and high-quality information for their queries.
By refining the ranking criteria, Google aims to better understand and assess websites' content, structure, and overall user experience. However, these notable shifts in search rankings result in some sites improving their positions while others may see declines.
The March 2024 Google Update elevates the user experience by prioritizing top-tier, reliable, and captivating content in search result rankings. Its impact is most pronounced on informational content, such as blogs, instead of sales-oriented material. Below are the five pivotal aspects of this update:
The latest update emphasizes informative, valuable content, ensuring users receive the best possible information. Articles and other website content should be thoroughly researched, accurately sourced, and thoughtfully written to provide real value to readers.
Conversely, the update penalizes websites that rely on low-quality, AI-generated content lacking depth, originality, and accuracy. Google seeks to reward authentic, original content. Delivering well-crafted, valuable material is crucial to heightening your search engine rankings and user satisfaction.
Google now focuses on mobile-first indexing and predominantly uses mobile websites for ranking. This shift highlights the importance of mobile-friendly content that provides a smooth and interactive experience across various devices.
Business owners must ensure that their sites have optimized text, images, and videos that load quickly and display correctly on smartphones and tablets. They must make sure any site navigation and interactive elements are easy to use on smaller screens.
The update underscores the critical role of E-E-A-T—Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness—in content creation. Google now emphasizes these principles more than ever:
By focusing on E-E-A-T, Google aims to provide users with content that is accurate, authoritative, and created by individuals or organizations with genuine expertise and a trustworthy reputation.
Since May 5, the latest Google update has significantly improved its ability to detect and filter out spammy websites, ensuring a higher quality of search results for users. The new spam policies focus on the following three areas:
AI Overviews encompass concise synopses created by Google's generative AI, prominently featured atop search engine results pages (SERPs) for numerous long-tail queries. These summaries leverage natural language processing (NLP), a sophisticated form of machine learning, to grasp query contexts and provide precise and pertinent responses to user inquiries.
Below is a screenshot showing an example of an AI Overview for the long-tail query: “what are the key features of the google core update March 2024.”
However, not all search queries will trigger AI Overviews. For instance, the simpler query “Google core update March 2024” does not.
It’s important to note that Google AI Overviews is not an expanded beta or opt-in feature—it’s unavoidable and likely permanent. Unfortunately, Google has said they won’t report which keywords prompt AI Overviews in Search Console.
Remember that Google’s generative AI is still fresh and experimental, so not all AI Overview responses are accurate. Some of their answers are misleading and even dangerous. Many people are sharing examples of serious AI Overview mistakes on social media, such as the following:
Although the Google AI Overviews feature aims to streamline users' quest for answers, it's intriguing to observe a significant surge in searches for "how to disable AI overview" following its implementation.
Let’s discuss some of the nuanced effects of the March 2024 Google Core Update and explore the positive and negative ramifications for websites.
Each AI Overview response links to sources that dive into the topic further. According to Google Search Central, “Google's systems automatically determine which links appear. There is nothing special for creators to do to be considered other than to follow our regular guidance for appearing in search, as covered in Google Search Essentials.”
Smaller businesses optimizing their sites for AI are ranking high in competition with more prominent brands. NP Digital claims it’s an opportunity rather than a threat for most industries.
For instance, in their most recent webinar on June 4, NP Digital shared some encouraging insights about the positive impact of AI Overviews on several clients during the first week of the rollout:
Other content creators, however, are not so fortunate. A prime example of the detrimental impact of the recent series of Google Core Updates is the case of HouseFresh.com.
Founded in 2020 by Gisele Navarro and her husband, HouseFresh.com initially gained success by providing original content on indoor air quality products, earning top spots in Google search results. However, after Google's algorithm updates in September 2023 and March 2024, the website suffered plummeting traffic, leading to layoffs and an uncertain future.
Navarro said in an interview with BBC in May: “It decimated us. Suddenly, the search terms that used to bring up HouseFresh were sending people to big lifestyle magazines that clearly don't even test the products. The articles are full of information that I know is wrong. We just got absolutely crushed.”
Unfortunately, HouseFresh.com is not an isolated case. Below are some recent posts to Google Search Console Help by other content creators about issues with the March 2024 Core Update:
Source: Google Search Console Help
Source: Google Search Console Help
How can you recover if the March 2024 Google Core Update has negatively impacted your website traffic and search visibility?
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the new SEO strategy for adapting to conversational AIs. NP Digital’s June 4th webinar “Don’t Panic, But...Google Released a Big AI Update for SEO (Here’s How to Adapt)” discussed nine ways your website can evolve with Google’s shifting digital landscape:
According to NP Digital’s webinar, incorporating well-sourced citations, quotes, and statistics within your website content can potentially enhance visibility by up to 40%. However, the efficacy of citations hinges on their quality and relevance in an age marked by misinformation.
To uphold credibility and foster trust, adhere to these best practices when integrating citations into your content:
To increase your website’s visibility on Google Search, you must incorporate experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. We touched on what this means earlier—now, here’s how to implement it:
To make your website content more valuable, follow these best practices:
Incorporating a human review and editing process of AI-generated content is crucial. AI cannot comprehend user intent or organically integrate appropriate keywords. Failing to scrutinize AI-generated content can result in missed opportunities to captivate readers, causing potential setbacks. Human intervention guarantees the content's relevance, accuracy, and user-friendliness.
Approximately 15% of online queries are new. Positioning yourself as the initial responder to emerging questions establishes your credibility as a trusted source of information, draws increased traffic to your site, and cultivates a devoted following. Moreover, being at the forefront enhances your prospects of higher search result rankings, amplifying your visibility across digital platforms.
Discover and promptly answer new searches by:
Ensure your content is readable, digestible, and coherently organized. Below are NP Digital’s concise guidelines for achieving these goals:
Use diverse content formats (including videos, interactive quizzes, infographics, and original imagery) to distinguish your brand. Multimedia assets contribute to prolonged engagement among website visitors and extend your reach to a broader demographic. Exceptional, top-tier visual content has the potential to rank well in search engine results and increase social media traction.
To ensure an optimally functioning website, concentrate on these technical facets:
By meticulously addressing these technical details, you can enhance your website's visibility and performance within Google search results.
Here are some straightforward strategies to enhance the organization and structure of your website:
Adhering to these principles can improve your website’s user-friendliness and search visibility.
The March 2024 Google Core Update changes how search engines evaluate and rank websites. By understanding and embracing the nuances of this update, you can proactively optimize your digital strategies to align with Google's evolving criteria.
Codepoet remains committed to guiding you through these changes, empowering you to navigate the dynamic digital landscape confidently. Our web development team is poised and ready to design a custom website for your business (or upgrade your current site) that harmonizes with Google’s ongoing algorithm updates. Request a free quote today!