Historically, Google has rolled out core algorithm updates two or three times a year – but last year, we saw a record four updates. We’ve also just experienced a 45-day record rollout with the March core update.
When I first started in SEO, the industry was experiencing the later Panda updates, the Exact Match Domain update, and Penguin. These updates were, in part, designed to counter tactics deployed by SEO experts.
Google updates have evolved over the years, in line with how Google itself has evolved as an information finder, classifier, and retrieval system.
As a result, how we talk about updates, understand them, and approach them also needs to evolve.
It’s also worth highlighting that not all Google updates are designed to be punitive; a number of updates in the past 24-36 months have been aligned with Google’s “core algorithm” and adoption of different technologies.
What Is A Core Google Update?
As Danny Sullivan (via the SearchLiason X account) defines, a core update is when Google makes a “notable” change to one or more of its core systems.
These updates change how inputs (our content, links, etc.) are processed and weighed.
The systems are continuously running, so once updated, they begin to process and refresh based on the new criteria.
Not all updates are reported on, as, according to Sullivan, it would just be a continuous notification feed and not helpful outside of the current narrative that Search is not a static product and is always updating.
Have I Been Impacted By An Update?
Understanding whether you have been impacted by an update is crucial in determining the appropriate course of action.
In 2023, Google made 9 official updates – all logged via the Google Search Status Dashboard – as well as thousands of ongoing smaller updates that aren’t registered or declared.
While most confirmed updates take 3 to 4 weeks to complete (the last core update officially took 45 days at the time of writing), significant changes can usually be seen within the first 24-48 hours of rollout.
During the rollout period, you should expect volatility and fluctuations, but from experience, the “danger zone” for the most trafficked and searched-for queries is in the first couple of days.
It’s also key to remember that not all losses in traffic and rankings are related to updates.
As the Google Dance is now a thing of memory and Google processes in real time, changes in your performance could be due to your competitors’ efforts and improvements in their value propositions—such as improving content or benefitting from valuable press coverage.
When this happens, Google tends to perform keyword tests and try different websites in different positions to gain user feedback before establishing a “new” more stable results page.
This can be frustrating, but it further affirms that SEO isn’t a “one and done” activity, and refining and proving value proposition for specific search queries is an ongoing exercise.
As core updates aren’t predictable, many websites undergo a major transformation at the same time an update is announced.
Anecdotally, these tend to be ongoing transformation projects, such as migrations that tend to accidentally coincide with core updates.
Migrations themselves can take time to complete and be processed by Google, so adding the complexity of the unknown change variables makes it harder to discern if performance changes (or lags in returning to previous performance) are caused by the migration processing or the core update.
Recovering From An Google Update
While it is possible to recover from an Google update before the next broad core updates are released, most sites tend to see the biggest changes (and recoveries) during subsequent updates – if they have better aligned their content with what Google is looking for:
The same Google document also outlines another truth: Making improvements doesn’t guarantee recovery if “more deserving content” exists, as Google will continue to rank it highly within its search results.
Recovering from a Google update typically means improving one (or more) of the following:
- Your content value proposition, beneficial purpose, and alignment with what a user would expect when searching specific queries.
- Improving your E-E-A-T (improving links and mentions).
- Reinforcing and building your brand’s entity (and relatedness).
Recoveries can look different because there are different types.
Some recoveries are fast, and due to the recovery activities you’ve been implementing, traffic is almost back to pre-update levels, if not higher.
This usually happens when a search engine update revises and amends a variable that was changed in a previous update.
Other recoveries take longer.
This means Google has likely seen positive user data from the variables changed in the previous update, and the impetus is on you to better align your website and content with what Google is looking to reward.
Google Update Recovery Checklist
Before getting to phase one, asking questions in this initial “phase zero” can save a lot of time and concerns across business stakeholders:
Where are we seeing the traffic drop?
- If via a third-party tool, is this consistent with our proprietary data?
- Has the third-party tool updated its own data sets and traffic forecasts?
- If in our proprietary data, are all tracking codes implemented and triggering correctly?
Answering these questions first can prevent resource wastage and potentially bring calm back to the situation.
Recovering From Google Updates Is Difficult
A Google update won’t tell you why your rankings drop. Understanding the reasons for a reduction in your traffic or SERP performance requires an objective look at your website.
You must abandon your assumptions about your content and website’s worthiness to be at the top and ask yourself: do my pages deserve to rank?
- Have you executed SEO fundamentals?
- Are you avoiding black-hat practices in your link building?
- Are you engaging in spam?
- Is your content written by knowledgeable experts?
- Do your competitors have better content, more user-friendly pages, or a clearer value proposition?
Once you have a clear assessment, you can move forward. Recovering from a sudden ranking drop takes time, patience, and effort. Good information is your best tool.
