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You are thinking…oh great, what does this mean for all my SEO and Search efforts that have been done? Will my website end up lower in search results?
The March 2024 Google Core Update is different from its normal updates to the algorithm. The core update has two major core updates to Search and SEO practices.
Every day, all of us rely on Search to discover the best that the internet has to offer. To combat spam and maintain the integrity of search results,
Google has implemented strict policies and automated systems to thwart tactics aimed at manipulating search rankings with subpar content. Constant updates to these policies and systems are undertaken to effectively counter emerging trends, ensuring that users receive valuable content and are directed to reputable websites.
This month Google announced significant changes geared towards enhancing the quality of Search results and making them more useful, these changes will be implemented over the next few months.
Enhanced Quality Ranking: Google is refining its core ranking algorithms to prioritize the most informative and original content while getting rid of the presence of duplicated material in search results.
Strengthened Spam Policies: Spam policies are being updated to prevent low-quality content from infiltrating Search engines. This includes addressing issues such as expired websites being repurposed for spam and obituary-related spam.
Reducing the Presence of Unoriginal Content:
In 2022, Google started adjustments to their ranking systems to get rid of unhelpful and derivative content in Search, maintaining it at minimal levels. They are now integrating those insights gained into their core update for March 2024.
This update involves fine-tuning ranking systems to better discern if webpages are unhelpful, offer poor user experiences, or appear to be tailored more for search engines than human users. This encompasses sites primarily created to match very specific search queries.
We at 3rd Coast Media anticipate that these updates will significantly decrease the prevalence of low-quality content in Search and direct more traffic toward helpful and reputable websites. The update will collectively reduce low-quality and unoriginal content in search results by 40%. That’s huge!
Combating Spam:
Google is implementing several updates to their spam policies to address evolving abusive practices that lead to the publication of unoriginal and low-quality content in Search. These updates will allow Google to take targeted action against various manipulative behaviors under new spam policies.
Content Abuse:
Google’s policy against using automation to generate low-quality or unoriginal content at scale has been in place for some time. But, with advancements in content creation methods, we are strengthening this policy to combat abusive behavior—whether the content is generated through automation, human effort, or a combination thereof.
Site Reputation Abuse:
In some cases, reputable websites may host low-quality content provided by third parties seeking to exploit the website host’s site's strong reputation. Google is now considering third-party content with very little value, primarily created for ranking purposes, as spam. This ensures that content ranking highly in Search aligns with user expectations.
Expired Domain Abuse:
Occasionally, expired domains are acquired and repurposed to boost the search ranking of low-quality or unoriginal content. This can mislead users into believing that the new content is affiliated with the previous site. As such, expired domains repurposed for such purposes will now be categorized as spam.
Google remains committed to minimizing the presence of low-quality content in Search and prioritizing information designed to assist users.
These updates are great things when you are producing quality content and true efforts to get the correct people to your site. This will impact AI use for content such as Chat GPT which has marketers cheering on time savings for content production.
If you have any questions on ranking and what these updates mean for your business, please feel free to contact us at 3rd Coast Media Marketing to help you navigate these Core Google Updates.