Google has been tightening the reins on content since the original Helpful Content Update in August 2022, but up to this point, no update has ignited quite as much fear and trembling as the March 2024 Core Update.
With changes to multiple core systems and an overall higher level of complexity than their previous updates, the current update will roll out from March through May of this year—and websites everywhere are shaking in their boots.
Especially the ones relying on unoriginal, unhelpful content that prioritizes rankings and site traffic over everything else.
To put it as plainly as possible, this Google update aims to make the search experience better by rewarding human-written content that people actually find helpful, which is great. However, the flip side of that is the potential of having your content pushed down in search results or even having pages on your website de-indexed (meaning Google won’t acknowledge them at all) if your content appears to be written just for the sake of ranking higher.
This update is a big deal for websites and businesses of all shapes and sizes. Let’s dive into some of the specifics so that you can make sure your website isn’t the next to be de-indexed.
Google’s Core Update: The Critical Facts You Must Know
With the stakes as high as they are, it’s essential that you understand the significance an update like this one could have on your business.
- No Website Is Safe: Previous immunity to algorithm updates does not guarantee safety from the March 2024 updates. Content evaluation is and should remain a continuous process.
- Low-Quality Websites Deindexed: Hundreds of websites (especially those reliant on AI-generated content) have faced deindexing. This includes sites with hundreds of thousands of monthly visitors—a clue that Google prefers organic, human-written content.
- Squashing Bad Content: Google’s March 2024 Core Update aims to drastically reduce low-quality content in search results by approximately 40%. The main target is content that fails to provide genuine value to users.
- New Spam Policies: Alongside improvements to content quality, Google has introduced new spam policies to combat manipulative SEO practices. This includes scaled content abuse, site reputation abuse, and expired domain abuse.
- Tougher Content Standards: Real insight and usefulness to users is the name of the game. This update is all about high-quality and original content, which, let’s face it—most updates should be striving towards.
- Focus on E-E-A-T: Google’s updated criteria now include an additional emphasis on the “experience” aspect of Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T). This makes sense; you want to be sure the person writing the content knows what they’re talking about.
None of this should come as a surprise. Google has been trying to move website owners in this direction for over a decade, and it looks like they’ve finally found a way to do it. So, if you don’t want your website to end up as collateral damage, you have to stay vigilant.
Even if you’re not trying to do anything malicious or manipulative, you could still end up “stepping in it” if you’re not careful. Everything must be done “by the book” to mitigate the risk of that happening. If you’re not sure how, don’t hesitate to ask for help.
Understanding Google Updates
Google updates are nothing new. Every so often, they make a significant change to the core systems and algorithms. These core updates have one primary goal: to make Search easier and better for the user and punish those trying to game the system.
Core updates are a natural refresh for Google’s search results, in much the same way that you might update your list of favorite foods as your palate matures. It’s not that there was anything wrong with Brussels sprouts before; they just weren’t your preference. But now that you’re a little older and wiser, you realize that Brussels sprouts are actually delicious when prepared a certain way. Now, you find yourself not just tolerating them but looking forward to eating them (anyone else getting hungry?).
All that being said, let’s take a closer look at the latest core update, which includes a spam update targeting AI-generated content and other unhelpful spammy items.
The March 2024 Core Update
This Google update came in swinging—as in, it’s taking a hatchet to spammy content. The goal is to reward human-written, helpful content by ranking it higher in search results while simultaneously pushing down content that is unhelpful and/or AI-generated.
What’s different about this spam update is that it has the highest amount of manual actions in years. We hadn’t heard of sites getting hit with manual action in a while, but right now, Google is giving them out like it’s a fire sale. Only, your business pays dearly if you get it.
The Update Created a Significant Impact
Elizabeth Tucker, Director of Product for Search at Google, has said, “We’re making algorithmic enhancements to our core ranking systems to ensure we surface the most helpful information on the web and reduce unoriginal content in search results.” This is a message we can get behind. After all, we aim our services at increasing clients’ website traffic through high-quality content.
Notice the word “core” in the quote above. This means that this algorithm change is here to stay. As we’ve said, Google has been going in this direction for years, so this latest development should come as no surprise. In fact, we generally expected it years ago, but apparently, the advent of text-generating AI is what finally kickstarted the process into motion.
Consequences for Websites and Businesses
Ever since Google started rolling out the update, there’s been a visible shift in search results. It’s not like AI content has disappeared completely (far from it), but it’s now a lot more hidden in the search engine results. With even large and media websites catching a few jabs, this signals a serious shift in priorities for Google.
So, what does this mean for your business?
If you rely on your website to grow your business and thought ChatGPT or Gemini would be the goose that lays golden eggs for you in the years to come, think again.
The good news is that generative AI hasn’t been around in the mainstream for long enough to gain widespread adoption among business owners. Even if you’ve experimented with it, it’s not likely that your entire website is AI-generated. It’s more likely you’ve posted a few AI-generated articles and hoped for the best. This means it’s unlikely your site will get hit (note we’re not saying you’re 100% safe).
However, if you were one of the early adopters to launch a project of AI-generated articles with impressive speed, then your website might be in Google’s crosshairs as we speak. But don’t start panicking just yet—it might not be too late.
The March 2024 Spam Updates
Part of the reason this update affected so many websites is that Google released a spam update on top of the core update. That’s a one-two punch for website owners and webmasters who feature manipulative practices on their sites to rank higher.
Spam is an especially serious problem. Spammy practices have existed for as long as Google, and the company has been in an arms race with the spammers ever since. But these days, it seems like Google is getting the upper hand. It’s not that there’s no more spam, but it’s a lot less visible.
Businesses should be especially aware of a few key areas the spam update targets. Scaled content abuse is probably the most relevant one. From the horse’s mouth (Google), “Scaled content abuse is when many pages are generated for the primary purpose of manipulating Search rankings and not helping users. This abusive practice is typically focused on creating large amounts of unoriginal content that provides little to no value to users, no matter how it’s created.”
This practice has been around for a very long time, and Google has been trying to get rid of it for just as long. And it looks like they’re finally on the right track. This is good news if you’re creating quality work and may seem like the end of days if you’re not.
Now, you may be thinking this is just to target AI content, but you would be wrong. This change aims to uproot all sorts of “thin” content that doesn’t provide users with value. It seems to be a continuation of the November update.
Implications and Best Practices
The question of the hour is, what should you do? Whether you’ve been hit with a manual action, had your website drop in rankings, or even got a boost during this or previous updates, Google’s advice is always the same: Focus on creating high-quality content that centers around users and tries to solve their problems.
To be frank, this goes beyond SEO. This is what you should always strive for, and that’s how we try to run our clients’ websites. We always ask ourselves, “If I were a random user researching this topic, would this article solve my problem?” If the answer is anything but “yes,” we go back to the drawing board.
SEO has its fair share of complications. All sorts of technical issues need to be solved, onsite presentation needs to be both user and search-engine friendly, and you need to pay attention to a ton of details. But at the core lies a genuine intent to help users who find your website. If that’s what powers your efforts, you should be fine. And, of course, we’re always there to help out with the “how.”
At Uptick, we always bet on long-term strategies to strike a balance between quality, originality, and depth. We try to always use best practices and get results for our clients without risking the integrity of their business in the pursuit of short-term gain.
Get Help Navigating Google Updates
Google updates are always like an earthquake in the online content landscape. Yet, unlike a real earthquake, these digital tectonic shifts don’t have to be scary. They present ample opportunity for you to improve your website and content strategy to come out ahead.
Focus on delivering high-quality, useful content to your readers instead of just going through the motions. Avoid any claims of “magic-bullet” solutions that will get your website to rank without doing much work. Always help your customers and clients, and your website and business should be just fine.
At the end of the day, this is what Google wants to see more of. Each core update has followed this trajectory for over a decade. However, it looks like they’re finally ramping up their efforts and going after those who ruin search. If you need help making sure you stay on the right side of the fence, reach out to us! Our digital marketing experts would love to help you stay (or get) on Google’s good side.
