Impact of Google Core Update on SEO

Last week, Google rolled out a massive update & it was a bloodbath for some AI-generated content. Here’s what we know and how you should respond: 👉 **40% reduction in “unhelpful” content** Google updated the core algorithm to try to target low-quality, “unhelpful” content. This means that pages that Google deems as unhelpful should be less likely to rank in the SERPs. What makes content “unhelpful”? Past Helpful Content Updates (HCU) have indicated that Google assesses helpfulness based on: - Original information, reporting, research, or analysis - Comprehensive overview of the topic - Goes “beyond the obvious” - Descriptive and helpful titles and headings - (Mostly) free of spelling and stylistic errors - Well produced and presented 👉 **Manual actions for “PURE SPAM”** In addition to algorithmic updates targeting “unhelpful” content, Google also handed out hundreds or thousands of manual actions. This means that they felt the algorithm changes alone did not sufficiently punish the worst offenders. The sites are now marked as “PURE SPAM” and mostly/totally de-indexed. 😬 👉 **Scaled content abuse** Google also targeted, “scaled content abuse.” In other words: Thin pages with programatically- and AI-generated content could be considered scaled content abuse and punished. Make sure that procedurally-generated content provides enough value to meet the “helpful content” guidelines above. 👉 **Parasite SEO** Google took a swipe at so-called “parasite SEO.” Basically, content that piggybacks off of an existing site’s authority to rank for all kinds of unrelated keywords. E.g.: A major local newspaper publishing an article or sponsored content about the “best appetite suppressants.” We can surmise that this indicates more focus on topical authority as a signal. In other words, if you’re publishing content on a wide array of different topics, it could send up red flags. 𝘚𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦? First: DON’T PANIC. Most of the sites severely impacted were egregious offenders—the “SEO goblins” flooding the internet with content to make a quick buck. *Your site was likely not impacted.* (But, feel free to DM me if it was or you’re worried about it.) Some takeaways: ✅ Use AI primarily as a drafting, outlining, or editing tool. Avoid publishing AI-generated content without human review and editing. ✅ Double down on creating “helpful content”—think, content that could not possibly be created by current AI technology. ✅ Focus your strategy. Rather than slinging topics at random, try to build a focused moat of the topics most important to your business. ✅ Assess the value of any programmatic or AI-generated content on your site. If it’s, “purely for search,” then look for ways to add value for humans. Happy to answer questions (to the best of my abilities). Good luck in the SERPs! ✌️ — If this was "helpful content": 1. Follow or connect on LinkedIn 👋 2. Share!

Boom: Core, HCU into core, and Spam -> You wanted a big update? Well, here's a BIG update. REALLY BIG. The March 2024 core update is rolling out, but it's more complex than previous core updates. Google said it will reduce unhelpful content in the SERPs by 40% and will use a variety of innovative signals and approaches to do so. It will take several weeks for the update to roll out, maybe even a month. *Multiple systems* within the core ranking system will be updated and released during the larger broad core update. Google explained there will be more volatility than with regular broad core updates. So yep, buckle up. :) Google has refined how it understands "which pages are unhelpful, have a poor user experience, or feel like they were created for search engines versus people." This could include "sites created to match very specific search queries." And I have covered the UX and ads part of the HCU before with the Sep HCU(X). DO NOT IGNORE THAT. And regarding the HCU, just like Panda and Penguin of the past, the helpful content system is now part of Google's core ranking systems. That was faster than I thought it would be... but does make sense. So, no more helpful content updates. This will all be part of Google's core ranking algo now (and broad core updates). And beyond all of that, Google is also rolling out March 2024 spam updates with spam policy updates too. These will yield both algorithmic and manual actions. First, there's "scaled content abuse search spam", which is an update to the "spammy automatically-generated content" policy. It's been expanded to account for more sophisticated scaled content creation methods. So producing content at scale to boost search rankings via automation, or combo of human and automation (like using generative AI), is against Google's guidelines. Then there's "expired domain abuse spam" where expired domains are purchased, and then repurposed, "with the intention of boosting search rankings of low-quality content." I call this the Conch House spam update. :) And finally, there's "Parasite SEO", and Google is giving site owners two months advanced notice before they roll out an update targeting those tactics on May 5. So, a BIG heads-up if you are hosting lower-quality third-party content that can piggyback on the power of your domain. Google will start to take action in two months from both an algorithmic and manual actions perspective. You can read more about all of this in Barry Schwartz's post on Search Engine Land and in the blog post published by Google. #google #seo

Google has launched its first search engine updates of 2024, which aims to “reduce unhelpful content in search results by 40%.” 📉 Per Google, this update is meant to refine how its search engine qualifies web content that is “unhelpful, offers a poor user experience, or feels like it was created for search engines instead of people.” This update is more complex than what Google traditionally rolls out, which means many websites might see more dramatic changes in their keyword rankings than usual. So, what can marketers do to avoid the impact? Not much. The best strategy is to focus on creating high-quality, substantive #content that your audience finds helpful, rather than aiming to achieve high rankings in search engines. Let’s break down the components of what Google defines as “helpful” vs. “unhelpful” content. Helpful Content: ✅ Satisfies user needs: Addresses specific search queries and provides users with the info they're looking for in a clear and concise way. ✅ Demonstrates expertise: Written by subject matter experts with reputable knowledge on a given area of interest. ✅ Trustworthy and reliable: Backed by evidence, data, and trustworthy sources. ✅ Original and valuable: Offers unique insights or perspectives that go beyond repackaging existing information and/or echoing self-serving biases. Unhelpful Content: ❌ Low-quality or thin content: Lacks depth, substance, or originality, and fails to provide users with valuable information. ❌ Created solely for ranking: Focuses on keyword stuffing or other manipulative tactics solely to improve search ranking, rather than user experience. ❌ Lacks expertise: Written by individuals without relevant knowledge or experience, potentially leading to inaccurate or misleading information. ❌ Unsatisfying or irrelevant: Doesn't address the user's search intent or leaves them feeling confused or with unanswered questions. We'll have to wait and see how long it takes for Google to sort out the mess of unhelpful content cluttering up its search results. With #generativeAI taking off the way it has, more and more derivative, keyword-thirsty content is being churned out at record speeds. If recent core updates are anything to go by, I suspect Google will make some serious headway with its latest roll out. #SEO #content #google #googlecoreupdate #marketing #tech #news #SEM CC: Grippi Media Anthony Atiq Thy Nguyen Caroline Prater Julie Revelant