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Google's Core update of August 2024 significantly affected some sites, bolstering their rankings and traffic — or tanking them. Google rolled out this new update, claiming it wanted to emphasize helpful content over content designed for search engines. But the results have been mixed.
Let's start with some obvious questions. What is a Google Core update?
Answer: Core updates are periodic broad updates to Google's algorithm to allow the search engine to continually meet its goal of returning helpful and reliable search results.
So, what does this mean for content marketers? Let’s get the breakdown of what the core update was meant to accomplish and how you can respond if you’ve been affected.
Timeline of the Update’s Rollout
Google’s latest core update started on August 15, 2024, and wrapped up 19 days later.
Key Changes in the August 2024 Update
So, what is the August 2024 Google algorithm update?
The update is the latest core update from Google to prioritize helpful content in search rankings. The August 2024 update is meant to restore good, useful content that might have lost ranking position after prior updates. The search engine’s update to developers says the Google core update (August 2024) is broad in nature. It’s designed to deliver the most relevant search results for a user’s query.
This is meant to be a helpful content update designed to ensure that great content outranks any site designed to "game" the search algorithm. In that way, it’s not unlike previous core updates. It’s part of the search engine’s ongoing objectives to make Google search genuinely helpful.
With this new update, Google says search rankings should include small and independent sites that offer users content that is useful, original, and relevant.
Impact on Website Reputation and Rankings
Google says many sites don’t even notice when a broad core update happens. However, you can check to see if it’s impacted your site by comparing traffic volume in Google Search Console.
Specifically, compare traffic before the rollout began (before August 15, 2024) to traffic no earlier than one week after the core update rollout finished. In this case, the rollout finished September 3, 2024, so compare traffic to September 10, 2024, or later.
Google recommends taking no action if you’ve lost just a few positions (2 or 3) in rankings but to do a deeper assessment if you’ve had a big drop (25 or more).
When Was the Last Google Core Update and What Did We Learn?
The last Google Core update was in March 2024. It aimed to reduce low-quality content by 40%. It set out to meet those objectives by reducing reliance on a single ranking signal or system to determine search results.
Google’s intent was to favor user-centric content, which put people first. It prioritized original research, comprehensive exploration of a topic, and well-sourced information. This puts search results in better alignment with Google’s stated priorities, which is to give the highest rankings to the pages that best answer the searcher’s queries.
So, did Google's stated intent actually play out? Analysis after the March 2024 update rollout found that user-centric, high-quality content that offered value to readers won out. This content resulted in high search engine rankings.
Sites that gave the audience a superior user experience beyond content were also rewarded. Google favored mobile-friendliness, fast loading times, and sites that were easy to navigate.
Analysts did a deep dive into specific sites and noted that specific types of content updates appeared to improve rank position, such as:
- Summaries or "key takeaways" sections
- An "expert insight" standout box
- "User-first" rather than "topic-first" content, focusing more on content value than SEO keywords
- Experience-first content that speaks to the user, addressing them as "you," instead of a stale, third-person presentation of a topic
In summary, it was another helpful content update that worked alongside Google’s quality rater guidelines. Google's E-E-A-T guidelines look for content that shows expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.
Industry Reactions and Responses
A poll published by Search Engine Roundtable on August 30, 2024, before the rollout was complete, found that 44% had a decline in rankings or traffic, 27% had an increase, and 29% experienced no change.
Surfer also published the experiences of marketers while the rollout was still in progress. They reported that some sites that had lost traffic or rankings after Google’s previous helpful content update saw an upward spike. As the update is still new, site owners who lost ranking position might be in wait-and-see mode before they do any wholesale content revisions.
Google’s recommendation for affected websites is to do a self-assessment. The search engine has a page of questions you can use to objectively reflect on your site and see how it measures up to the goal of creating helpful content.
Recovery Strategies for Affected Websites
So, how do you go about that self-assessment? Here’s a step-by-step guide to handle the aftermath of the Google Core update.
Evaluate content performance. Measure your top content pages and search queries prior to the August 2024 update and at least one week after its completion. Look at your site as a whole and at the individual pages that experienced the greatest drop.
Implement quality improvement measures. Google has some advice: Avoid “quick fixes,” like getting rid of a specific page element. The idea seems to be the common sense approach of delivering sustainable, user-centric content that people can use.
Google recommends meaningful updates, like rewriting or restructuring pages so they're easier for your audience to read. There’s also a word of warning that deleting pages should be a last resort, for use only when the content has no redeeming qualities. If the pages are junk, they were probably made for search engines and not people — and your site is better off without them.
Engage with user feedback. User feedback is a great indication of whether your site’s content is working for your audience. If it’s not, Google’s algorithm — and quality raters — will have a similar experience. If you want fresh user feedback, consider asking someone without affiliation with your website to look at your pages and give you an honest report card based on the helpful content paradigm.
So, will you see a quick bump in rankings once you’ve made those changes? The answer is maybe yes, maybe no. Google says you might see the results in a few days, but it can take up to several months for the search engine to recognize content quality improvements.
Anticipating Future Changes in SEO Dynamics
Content marketers might feel like they’re playing catch-up with Google, but it’s good to remember the search engine does core updates several times a year. The focus on helpful content isn’t likely to change with future updates, as prioritizing that content is Google’s main mission.
SEO dynamics are changing, however. Google's AI Overviews are an important example. The search engine recently implemented AI search results at the top of the page as a regular part of search in the U.S. Core updates impact those overviews, as well, according to senior team members at Google.
To anticipate what’s coming next, go back to basics: quality content written for real people, not algorithms.
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