What to do about the March Core Update

It's been a turbulent couple of weeks for SEOs, since the March 5th Google update.

Here is what we know about it and what we recommend to do about it.

March 5th, 2024: Announcement of the Google March 2024 Core and Spam updates.
March 8th and 9th and 10th, 2024: Initial indications of core and/or spam update effects on site rankings algorithmically.

As these updates continue to unfold, webmasters and SEOs should brace for more fluctuations and adapt their strategies to align with Google's evolving guidelines, focusing on improving content quality and user experience to navigate through this period of change successfully.

Key Features of the March 2024 Google Core Update

The March 2024 Google Core Update introduces several key changes to search algorithms, focusing on improving the quality and relevance of search results:

Enhances core ranking algorithms to prioritize high-quality, original content.
Targets unhelpful and unoriginal content to improve search result quality.
Aims to refine the evaluation of site user experience.
Scheduled to roll out over a month, affecting search rankings progressively.
Encourages website owners to focus on meaningful, user-centric content creation.
Part of Google's ongoing efforts to connect users with valuable and relevant information.

What the people who seemed to have been targeted had in common

Google is doubling down on its commitment to enhance the quality of its search results by targeting spammy, low-quality content more aggressively. Here's a breakdown of the key takeaways:

Mass Automation and Scaled Content Creation: Google's updated policies now more effectively address the use of automation and scaled methods to produce low-quality content aimed at manipulating search rankings.
Content Velocity Concerns: A notable insight from the recent updates is Google's scrutiny of content velocity. Specifically, Google considers it suspicious for a site to add thousands of pages in a short time frame,you can't humanly get 5000 pages on a site in a month. This is seen as an attempt to manipulate rankings through sheer volume rather than the quality of content, aligning with Google's focus on content authenticity and user value.
Expired Domain Exploitation: The repurposing of expired domains for spam or low-quality content, to leverage their pre-existing authority, is being clamped down upon.
Transparency and Open Manipulation Tactics: Some individuals and organizations have been openly sharing methods to exploit these tactics, drawing Google's attention for manual actions.

Commitment to Quality: Google's continued updates to its algorithm and spam policies reflect its ongoing commitment to reduce spam and promote high-quality, relevant content in its search results.

Advanced SEO Strategies for Google Updates

As Google rolls out its March 2024 core and spam updates, navigating the evolving SEO landscape requires a strategic approach. Here are key tips to help you adapt and thrive:

Humanize Your Content: Ensure your content is human-edited and tailored to your audience's needs, avoiding over-reliance on automated content generation.
Update Old Content: Periodically review and update your existing content to keep it relevant and accurate, which can improve your site's authority and rankings.
Focus on Topic Clusters and Building SILOs: Organize your content around central topics and related subtopics to create a comprehensive resource hub, which can enhance your site's authority on specific subjects.some text
- Take the ultimate on page seo workflow course inside the POP Academy, where I and his team build a real-life traffic silo using POP AI.
Focus on EEAT: Emphasize Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness, and Experience in your content to align with Google's quality signals.some text
- Usually sites with a truncated and reputable brand, with many brand related trust signals seem less likely to be penalized.
- Use POP EEAT analysis to analyze your Trust signals and compare them to your competitors.

Enhance with Multimedia: Incorporate original images and videos to enrich your content and improve user engagement.
Build Quality Backlinks: Focus on acquiring high-quality backlinks from reputable sites within your niche to boost your site's authority.
Monitor Search Console Insights: Regularly check Google Search Console for insights into your site's performance, including impressions, search queries, click-through rates, and potential issues to address.some text

1. If you have drop always check and analyze graph to make conclusion if it really was google algo update:

2. When you see graph like this you know it is algo update and you can start analyzing your pages, first number of pages that dropped from indexing:

Next if you see that there are not too many pages that dropped from indexing you can start analyzing pages which dropped in impressions before and after algo update:

3. For each page analyze keywords to see:some text

if SERP changed for that lost keyword - if yes consider creating new page to recover that keyword;
If SERP didn’t change and your page is still relevant for the keyword do the further on page optimization, SILO and link building to make page optimized.

‍Use POP Watchdog to track performance of important keywords which will help you to see if SERP competitors changed after Algo update and what type of pages / sites are ranking in SERPs after algo update.

While there are no guarantees in SEO, especially regarding future algorithm updates, adopting these strategies can significantly improve your website's resilience and performance in search rankings.

Balancing AI Optimization with Authenticity and Human Touch Using PageOptimizer Pro

While leveraging AI for content creation, it's essential to strike a balance between optimization and authenticity and human touch. Here’s how to craft AI content with PageOptimizer Pro while maintaining quality:

Understand Your Audience: Before leveraging AI, have a deep understanding of your audience's needs, preferences, and pain points. This will guide the AI in creating content that is both relevant and engaging. That is why in POP we have a step by step process rather than one button click AI content generation.
Enhance with Rich Content: Include lists, tables, FAQs and add original images, videos, and infographics to complement the AI-generated text. This not only improves engagement but also adds a layer of authenticity and value.
Incorporate Unique Insights: Inject your personal or brand insights as well as tone of the content into the AI-generated content.
Use Insights to write AI content: This could include unique experiences, case studies, or proprietary data that AI cannot create on its own.
Use AI for Drafts: Utilize AI to generate initial drafts based on your specified keywords and content structure. Consider this a starting point rather than a final product.
Fact-Check and Edit: AI can sometimes generate inaccurate information. It's crucial to fact-check and edit the content thoroughly to ensure accuracy and credibility.
Maintain a Human Touch: Remember that AI lacks the human element of storytelling and emotion. Revise the content to include storytelling elements, emotional appeals, or humor where appropriate to make it more relatable and engaging.

Remember, the goal is to use AI as a tool to enhance your content strategy, not to replace the invaluable human touch that readers seek.

Kyle Roof