Google is the king of SERPs; it is the ultimate power that decides who gets to stay on top and who goes down. Google keeps updating its algorithm, which eventually plays a massive role in search engine optimization results.
This year, Google rolled out four updates regarding product reviews, reviews, and core updates. According to Google, these updates help provide the most relevant information to the users.
Google made its decision public on Twitter, letting its users know of the incoming changes. Here are all Google Algorithm Updates in 2023 so far :
February 2023 Product Reviews Update
Google launched the Product Reviews Update on February 21, and the rollout was completed on March 7.
Google has always been strict about Product Review articles, highlighting only those with accurate, authentic information. With the February 2023 Product Review update, you will see more authentic and personal review content above and beyond the similar review articles in search results.
The update also impacted comparison reviews and ranked lists.
Volatility: February 2023 Product Reviews Updated exhibited a peak volatility score of 5.4
How to Bounce Back?
If the Product Reviews Update affected your content, Google suggests two practices for improving the ranking:
- Add more multimedia like pictures, videos, and audio showing your experience with the product.
- Provide links to multiple sellers, allowing users to choose the seller.
This recent update is the sixth product review update and the first applied to languages other than English. This update applies to English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Portuguese, Russian, and Polish.
March 2023 Core Algorithm Update
Core updates are a consistent part of Google’s transformation over the years, and the March 2023 Core Update was quite an impactful one.
The update started rolling out on March 15 and took 13 days to complete; it ended on March 28, 2023.
Like previous core updates, the March 2023 Core Update focused on pushing high-value content up on the search results. It targeted all types of content in all regions and languages. This update impacted ranked articles, featured snippets, Google Discover, and more.
While Google did not directly mention a penalty for low-quality content, it shook the rankings gigantically. It offered a solid push to previously lower-ranking articles, bringing 8.7% of results on position 20 or lower to the top 10 results.
This update impacted Shopping, Arts and Entertainment, Business and Industrial, and Internet and Telecom the most.
Volatility: March 2023 Core Update presented a volatility score of 8.2
How to Bounce Back?
Core updates often hit high-ranking content badly, pushing it to the lower end. If your content has deranked after the March 2023 Core Update, you can improve your search ranking by:
- Studying the top-ranking search results and updating your content accordingly
- Focusing on the E-E-A-T (Expertise, Experience, Authority, and Trustworthiness) Guidelines instead of focusing on content solely. The authority and expertise of the content and website impact the search results significantly.
- Do not overdo SEO. Difficult-to-read content with keyword stuffing is most likely to be affected by core updates in the future as well.
April 2023 Reviews Update
Just after over a month of rolling the Products Reviews Update in February, Google launched its April 2023 Reviews Update on April 12. This update took 13 days and completed on April 25, 2023.
Google changed the name of its ‘Product Reviews System’ to ‘Reviews System’ to include all types of review content on the search engine. Now, it also impacts:
- Media
- Services and businesses
- Destinations
The new update affected 72% of rankings compared to 49% in the February 2023 Product Reviews update.
Volatility: April 2023 Reviews Updated exhibited a high volatility score between 5 and 8.
How to Bounce Back?
Google shared some insights into making your review content more suitable for high ranking:
- Evaluate from the user’s perspective
- Prove your expertise regarding the product
- Provide multimedia proofs, such as images, videos, audio, or other links of your experience
- Cover comparable metrics
- Compare the product with previous models
- Provide links to multiple merchants
- Mention in detail why you think a product is the best
August 2023 Core Update
Google is on a roll with four major updates in seven months this year. Reports have also shown a higher-than-normal SERP activity for the past month without a break.
Google launched the second core update of 2023 on August 22, 2023, after the first update in March.
This core update is another, more scrutinized step in bringing high-quality content to the top of search results. If your content is down in SERPs, it could be because of this new update.
How to Bounce Back?
If this update impacts your search engine ranking negatively, the following can help you bounce back:
- Focusing on the quality of your content
- Following the E-E-A-T guidelines and building authority
- Writing for humans, and not search engines
- Analyzing your competitors and updating your content
It typically takes Google two weeks to complete an update, and the August 2023 Core Update is still in process. Google Search Central posted on X that they will update the ranking release history page when the rollout is complete.
Dingo Digital understands Google Updates can be detrimental to SERPs, and our SEO experts would be happy to analyze and offer feedback for improvement. Our team is adept at finding and filling the gaps to help our clients scale their businesses.
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