The Google Core Updates are significant changes to Google’s core algorithm that affect how the search engine evaluates and ranks websites in its search results. These changes usually have a considerable impact on the rankings, causing some pages improve their positioning or drop significantly in search results.

In this article, we’ll explore in depth what a Google Core Update is, how it works, how it can affect SEO, and what steps you can take to minimize the negative impact of these changes on your site.

1. What is a Google Core Update?

A Google Core Update is a major update to Google’s core algorithm. Unlike other minor updates that may focus on specific aspects, such as site speed or penalizing low-quality links, a core update affects multiple ranking factors simultaneously. Google rolls out these changes several times a year, usually without notice.

Why does Google perform Core Updates?

Google has one central goal: to offer users the best possible search experience by displaying relevant, trustworthy, and high-quality content. Core Updates are carried out to improve the accuracy with which Google evaluates content, adjusting its algorithm as user behavior changes, new spam tactics are identified, or artificial intelligence processes are improved.

2. How do Core Updates work?

Although Google does not reveal the exact details of its algorithms, there are some general aspects that are known to affect ranking changes:

  1. Content Relevance: Core Updates typically adjust how Google interprets the relevance of content to certain search queries. This may mean changes in the importance you place on things like user search intent, content depth, and usefulness.
  2. E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness): One of the key factors that affects many Core Updates is the concept of E-A-T, what does it mean Experience, Authority and Reliability. Google seeks to elevate content that comes from reliable sources and experts in their field. Therefore, websites with a good reputation and accurate content can benefit from these changes.
  3. Content Quality: Google analyzes whether the content is original, in-depth, and well-researched. Pages with duplicate, superficial, or content that does not add value to users are often negatively affected.
  4. User Experience (UX): Core Updates can also include changes that enhance the user experience. This includes page loading speed, ease of navigation, and mobile-friendliness of the site.

3. How Does a Google Core Update Affect Web Positioning?

A Google Core Update can cause significant fluctuations in rankings. The effects can be positive, neutral or negative, depending on how Google evaluates the content and quality of a site compared to its competitors.

Common Impacts of a Google Core Update

  1. Keyword Visibility Changes: After a core update, some keywords may gain or lose positions in search results. This can affect a site’s organic traffic.
  2. Variations in organic traffic: If a website rises in the rankings for relevant keywords, you will see an increase in organic traffic. However, if it goes down, you may experience a significant drop in the number of visits.
  3. Stronger competition: Some competing sites may have made improvements to their content or SEO strategies, which may cause them to rank higher after a core update.

4. Notable Examples of Google Core Updates

To better understand the impact of these changes, let’s look at some important examples:

Google Medical Update (2018)

This core update significantly affected sites related to health and wellness. Google started giving more weight to E-A-T, especially for pages classified as Your Money, Your Life (YMYL), which include topics that may affect the user’s health, finances or safety.

Google June Core Update (2019)

This core update had an impact on multiple industries and on sites that published content of dubious quality. Google adjusted the way it valued content quality, prioritizing relevant and trustworthy information.

Google May 2020 Core Update

This was one of the largest and most significant. In the midst of the pandemic, Google implemented changes to improve the relevance of content to emerging queries and to adapt to users’ new search needs.

5. What to do if a Google Core Update Negatively Affects your Site?

If you have experienced a drop in rankings after a core update, it is important to remember that Google rarely penalizes specific websites, and if so you can try to get it corrected. decriminalize your website. Instead, it adjusts the importance of factors that determine the quality and relevance of the content. Here are some recommended actions:

1. Evaluate Existing Content

  • Check Quality: Make sure your content is deep, informative and relevant. Avoid superficial and duplicate content.
  • Improve Search Intent: Aligns content with the user’s search intent. Clearly answer questions users might have.
  • Update Information: Keep content fresh, especially on topics that change frequently.

2. Focus on E-A-T

  • Author Authority: Make sure the articles are written by experts on the topic. Provides information about the author’s experience.
  • Trusted Source: Cite reliable sources and use data supported by evidence.
  • Transparency: Include an “About Us” page detailing who is behind the site and what its mission is.

3. Improve User Experience (UX)

  • Mobile Optimization: Make sure your site is fully optimized for mobile devices.
  • Loading Speed: Reduce page load times using tools like Google PageSpeed ​​Insights.
  • Intuitive Navigation: Simplifies the site’s navigation structure to make it easier to find information.

4. Check Links and Backlinks

  • Quality External Links: Encourage the creation of backlinks from authority sites in your sector.
  • Remove Toxic Links: Use tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to identify low-quality links that may affect domain authority.

5. Monitor and Adjust

  • Use SEO Tools: Tools such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console and Moz allow you to analyze changes in site performance.
  • Monitor Competition: Analyze what competitors who have risen in the rankings after a core update are doing.
  • A/B testing: Perform tests to determine which changes improve performance and which do not.

6. General Tips to Protect Yourself from Core Updates

  1. Publish Quality Content: Focus on creating original, detailed and well-structured content.
  2. Optimize E-A-T: Reinforce expertise, authority, and trustworthiness in all the content you publish.
  3. Do SEO Audits: Conduct regular audits to ensure the site complies with technical SEO best practices.
  4. Stay Informed: Follow reliable sources in the sector such as Search Engine Journal, moz and Search Engine Land to be aware of changes to the algorithm.
  5. Listen to Google Guidelines: Check the Google Search Quality Guides, which explains the factors that human evaluators consider important.
  6. Trust in a SEO Agency professional who can benefit from any update to improve the positioning of your website.