March 2024's much talked about Google Core Update is a hot topic among SEO practitioners due to innovative features such as extended deployment process, suspension of Helpful Content Updates (HCU), and quality issues in existing SERPs. It has become.
This update provides a new approach to evaluating page experience, an important aspect of search engine optimization. The analytical insights provided by Semrush, culled from countless SERPs, helped paint a clearer picture of how this update is changing the SERP landscape. These insights should be viewed as an educated interpretation and combined with other analytical tools for effective SEO management.
Understanding the role of HCU is difficult for many people. It's unclear whether HCU will be included or excluded from recent core updates, and the erratic pattern of rank fluctuations further muddies the picture. This complexity emphasizes the need for a deep understanding of core updates.
Measures of “peak volatility” typically provide a good framework for evaluating the impact of algorithm updates.
Assessing the SEO impact of Google's 2024 updates
However, it fell short of the March 2024 update. Distinguishing this update as “less volatile” purely on the basis of peak rank variation may underestimate the long-term uncertainty it caused.
Unlike previous updates, the March 2024 update brings a big move towards the bottom of “Page 1 of SERPs”. Some websites reported a significant drop in rankings at the top of the SERPs, but this is not a general trend observed after this update.
Several top websites saw targeted effects from the updates, even though there were no major changes. The specificity of this update's impact suggests that dramatic changes are not always obvious and subtle changes can have a large impact. The March 2024 update emphasizes the importance of regular data analysis and a deep understanding of SEO to effectively manage future updates.