SEOs need to know which update did what to which site (March 2024 Core Update or March 2024 Spam Update) and what the site should and shouldn't do. You've already guessed about it.
This is a little dangerous.
Meanwhile, Google We urge SEOs to be patient and wait for this to unfold.. Google isn't pulling your chain. There's a ton of volatility and a ton of reversals going on at the moment.
What I'm about to share is purely anecdotal, but I've been digging into the nitty-gritty of these updates for some time.
This is what I'm seeing. While we wait for this to finish, we hope this helps explain a little about the March 2024 Core Update.
March 2024 Core Update Catchup
Google said the March 2024 update is expected to be longer and “will result in more fluctuations in rankings than regular core updates.”
The first major spike in rank volatility occurred on March 9th. Since then, his two additional peaks so far have been on March 15th and on the 19th.
However, that doesn't mean that every time a “subspike” occurs, a “new set” of ranking moves occurs. Not only is this very common, but it's essentially a rule where a secondary spike within a core update results in a widespread reversal of rank changes initiated on the update front.
How many times have you seen a site that was “successful” at the beginning of an update, only to be destroyed towards the end of the update?
The March 2024 Core Update is likely to feature various reversals as the update is longer and more complex than usual.
Massive rank reversal
No, not all of the rank changes seen in the March 2024 Core Update will be reversed. Sites are increasing and sites are decreasing. Some of these rank trajectories will eventually reverse, while others will stick.
Above, the recent “sub-spike” in volatility did not reverse anything further, highlighting the decline in the URL's initial ranking.
Caveats aside, the subspikes in volatility seen on March 15th and 19th resulted in a notable amount of reversal.
Here are some examples of Allstate dropping keyword rankings: free car insurance. I was obviously surprised when I saw the first rank hit for my domain for this keyword on March 9th.
Lo and behold, there was a rebound on March 19th, followed by a fall on March 20th, but another rebound on March 21st.
Below, miceavers.com shows a spike before the update (in parentheses, it's very common to see sites that show a sharp change in rank before the update, followed by a reversal).
We can clearly see that the initial volatility spike in the March 2024 core update reverses the pre-update spike. However, the downward trend reversed just a few days later.
In this case, we see the same pattern unfolding at the domain level.
As a side note, this site boasts one of the worst UXs I've seen in a long time. It's nostalgic in a morbid way.
At the same time, it seems to provide a wealth of information. We can (largely) speculate that this reversal is a battle between UX and content (or maybe it's just a reversal without any deeper meaning at this point).
For Illinois Department of Public Health keyword rankings oral cancer risk factors, This reversal dropped the site completely outside the top 20 for two days.
After seeing a reversal on March 18th, the site dropped completely outside the top 20 on March 19th, and again on March 21st.
For the record, not all reversals completely restore rank. In the case of this dental site, the drop in rankings seen at the start was reversed on March 19th, but the site only moved back half way up the SERP compared to its previous ranking.
At the domain level, the reversal on March 19 brought us a little closer to previous performance.
The same applies if you lose your position due to a reversal.
Just because a reversal shows a loss, as in the case below, doesn't mean the ranking loss will send the URL back to square one…yet (or not, who knows at this point? !).
I could go on with these cases forever, but then my kids wouldn't have a father and no updates would be more important than your kids (therein lies the life lesson about SEO).
weird volatility
Apart from traditional inversions, I've seen some downright strange behavior. This is totally widespread, but it's certainly a more common pattern than in previous core updates (at least it was the one I saw).
Check this:
You may be asking yourself, “What on earth am I looking at?”
Google is essentially replacing the entire result set, at least after position 20.
A connecting line means that a rank of 20 or higher continues from one day to the next.
In the image above, I only counted four such lines (but I'm not very good at counting).
In fact, we see this pattern stick around for three days. That means Google rebalanced almost his entire SERP not once, not twice, but three times. Many of the URLs that ranked on March 18th disappeared on the 19th, and some reappeared on his 20th.
We've seen this before. However, I have often seen SERPs filled with YouTube URLs and Google shuffling them around on a daily basis. This is not such a case.
It's not a one-time thing either. I've seen this pattern several times before.
This is another similar (though slightly less severe) instance.
This thing isn't over yet – take it slow.
What does this mean?
This is a long-term unstable update.
As I mentioned earlier, Google isn't pulling on your chain to tell you to stay calm and be patient.
If you look at some of the sites and pages I have listed here, you will see that there will be many more reversals before this is all said and done.
The same goes for your or your client's site. It is too early to try to figure out where you stand on this issue.
So even though I'm not that Although it's actually older than I remember, this catchy slogan still applies today as the March 2024 core update continues to roll out. “Buckle up for safety and always buckle up.”
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily those of Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.