If you’re concerned about The latest GooglE MARCH update 2024 and how it could impact your site, then read this! IN the article you’ll discover who’s at risk and how to ensure your website flourishes through the core update and beyond.
Contents: Jump to a Section
- 1 What Is The Goal Of The Google March 2024 Algorithm Update?
- 2 What Types Of Websites Might Be Affected?
- 3 How To Check Your Website’s Health
- 4 Help! My Website Has Been Hit!
- 5 What Do I do If I Have Been Hit By Google March 2024 Update.
- 6 Conclusion
Pictured Above: Jeremy LaBrooy & Candice Taylor from Marketing Now, attending an SEO Meetup at Google Headquarters in Melbourne on 20 March 2024.
What Is The Goal Of The Google March 2024 Algorithm Update?
Simply put, the main purpose behind Google’s March 2024 Core Update is to filter websites that are focused on quality, originality, and value and those that are not.
As such, Google is rewarding websites with original, high quality content that is helpful for it’s users and penalising websites that are using spammy, low-quality and irrelevant content. This may include duplicate content and AI written content.
We are advising website owners to prioritise their efforts to improve website content and maintain content to the highest standard to avoid penalties.
Google is continually adjusting its algorithm to improve search quality and user experience.
What Types Of Websites Might Be Affected?
Websites with low-quality, irrelevant, or spammy content are at risk. Since ChatGPT launched in Nov 2022, the use of AI to produce content has increased exponentially. There were mixed points of view about how Google might react. I think it’s clear the results are in.
While it is possible to write highly detailed prompts to make AI content, helpful and more human-like, caution must be exercised if new web content is to prevail on Google search results.
How To Check Your Website’s Health
These days it’s almost a MUST to have the Google tool Google Search Console set up for your website. It encourages site owners to monitor their site’s performance closely and it’s not hard to set up. Marketing Now can set this up for you, just drop us a line.
Help! My Website Has Been Hit!
Google is going all in and some of the penalties have been brutal.
Google Is Completely Deindexing Websites
Google’s job is to provide helpful, relevant content for its users. That’s you and me, in case you missed that. How would you respond if you Googled something and nothing in the top 5 search results had anything to do with what you searched for?
In the past year and a half, there has been a drastic increase of web content, just because it’s quick, easy and free to produce. That doesn’t make it helpful, relevant or useful to us as seekers of information.
So Google is saying “Bye, Bye” to those websites and completely removing them from the Google index. Harsh? Maybe, maybe not.
You must focus on improving content quality, enhancing user experience, and adhering to Google’s webmaster guidelines.
Google is Acting Swifty
Penalties like de-indexing and putting sites in the ‘sandbox’ are happening thick and fast. Many site owners are finding their websites deindexed, highlighting the severity of the update’s impact.
Websites With Outdated Content and Filled With Errors Are Vulnerable
Websites with outdated, old and irrelevant content are prone to being penalised. If your site has errors (these could also be Technical SEO errors), or boasts AI-generated content then your website is also vulnerable.
Google is stressing the importance of your content being accurate and current.
Websites That Survived Previous Updates Are Not Immune
There have been website that have escaped penalties from previous Google algorithm updates. This March 24 Core Update is quite a big update that could rival previous updates in size.
What Do I do If I Have Been Hit By Google March 2024 Update.
You need to take action as soon as possible.
Log into your Google Search Console and look for messages, announcements or suggestions from Google. They’re actually trying to help you now. (Not like 15 years ago when they were very cryptic 🙂)
Use a Free Tool Like Screaming Frog and crawl your website to see all of your urls. EXPORT your URLS to a Google sheet and go through them one by one.
Ask yourself – Is my content and this information:
- Still relevant and current today
- Actually helpful for website visitors who are visiting my site now (not 5 years ago)
If not, then you need to edit and update it or completely delete it. (Don’t forget to 301 redirect the page URL you are deleting to another relevant page or the home page.
AI Content must be edited, lengthened by a human writer, rewritten or deleted.
Conclusion
If you are still having challenges, call us at Marketing Now. All of our sites, including our SEO client websites have not been affected to date and are still ranking highly. In fact many have jumped up the rankings and are dominating the top 3 positions in Google.