Google's March 2024 core update is now done rolling out, it started on March 5, 2024 and completed 45 days later on April 19, 2024.
The March 2025 Core Update was a broad and significant update aimed at improving the quality of search results. It targeted websites with poor content, bad user experiences, spammy backlinks, and those that misused expired domains. Additionally, it focused on sites that did not follow E-E-A-T guidelines, which stand for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. The main purpose of this update was to improve overall search quality by reducing unhelpful content by 45%, ensuring that users find more valuable and reliable information when they search online.
The March 2024 Core Update indicates a shift toward prioritizing genuine, insightful, and user-centric content. This means websites should provide valuable information that genuinely helps people rather than just trying to attract clicks or manipulate search rankings. In other words, if you create content that is well-researched, insightful, and truly useful to your audience, it’s more likely to rank higher in search results. The update encourages website owners to focus on quality over quantity, ensuring that users have a positive experience when they visit their sites.
What should I do if my website is hit by the March 2024 Core Update?
If your website was hit by the March 2024 Core Update, here are key steps you can take to recover:
Steps to Recover from the March 2024 Core Update:
If your website was impacted by the March 2024 Core Update, taking strategic actions can help you recover—not immediately, but definitely—as long as you adhere to search engine guidelines. Here are some key steps to follow:
- Gather All Affected Pages: Identify and list all pages on your website that were impacted by the update.
- Improve Content Quality: Remove any duplicate, copied, or AI-generated content. Focus on publishing high-quality, well-researched, genuine, insightful, and user-centric content.
- Avoid Using Expired Domains: Redirecting expired domains to your main site for link benefits can be risky and may harm your SEO or create other issues. Stick with your original website and focus on building quality content and links naturally.
- Enhance Your Backlink Profile: Disavow links from sites negatively impacted by core updates. Aim to acquire backlinks from high-quality, authoritative, and reputable sites within your niche.
- Optimize According to E-E-A-T: Ensure your content is useful, reliable, and of high quality, which can lead to better rankings and an improved user experience.
- Request a Review: Once you have made the necessary changes, consider requesting a review of your site to reassess its standing.
Important FAQs related to the March 2024 Core Update
FAQs aim to help website owners and SEO professionals understand the update’s implications and take necessary actions to improve their site’s performance.