The Gist
- SEOs share woes. SEO experts share concerns over how Google’s updates have — and will continue — to impact them.
- Inside Google’s Summit. At the latest Web Creator Summit, Google employees discussed volatility and the path forward.
- How to deal. Experts share tips on how to protect your content from Google’s latest algorithm updates.
SEOs, are you ready for some excitement?
Google has released yet another core update, the November 2024 core update. It’s the third core update of the year, amid a slew of other improvements around spam and helpful content.
What will this update look like, and what should content creators do to minimize volatility around rankings and traffic?
Inside the November 2024 Core Update
The update was released on Nov. 11 and could take up to two weeks to fully roll out.
This update will continue to build on the goal of improving search results, according to the search giant. That means prioritizing content that people find genuinely useful and giving less reach to content that feels like it was made just to perform well on search — a problem that’s likely gotten worse with the widespread availability of generative AI.
This news comes on the heels of Google’s recent Web Creator Summit, which was held on Oct. 29 at the Googleplex in Mountain View, California. There, many content creators voiced their concerns about Google updates impacting their website traffic.
Google’s Helpful Content Update (HCU) was a big part of the discussion, according to PPC Land. Many attendees said they experienced significant drops in rankings and traffic despite creating content that Google claimed it wanted.
This core update is supposedly a response to these concerns, though Google claimed that those impacted by the HCU shouldn’t expect an immediate recovery.
Related Article: State of SEO: Google Search Algorithm Updates for 2024
Content Creators See Major Volatility Amid Updates
Many SEOs feel at a loss for what they can do to ensure their content ranks well on search and pulls in traffic. Despite seemingly following Google’s guidelines for helpful and user-centric content, it can feel like a shot in the dark whether an article or video will meet the right standards.
“Google’s core algorithm updates have been both more frequent and more momentous in their impact in recent months, though their goals are usually stated so vaguely, as is the case with the November update, that it can be difficult to understand how to react,” said Damian Rollison, director of market insights at SOCi.
Google claims that content should be written to help humans and not just rank, he continued. “But the actual impact of recent updates has been to adjust the weight given to sites like Forbes, who have been using their massive domain authority to dominate search results outside their traditional areas of influence, in comparison to smaller sites with authentic niche expertise.”
Marina Bautina, CMO at Mangools, added that you shouldn’t panic right away during any Google update rollout. “Volatility is quite normal, and it’s impossible to evaluate the state of your website (SEO-wise) until the update is completely rolled out.”
In this case, she explained, it might take two or more weeks for the update to finish. Once it is, you can start evaluating the ranking performance of your site.
Can SEOs Protect Their Content From Update Impacts?
Google’s core updates have, and will, steadily make it more difficult for content that’s shallow, AI-generated or manipulative to succeed long-term, said Gareth Cunningham, director of search experience at Mod Op.
Instead, he noted, brands that want to maintain rankings and traffic during times of update volatility should focus on creating content that serves your audience’s true needs.
“Prioritize quality over shortcuts — or dare I say, mass AI-generated content,” Cunningham said. “Avoid quick fixes or trying to outsmart the system; instead, build trust, demonstrate expertise and keep refining your content to stay aligned with user intent. Consistency, intent, authenticity and value are your best tools for long-term success.”
Bautina added that content creators should try to better understand what users actually want to see when they use Google Search, something you can do by studying the highest-ranking content.
“It doesn’t really matter whether we are talking about informational, transactional or commercial search queries: If your content, on-page SEO and UX aspects are better and more useful than others, the page will receive a ranking boost, and vice versa,” she said.
Whether your site sees big changes due to this latest algorithm update or not, it wouldn’t hurt to also diversify where your traffic comes from. While Google is the champion of search today, a lot of new possibilities — like ChatGPT Search — are on the horizon.