Google’s algorithm is updated regularly to improve the quality and relevancy of search results, improve user experience, combat spam, and handle evolving trends and technologies.
These changes have the potential to significantly impact website rankings and visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs). Depending on the type and extent of the upgrade, websites’ rankings may vary, resulting in an increase or drop in organic search traffic.
Over the years, Google has issued numerous important algorithm modifications, each with distinct emphasis and aims. Among the most notable algorithm improvements are:
February 2023 Product Review Update
The review system ensures visitors read useful and informative evaluations rather than summaries with little information. It assesses articles, blog entries, or similar content that provides suggestions, opinions, or analyses. It does not consider user reviews posted on product pages.
Product, movie, video game, or restaurant reviews are all acceptable. To analyze the reviews, the algorithm looks at the entire content of a page. The algorithm may examine the entire website if a website receives many reviews. However, without many reviews, it won’t perform a thorough examination.
The system supports English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, and Polish.
For website owners, it’s important to follow the guidelines provided to create good review content that matches what the system looks for. There are periodic updates to the system, and when there are significant changes, they are announced on the Google Search Status Dashboard. If an update affects a website, it may take until the next update for things to return to normal. However, remember that the reviews system is just one of many factors determining how content is ranked in search results, so that changes can happen for different reasons.
March 2023 Core Algorithm Update
Google periodically changes its search algorithms, which they call core updates. These updates are designed to improve how Google evaluates and ranks web pages to provide better search results. It’s like updating a list of top movies, where new movies are added, and some existing movies may change their position.
If your website’s ranking changes after a core update, it doesn’t mean you did anything wrong. Google is trying to improve how they assess content overall. Instead of trying to fix something specific, focus on creating high-quality, helpful, relatable, and reliable content. You can follow Google’s guidelines for creating good content.
To assess the impact of a core update on your website, look at the most affected pages and the types of searches they were related to. Compare your content to Google’s self-assessment questions and consider getting feedback from others who can give you an honest opinion.
Recovering from a core update can take time. Broad-core updates happen every few months, and improvements you make to your content may not show immediate results. Google also makes smaller updates that may help with recovery, although they may go unnoticed.
It’s important to remember that there is no guarantee of recovery, and your website’s position in search results is not fixed. If there are other web pages with better content, they will continue to rank higher. So, focus on creating valuable content that users will find helpful, increasing your chances of ranking well.
April 2023 Review Update
The update, referred to as the “reviews system,” now evaluates products and recommendations for services, destinations, games, movies, and more.
Google released a guide titled “Write high quality reviews” to assist publishers in understanding the criteria for good reviews and achieving better rankings. The update started on April 12, 2023, and concluded on April 25, 2023.
Websites affected by the update should assess their content and methods, particularly if reviews are present. The reviews system algorithm does not evaluate third-party reviews. Identifying affected keywords and pages is important to determine if traffic drops align with pages containing reviews. Genuine evaluations, personal experience, measurements, comparisons, and signals of expertise are crucial for positive rankings.
Notably, the review system does not update continuously, so ranking changes may not be immediately after implementing fixes. Seeking an unbiased opinion on the affected web pages is recommended if they appear fine to the site owner.
May 2023 Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update (Unconfirmed)
There may have been a recent release of an update to Google’s search ranking algorithm. The impact of this update became apparent on May 1, 2023. Still, it became even more noticeable on May 2, 2023, as many search engine optimization (SEO) professionals reported significant increases in website traffic and conversions.
Some SEO experts have observed a sudden decline in traffic, followed by an increase and another decline. Others have noticed no significant drops in traffic but have experienced lower conversion rates. Although the specifics of this situation are not entirely clear, there are suggestions that this unconfirmed update may be connected to the confirmed April 2023 Reviews Update.
Conclusion
The Google algorithm updates in 2023 focused on improving the quality of search results and content evaluation. The February Product Review Update aimed to provide users with more informative reviews, while the March Core Algorithm Update aimed to enhance how Google assesses and ranks web pages. The April Review Update further refined the reviews system for various types of content.
Website owners should follow Google’s guidelines for creating high-quality content and good reviews. Recovering from a core update may take time, so the focus should be on consistently providing valuable content. The unconfirmed May Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update may be related to the April Reviews Update, resulting in fluctuations in website traffic and conversions.
Staying informed about algorithm updates, adapting content strategies, and consistently providing valuable information are crucial to improve search engine rankings. If your website faces issues like traffic drop and SEO, we are here to help you.
