Google’s November 2024 Core Update (Here We Go Again?)

I am a professional journalist, we were top of our niche industry news for 8 years and the HCU and subsequent updates have bombed us into the stoneage. We follow all the Google guidance and SEO good practices and nothing we do helps us to recover. 300k a month traffic to 30k in the space of one year...

*While some brave souls are reminding the other humans to be optimism, the general mood is bleak.

But let's get onto the generalities:

The latest Google Core Update has arrived, and it's stirring up significant changes in SEO. Google announced the November 2024 Core Update, a broad and impactful adjustment to their search algorithms that will roll out over the next two weeks. Here’s a closer look at what this update means, what you might expect to see in your rankings, and strategies to navigate potential changes effectively.

What is a Google Core Update?

Google core updates occur several times a year and are designed to improve the quality of search results by adjusting how websites are ranked. These updates don't target individual sites but are broader, reshuffling search results to better align with Google’s mission to deliver the most helpful and reliable information. As with previous updates, Google is evaluating websites' "core fundamentals" to ensure content serves users’ needs.

Core updates often create volatility within the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). This period of flux can impact rankings across industries, causing traffic gains for some websites and losses for others. Key tools like Semrush and Google Search Console can be invaluable for monitoring these changes and tracking the impact on your site.

Key Impacts of the November 2024 Update

With the November core update, you may notice fluctuations in search performance across your site, particularly within the first few weeks. Core updates usually roll out over a period of two to four weeks, meaning initial changes may not reflect the final impact. During this period, SERPs will likely remain volatile as Google recalibrates its algorithms.

Industries with Higher Volatility

Certain industries, like news and e-commerce, may experience higher volatility in their rankings, while others, such as health, may see moderate but still significant shifts. Monitoring the specific impact on your industry using tools like Semrush or Google’s own Search Console can provide a more focused view of what’s happening in your niche.

What to Do if Your Site is Impacted

Google’s guidance on core updates emphasizes creating content that is “helpful, reliable, and people-first.” Here’s a structured approach to managing a drop in rankings:

1. Wait and Assess: Avoid making drastic changes immediately. It’s common for rankings to fluctuate before stabilizing post-update. Give the update a couple of weeks to fully roll out, and only then assess the impact on your site.

2. Use Google Search Console for Analysis: After the rollout stabilizes, compare data from a week before the update with data from the week following its completion. Look for trends on specific pages or keywords that may have experienced changes in performance.

3. Self-Assessment of Content Quality: Google suggests assessing your content to ensure it is genuinely valuable to users. Here are some questions to ask yourself during this self-assessment:

   • Is the content insightful, unique, and well-produced?
   • Does it offer expert-level knowledge on the subject?
   • Are there any factual inaccuracies, spelling errors, or formatting issues?

4. Focus on Core Improvements Over “Quick Fixes”: Core updates aren’t about targeting specific elements like keywords or backlinks. Instead, they evaluate the overall quality and reliability of a website. Focus on meaningful improvements, such as better organization, readability, and user experience on your site.

5. Consider User Intent and Engagement: A big part of Google’s algorithm adjustments relates to delivering people-first content. Review if your pages answer user questions comprehensively and keep them engaged. Check for low dwell time or high bounce rates on affected pages, which could signal a mismatch between your content and user expectations.

6. Monitor Specific Content Types: If you see that only certain types of content, such as blog posts or product pages, are impacted, use this insight to further refine and optimize those areas. This step will help you determine whether Google perceives these pages as helpful and people-first.

Long-Term Recovery Strategies

Recovering from a drop due to a core update is rarely instant. It may take several months or even another core update for your changes to impact rankings positively. Here are some long-term strategies to consider:

1. Quality Over Quantity in Content Production: Instead of publishing new content frequently, focus on improving the quality and depth of existing content. Well-researched, insightful, and original content will stand a better chance of performing well after core updates.

2. Conduct a Comprehensive Site Audit: Use this opportunity to perform a full content and technical audit of your site. Fix broken links, improve page load speeds, and ensure mobile-friendliness. All of these factors contribute to Google’s assessment of your site’s “fundamentals.”

3. Check Out Competitor Performance: It can be helpful to observe if competitors in your space also saw ranking shifts. Use this data as a benchmark to see if your content, presentation, or user experience needs further improvement compared to industry peers.

4. Wait for the Next Core Update: Sometimes, if you've made meaningful improvements but haven’t yet seen positive movement, waiting for another core update may be necessary. Google’s algorithms need time to reassess your site and may require additional updates to confirm consistent improvements in content quality.

Takeaways for the November 2024 Core Update

Here’s a quick checklist of steps to take for the November 2024 core update:

• Track SERP Volatility: Use tools like Semrush and Google’s Search Console to monitor your site’s performance.
• Avoid Knee-Jerk Reactions: Wait until the update fully rolls out before making significant changes to your site.
• Do a Quality Self-Assessment: Focus on delivering insightful, reliable content that genuinely serves user needs.
• Prioritize Long-Term Changes: Consider comprehensive improvements rather than quick fixes.
• Stay Patient and Persistent: Core update recovery often takes months, so focus on sustainable quality improvements.

Building a foundation of high-quality, user-focused content is your best defense against fluctuations from Google core updates. But you already knew that. So, we guess the big idea is: don't compromise the foundations.