Do you know about the recent Google Core Update 2023 that was just rolled out? There’s still time to fully realise the impact of this rollout. But, here are some immediate effects that have taken place.
Did you see a change in your eCommerce website’s traffic? If you barely noticed anything – Good! Google is happy about your content. But if you did see some fluctuations, this basic guide is for you.
What is a Core Update, and how should you prepare?
Let’s find out.
Google Broad Core Update 2023 – What is it?
Google is the world’s most used search engine with 91% of Internet users choosing Google as its preferred search engine.
Since billions are defending upon this search engine for solutions and answers to their needs, it’s not a surprise that Google will want to keep evaluating its content database and algorithm.
Think of these “Core Updates” as maintenance periods for the search engine. Usually, Google has a couple of core updates in a year.
In 2023, there was a major Core Update in March. The second (more awaited) Core Update took place on August 22 and finished 16 days later.
This particular core update wanted to face its biggest challenge ever: Content generated with AI tools.
With AI, making content at scale has become easy. It has been a challenge for Google to differentiate between AI content and human-written content. But instead, it is choosing to focus on – what content is the most helpful.
Sectors that it impacted the most
The Core Updates usually impact rankings for millions of websites across the search engine.
We have to remember, that a Core Update can cause a thousand different reasons for your website to change its ranking position. This is why pinpointing a specific error/problem with your website can be tough.
But if we analyse the sectors that saw volatility during the Core Update and the consequent slip/gain in rankings – we can see some helpful trends.
Here are the winners and losers for the August Core Update according to the Sistrix Visibility Index Score:
Increased visibility:
- User-generated websites like Reddit saw an impressive increase in their visibility score after the update.
- Google rewards websites that have content that reflects real lived experiences like travel blogs or product review sites.
- Health websites, official government websites and education sites saw an impressive increase.
Decreased visibility:
- Websites leveraging parasite SEO saw losses
- Music and lyrics websites also dropped in their visibility scores
- The news category saw a decline as well
Now we know what kind of content was rewarded and what kind of content will push you away from the first pages of Google. So, where does your eCommerce website fall? And how should you prepare for future Broad Core Updates?
3 things to know about the impact on your eCommerce website
1. Refresh your content according to SEO
Google will always reward content that is ‘helpful’ and of high quality.
So when you are writing content for your website, these are the things that you should keep in mind for SEO:
a. Identify keywords for your online business. Use Ubersuggest, Ahref, Semrush etc. to see which keywords have a higher search volume and then sprinkle those across your website. Here is more on choosing the correct keywords.
b. Keep relevant content. The information on your website should match what your website promises to do, and the keywords that you have used.
For example: If you have an online store that sells purses online, you would need to make sure content related to buying purses, purse quality, purse material etc. are clearly expressed.
c. Show expertise. Embed blogs that tell the user how much you know about the product you are selling. Also, get backlinks from trusted websites.
d. Show authenticity and trustworthiness by including reviews and testimonials.
Here is our complete guide on impactful SEO practices for eCommerce business owners.
2. Track analytics that matter
During the core updates, it’s natural for websites to see some volatility. After the rollout is complete, you should start seeing changes to your website rankings.
During and after the rollout, track analytics that really matter.
On Google Analytics, check for:
- Which pages are performing well, and which pages have dropped
- Check for overall traffic and organic traffic sessions
- Check for an increase/decrease in new users
- See what the bounce rate is like
- Analyse page speed with this tool
With Instamojo, you can see analytics for your online store right on your dashboard. Here is a short tutorial.
3. Don’t jump to conclusions
It’s easy to blame the giant after you see your rankings drop. It is also easy to panic.
Here’s what you do instead when you hear about a similar Google Core Update:
- If your website traffic is showing a sudden change, check week-over-week, month-over-month, and year-over-year trends. Your traffic changes might just be seasonal.
- Google also cleans up irrelevant keywords that your website might have been ranking for. So that is necessarily not a bad thing. You should focus on keywords that match your target audience’s pain points.
- Participate in audience conversations on community platforms to see what words they like using when searching or talking about their problems.
- Do a cursory quality check across all your landing pages. This means, cleaning up links that are broken, cleaning up the navigation menu, etc.
If you still see a sharp drop in your traffic after this broad Core Update, talk to a professional.
If you have a free online store on Instamojo, reach out to us with your queries on website speed and traffic at storesupport@instamojo.com
