Google March Core Update 2023

Google is already rolling out the March 2023 Core Update—and it’s taking the search engine results pages by storm.

The update is the first broad core update Google released for 2023, a six-month gap since the last broad core update, the September 2022 Core Update, took off.

Google’s March Core Update Announcement

Google announced the March core update on Twitter and released an official update through its search updates page.

“Today we released the March 2023 core update. We’ll update our ranking release history page when the rollout is complete.” The core algorithm rollout will take up to two weeks, via Google Search Central.

March 2023 Core Update: The Details

Google regularly releases algorithm updates to improve, refine, and advance how it detects quality content and understands user intent.

Those algorithm updates, in turn, deliver relevant, intuitive, and high-quality results that address user intent and deliver actual value.

But as every SEO and site owner knows, algorithm updates modify how Google crawls, evaluates, and ranks websites in SERPs. Some updates even change page rankings drastically.

SEO specialists and site owners are vying to get ahead of the competition, especially during algorithm updates and Google refreshes. Without an ongoing SEO strategy, your website’s organic growth won’t pay off in the face of an ever-changing search platform.

Staying afloat means adapting to industry changes. That said, here is everything we know so far about the March 2023 Core Update:

  • Name: Google March 2023 Broad Core Update
  • Release Date: March 15, 2023, around 10:30 am ET
  • Rollout: About two weeks to complete 
  • Targets: Data indicates it affects all types of content
  • Penalty: Not a penalty, but will significantly reward excellent pages
  • Global: Yes. It has a global impact and affects all languages.

Impact: No specific data has been reported, but search communities report that this update affects wide and fast. It also affects position zero placements, such as featured snippets and Google Discover.

Recovery: If you notice massive dips in traffic and ranking after the release date, you’re likely impacted by the update. Note that this is not a penalty, and you can recover by improving overall content quality and performing a site audit to see if you can perform better with the Google Core Update in mind.

Refreshes: Google has a track record of unannounced core update refreshes. We can only expect a few periodic refreshes but like other unconfirmed Google updates, it may happen unannounced.

A Google Core Update is a golden opportunity for SEO specialists to put your SEO planning in motion. 

Here is some advice from our experts if you want to take advantage of the update:

Use Time to Your Advantage

Algorithm updates take weeks to take effect. You can use that time to your advantage by fine-tuning your site’s front and back end before Google’s crawlers index and evaluate your pages. It’s a race against the machine, so you must perform quality SEO as soon as possible.

The Numbers, Admin. What do they mean?

Notice a new trend in your traffic and ranking? If it took off or dipped on the same day the update was released, it may signal a need to improve many key areas of your overall SEO campaign.

We’re discussing refreshing old content, updating your sitemap, checking for proper link tags, and assessing your overall search visibility.

Quality is King

Google releases core algorithm updates to improve search results pages and reward sites with valuable content. As a site owner, that means creating content that matches search intent and is tailored to your customer’s needs.

Small Details Go a Long Way

Think about your website’s technical factors. How fast does it load? Is it mobile-friendly? Is it well-organised that crawling won’t be a massive task?

Your site’s technical aspects and optimisation go a long way in determining how you rank against the next best page. Give your website’s technical SEO the TLC it deserves and you’ll be rewarded ten-fold for your effort and resources.

Have Your Rankings Been Impacted?

If you noticed a downward trend after the update, don’t fret. It doesn’t mean you messed up something on your site. But it doesn’t mean you’re in the clear anyway.

Dropping from the ranks after the March 2023 Core Update means Google found higher-ranking sites are performing better than yours. There aren’t any specifics on how to recover your position, but a drop means there’s a lot of room for improvement.

Moreover, Google stated that you might notice some recovery between core updates. But massive changes will likely occur after another core update. 

Google Core Updates Moving Forward

Most Google Search results change whenever Google updates its ranking algorithm. You’ll know whether you can do better or worse with your SEO whenever a Google update goes live.

Moreover, knowing when the updates took off gives you a timecode to benchmark whether the changes in analytics were because of what you changed in your site or what Google changed in its algorithm.

Now that you know about Google’s March 2023 Core Update, we recommend tracking your analytics and anticipating traffic, trends, and ranking changes over the next few weeks.

A dedicated SEO team should help you monitor your progress and see whether your site benefits or drops after the core update. Speak with our SEO specialists today, and find out how to grow your reach with SEO.

February Product Reviews Update completed rolling out

The February 2023 product reviews update just completed its rollout last March 7. This is a massive core update, as discussed in our previous post, in which we laid grounds and tips on how you can optimise your site for this update.

Previous Google Core Updates

Google announced the September Core Update last September 12, 2022, which complemented the Helpful Content Update. The rollout was completed on September 26 and brought less impact than the May 2022 Broad Core Update.

You can check out our blog posts on recent algorithm updates below.

Written by

Hans Andrew Consuegra

Hans Andrew Consuegra is a Content Specialist at Red Search. Andrew has over 4 years of experience producing creative content copies for various major industries including finance, health and media. He plays a core role in assisting the senior SEO team and is instrumental in the success of all his clients.

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