Decoding Google's August 2023 Core Update: Unveiling SEO Opportunities

Google Search Central recently announced the release of the August 2023 core update, which is going to be the second broad core update of this year. The previous Google Core update started on March 15 and ended on the 28th of March 2023.

The second update, i.e. the August 2023 core update started on August 22, 2023, and is expected to roll out for two weeks (as per a tweet by Google Search Central). With this update, Google aims to ensure that users receive the most relevant and useful results. 

This Google algorithm update can impact the search engine rankings positively or negatively. However, Google specifically states that a lowered performance doesn’t imply any issue with your website content or structure.

It is more about the relevance and quality content on your website. As of now, this core update doesn’t seem to have a very significant impact on the rankings. However, Google has stated that the ranking release history page will be updated once the rollout is complete. 

Key Points About Google’s Core SEO Update of August 2023

The SEO team at MadHawks has been keeping an eye on this update since it started. We will keep you informed on how Google’s core SEO update of 2023 will impact SEO results. For now, below are some key points noted by our team:

1. Improving The Relevance of Search Engine Results

With this core SEO update, Google is focussing on improving the relevance of search engine results. This core update is aimed at providing users with the most useful results when they look for something in the Google search. Websites or pages with more reliable and helpful content are more likely to gain better rankings. 

2. Rankings May Get Affected in a Positive or Negative Manner

The pages that were low-ranked earlier, might gain higher visibility and the ones with top ranking might observe a drop in their performance. Again, it depends on the quality and relevance of content available on a website.

It is also possible for a website to not get impacted at all. Though there is no information about the number or percentage of searches impacted by this update so far, you can expect a wide and fast impact.

3. Focusing on Content Quality Rather Than Technical Fixes

If your website’s SEO performance goes down during or after this update, it is advisable to focus on improving the content quality.

A decline in the performance or rankings after Google’s August core update does not indicate that something is wrong with your site’s structure or technical configuration. According to Google, it instead implies that you need to improve and update your website content.

4. Not Targeting any Specific Niche or Location

This Google core update is not targeting any specific niche or website. It is a global update that will impact all the websites irrespective of the region and the language. 

5. Recovery Time: Better Performance is Not Guaranteed

If your website gets impacted negatively by this Google algorithm update, it may take a few months to recover and get back to its previous performance level.

However, Google also states that it is not guaranteed that your page will perform better than it was performing earlier even if you take all the measures suggested by Google (listed below).

Google will update this algorithm periodically, which may result in positive impacts on the pages that have seen a decline.

How To Improve Your Site’s Search Performance?

If your website gets hit by Google’s August 2023 core update, you need to look at your website content and consider the following advice from Google and our SEO team:

• Look at the pages whose performance has gone down and check for the search terms that brought people to those pages.

• There are no specific actions that you need to take to recover. Just focus on optimizing your content and making it more relevant to your target audience rather than going for technical fixes.

• Check the questions provided on Google’s help page, compare your website content with their answers, and see if you can do something to improve.

• For non-performing pages, you can use the Google Webmaster tool. Filter out the relevant search terms and optimize your website content according to these keywords.

Be Patient & Focus The Content Quality

While Google’s August 2023 core update rolls out, it is advisable for the SEO community to be patient and not panic if the rankings go down.

Instead of going for quick technical fixes, focus on improving the quality of your website content and optimizing it as per the relevant search terms. As the update is still rolling, we will keep coming up with the relevant information and updates. Stay Tuned!

Ref: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-launches-august-2023-core-update/494473/