Google Core Updates: what to expect

As of August 2024, we experienced the most recent Google Core Update, which was fully rolled out on September 3rd, 2024.  Like previous core updates, this was designed to ensure that searchers receive both helpful and reliable results. The changes can be broad, and the systems are assessed and updated to keep pace with the changes in search. 

Our SEO team has provided insights into the key themes of the most recent core update and their predictions for the next one.

Another key element in Google Core updates focuses on the technical SEO aspects of your site. There are multiple things to consider which include the content, internal and external linking, site architecture and crawling. It’s all good making sure that your content performs well for SEO, but always review your content to ensure you’re actually providing value to users before publishing.

Technical SEO essentials such as XML Sitemap, Robots.txt file, canonical tags etc are key to ensuring that Google can crawl your pages well. You can have all the great content and website features you like, but if Google can’t find your key pages or crawl them regularly then you’re never going to rank. Use Google Search Console to check for crawling and indexation issues with your website or specific pages and submit your XML Sitemap.

Adding optimised H1 tags and content to key landing pages will help Google to associate your website with relevant search terms. Ensure that your H1 tag is short and sweet, focusing on a key headline term and having this as high up the page as possible. Content is the main way that Google understands what your page is about, but you must ensure you’re writing quality content that aims to provide value to users rather than just rank well. Find the balance of optimising your content with relevant keywords and avoiding keyword stuffing.

Avoid using duplicate content, whether from your own site or others. Google doesn’t value content that has been copied from other places and, in some cases, can even penalise you for doing so. This isn’t necessarily the case with product pages however; as Google is smart enough to understand that product pages often require identical or very similar content, such as product details, washing/cleaning information, finance information and more.

Ensure that key landing pages are well-linked from your website with relevant anchor text. Internal linking is the core way that Google finds and crawls your website (along with your XML Sitemap), so ensuring that key pages are linked more than others helps Google to understand what your most important pages are. Anchor text helps to provide Google with context as to what the link it is visiting is about, helping to increase relevance for related search terms for the linked-to page.

Ensure that your website has been built in a user-friendly manner across both mobile and desktop. Google indexes and crawls mobile-first, so this is where your focus should be but desktop is still important; make sure that users landing on your website from any device can navigate to key pages and convert with ease. You should also focus on site speed and core web vitals to ensure that your website loads fast.

Optimise images, JavaScript/CSS files and website architecture to ensure your website loads in a timely manner. Walmart found that just a 1 second improvement in site loading speeds resulted in a 2% increase in conversions; and core web vitals are also a ranking factor. Use tools such as GSC, Lighthouse or Webpagetest.org to find key site speed optimisations and monitor your improvements over time.

If your site uses a lot of JavaScript you must ensure that HTML alternatives are in place for key functionality such as your main nav menu and key links. Google only crawls using JavaScript every couple of weeks on average, so if the bulk of your content is built using JS then Google won’t read it regularly. On the other hand, Google crawls using HTML daily – so ensuring a HTML backup is in place for key links and content will ensure that your content is crawled regularly without sacrificing the JS page elements.

Our SEO team predicts that the theme of helpful content will continue, as this has been a huge focus for Google over the past 18-24 months. Using the E-E-A-T framework to optimise your content is crucial. Head over to our Senior Content Team Lead, Sam’s blog post to find out more about EEAT.  Informational search results should be full of pages made by experts or people with first-hand experience, produced by recognised authorities who web users can trust. 

With the above in mind, it would be expected that Google will start to clamp down more on businesses and users who are utilising AI to write content at scale or manipulate SERPs in any other way.

AI is becoming increasingly involved in business content strategies. Google has previously commented on the value of using AI to enhance content. They do not find it unfavorable, as long as “it is not used to generate content primarily to manipulate search rankings.”

With Google’s sole aim being to provide a valuable experience for search users, it would be unsurprising if website accessibility continued to be a focus for Google in the next core update. 

Providing a good experience for website users is crucial. Below are some elements to consider to improve your site’s accessibility.

Ensuring your site loads fast will give users a smoother website experience and reduce bounce rate. Use tools like Lighthouse to measure and optimise speed across key landing pages.

Alt text is a text-based description of an image, traditionally used for people who are visually impaired. This can also provide search engines with more context of what your page/image is about.

Adding yellow copy on a white background is a big no regarding accessibility. Ensure all copy across your website is readable and uses high-contrast colours.

Make it easy for users and search engines to reach your most useful landing pages. Our senior creative lead, Hannah, wrote a blog on the importance of accessibility. Check it out here.

Overall, we predict many of the overarching current themes will continue in line with the focus on helpful content and value for users that has been prevalent over the past couple of years. However, the clampdowns on AI will increase as more users take advantage of this within their content strategies. Remember, the user is the key consideration when it comes to your website and the content within it and should be considered when making amendments to any aspects of your website.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out!

Do you want some more insights or support on how to improve your site’s technical SEO? Get in touch.