What You Need to Know about Google’s August 2023 Core Update

Google loves to keep SEO professionals on their toes! The search engine giant officially announced the rollout of the newest core algorithm update on 22nd August 2023, at 12:39 pm, to be precise. Much like previous updates, with the most recent being in March 2023, this update focuses on improving the quality of its algorithm. After all, by conducting regular updates, Google can ensure every user receives the most up-to-date, relevant, and accurate results.  

But what does this mean for SEO professionals and website owners? We explore more below.      

The Aim of the Update 

Google’s core updates, as touched on above, focus entirely on creating the best user experience. Google wants every search user to receive the best result for their query, so the core updates aim to improve the accuracy and relevancy of what it shows for each question.  

Google states: 

“Core updates are designed to ensure that overall, we’re delivering on our mission to present helpful and reliable results for searchers.” 

Luckily for site owners and SEO experts, the core algorithm updates do not target specific websites. So, right now, there is no reason for anyone to worry about suddenly facing penalties or being de-indexed!   

As always, however, that’s not to say sites won’t see any changes, especially regarding their search engine results pages (SERPs) rankings. In fact, this update could be very advantageous for any highly relevant, high-quality sites that Google may have overlooked in the past.  

On the other hand, after this update, previously low-ranking sites may see significant improvement and a boost higher up the SERPs. This improvement could conspire that sites that were hitting the high spots might see their place slip down as the low-ranking site exhibits more relevant content.     

Google Updates in 2023 

So far, in 2023, there have only been 2 updates to Google’s core algorithm – this one and one in March. Additionally, there have been 2 review updates – one in April and a significant product review update that started in February and finished rolling out on 7th March.  

Before 2023, Google last updated the core algorithm in September 2022, but this update created less of an impact than any previous updates.  

While some SEOs claim they saw evidence of August’s update several days before the official announcement, the implementation process will (as usual) take a few weeks at least. The claims do point, however, to the fact that the rollout of the update began secretly at least 1 week before the announcement. Whether it started before or on the official date, after the update’s implementation is complete, Google will update its ranking release history page.  

During these crucial weeks, site owners and SEOs need to keep one eye closely on their ranking and another on analytics.  

Remember: Your site may not be affected by this update in any way, so there’s no reason to panic!  

So, What Does It Mean for Your Site? 

Of course, one of the most worrying aspects of a Google update is whether it will affect your site’s current SERP position and cause it to fall back down the list. After all, we put hours of energy and effort into moving sites up the list, only for an update to halt our path!  

Unlike other Google updates (we’re looking at you, Link Spam Update), the core algorithm update does not show that your site has an issue with URLs, internal linksHyperlinks, also known as links, are the connection points on a webpage that take you to other webpages., website, or spam/quality of links.  

Core algorithm updates focus on the best experience and search results for every user, ensuring the most relevant and up-to-date results are shown.  

If your site does experience a significant change after such an update, it doesn’t necessarily point to the fact you were flagged due to keywordKeywords are the words and phrases that potential customers might search for to find your business. spam or technical issues (such as duplicate contentDuplicate content is content that appears more than once across a single website. Duplicate content can be a sign of poor resource management, low trust, or a lack of quality control. or crawling errors). It could instead boil down to the fact that another site’s content is simply more high-quality and relevant to the searcher.  

Google explains:  

“There’s nothing wrong with pages that may not be performing as well as they were before a core update. They haven’t violated our spam policies, nor been subjected to a manual or algorithmic action, as can happen to pages that do violate those policies. 

One way to think of how a core update operates is to imagine you made a list of the top 100 movies in 2021. A few years later, in 2024, you refresh the list. It’s going to naturally change. Some new and wonderful movies that never existed before will now be candidates for inclusion. You might also reassess some films and realize they deserved a higher place on the list than they had before. 

The list will change, and films previously higher on the list that move down aren’t bad. There are simply more deserving films that are coming before them.”  

How Does Your Site Recover? 

First, remember E-E-A-T to ensure your site doesn’t experience a drop in rankings. Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness – these aren’t just buzzwords. These are the crucial aspects your content must focus on to hit the top spots. Google’s quality raters prefer content demonstrating first-hand experience, such as ensuring you have evidence that you’ve actually used a product that you’re giving a high review.  

However, if you still see a drop in rankings, even though there is nothing ‘wrong’ with your site, Google has provided questions that you can use to improve the quality of your content.  

• Does your content contain original research, insights, or analysis?
• Do you provide a comprehensive overview of the topic beyond the obvious? 
• If the content draws from other sources, does it go beyond rewriting them and provide originality and additional value? 
• Does the header provide a reasonable and accurate overview of the information presented in the content? 
• Have you avoided using exaggerated ‘click-bait’ titles? 
• Is it the type of content you’d want to share on social media? 

Answer these, and you will find any quality issues within your content. Most importantly, you will find a way to improve your content for good.  

Google states that they complete broad core updates every few months, and any content impacted by one update may recover (as long as improvements were made) by the next update release.  

To Wrap Up  

While we now have the official announcement of the update, it is essential to remember that, as with every SEO technique, the results of what this update will mean for your site may not be instant. What’s more, don’t panic if there is a drop in your rankings. It’s not a sign of wrongdoing on your part! The best way to improve? Ensure you focus on E-E-A-T for every piece of content and reach out to our team to help guide your site back to the top.