Google’s Broad Core March 2024 Updates – A Complete Guide

Change is a constant in the digital world. Google’s broad Core March 2024 algorithm enhancements and spam policy updates is just another proof of that.

Did your website rankings nose-dive following these updates? Or are you concerned about potential ranking losses?  

Partner with us and let our team support you on the road to recovery. Our proactive services will put you a step ahead and help you prevent losses in ranking and revenue. Let’s explore more.

Understand Google’s broad core update March 2024

Google, on its path to ensuring a good user experience and the best answers to searcher queries, encounters challenges like:

• Unoriginal content
• Web pages developed for search engine ranking rather than people 
• Harmful practices that result in low-quality content ranking high in search results

With the March 2024 core update, Google takes a two-tier approach to addressing these issues: algorithm enhancements and spam policy updates. The aim is to improve quality content rankings and eliminate spam and low-quality content. 

Three points stand out from these updates:

1. Classify repurposed expired domains as spam

Repurposed content from expired domain misleads online users as new content. Google now considers repurposing expired domains as spam. This is part of Google’s endeavour to reduce low-quality search content and prioritize high-quality answers to searcher queries.

2. Google is catching up with the production of content at scale

Google is catching up with the rising tide of content at scale. They’re “zooming in” on everything, from purely A.I generated content (which is growing in sophistication) to the hybrid of AI and human generated content. With the March core Update, Google is acting on content produced at scale for ranking while not contributing to answering online queries.

3. Take decisive action on the abuse of a trusted website’s reputation

Also, Google is clamping down on low-quality third-party content on trusted websites written solely for ranking purposes. These websites are also called parasite website hosts. The website owner is expected to review the third-party content to ensure quality. 

Google is providing advance notice (until 5 May) to classify such content as spam.

Review Google’s objective for the broad core update March 2024

Google has since 2022 focussed on: 

• Improving the rankings of original and helpful content that addresses the searcher’s queries and 
• Repressing unhelpful, non-original content that adds little or no value to questions of online users.

Google aims to reduce the unhelpful and non-original content by forty percent. These are all steps that Google is taking to enhance the UX and make finding content produced by real people for real people easier. 

Consider the risk of Google’s latest core update on your website

Above, Mike Shuey’s site is one example of websites that took a hit from the update roll out. 

Indications show that AI-generated content plays a significant role in these incidents. Many websites with AI-generated content have been deindexed from Google’s search Index. 

Be one of the websites considered “March core update compliant.” Partner with the Justwords professional team today.

Stay proactive, gain the advantage

Google won’t backtrack on the March 2024 core updates. The final page in this chapter will occur on 5 May 2024, when Google rolls out the site reputation abuse changes. Be prepared for the new digital landscape. 

1. Do an audit of your websites

Evaluate your website’s readiness for the implementation of Google’s broad core update March. 

Review indexed pages

1. Identify pages with low traffic and no links
2. Review keywords  

Can you still rank for these keywords?

1. Does the content still satisfy search intent?
2. Evaluate the UX of your web pages 

Specifically, consider the mobile UX

• Are your web pages still competitive?

Or have things changed, and it’s now outdated?

• etc 

2. Action on the audit findings

You have done the audit. Through action, you can restore your webpages’ credibility—even with the uncertainties of Google’s broad core updates. 

Consider the following:

• If you identify pages with low traffic and no links
• Can you rewrite these pages? 
• Or can you repurpose the pages, e.g., as a guest post? 

If you don’t act on time, Google’s broad core update March might have a surprising impact on your website’s rankings, conversion rates, and revenue.  

3. Be hostile against AI or partner with AI?

Undoubtedly, the relationship between AI content writing and Google has become complex. The signs appeared when Google added the last E (for experience) to EEAT. 

With the March core update, many websites with content written by AI, or AI content edited and reviewed by human writers, are being “punished” or even de-indexed by Google. It is thus fair to ask:  Qua Vadis with AI written content?  

A potential “safe” solution? Using AI to convert human-written draft content to polished and well-structured content. The human writer satisfies the EEAT components, and AI optimizes the content. 

This potential partnership with AI needs to be tested to ensure that:

(a) the content meets the value-adding aspects that satisfy searcher queries and 

(b) the content meets the criteria of Google (and other search engines) algorithms for ranking.

Face the challenge head-on

Undoubtedly, Google’s broad core update March 2024 has changed the digital landscape. What ranked yesterday may be de-indexed today. But fear not. You can manage through the maze. AI can still be your partner in producing high-quality content for online users.   

Face the challenge head-on with the Justwords professional content marketing  and content creation services. 

Need help preventing de-indexing? Contact us today.