Google’s September 2022 Core Update

So, what does a Core Update mean for your site and what actions should you be taking (if any)?

Although it appears the update hit fast, there is general consensus across the SEO community that September’s Core Update was less impactful than historical updates. 

Fluctuations were noted on the 13th September, the day after Google announced the update, however compared to the May Core Update there appears to have been less rank volatility this time around. 

That’s not all. Google actually rolled out three major updates back to back over 5 weeks. The Helpful Content Update was rolled out from the 25th August to the 9th of September, followed by the September Core Update on the 12th September and the Product Reviews Update on the 20th September (both of which finished rolling out on the 26th). 

What this means, by launching three major updates concurrently, Google has made it very difficult to clearly analyse the impact of each update. It’s impossible to determine whether a ranking decline (or an increase) is directly due to one update or the other. 

But as far as updates go, it’s been fairly quiet. At Pi Datametrics, we saw the biggest shake up for our customers in the high street fashion market.

Pi’s Visibility Index | Fashion UK – Womenswear

“The immediate impact of a Core update (positive, negative or none) is generally seen within 24 hours and initially settles within two to four days. Sometimes there are after-shocks up to two weeks later.

If you see a negative impact on visibility there is nothing you can do in the short term other than begin preparing for the next Core update – most likely due in December 2022.” – Jon Earnshaw, Pi’s Chief Product Evangelist

Tips for dealing with Core Updates:

• There’s no need to panic. Don’t rush in and make changes if you feel you have been impacted.
• Focus on sending the right signals. Leverage the power of real experts in your content creation, especially if your topic is medium-high on YMYL; make sure you’re showcasing your trustworthiness (history, awards, certificates, customer service) and improve your overall content quality (add more depth, citations to research pieces/whitepapers, a different angle to what’s already there).
• Audit your site for technical and security issues and fix those asap.
• Improve your site’s UX.
• Continue to keep an eye on your data and monitor search performance to see how key pages are performing.
• Use Pi Datametrics to check your own and your competitors’ performance. Is there something you can learn from rivals that seem to have benefitted from the updates?

If you think you’ve been negatively impacted by the updates or need any support with interpreting your own performance, get in touch with your Customer Success Manager at Pi or book a demo with our Solutions Experts.