Ride the waves of SEO rank changes caused by Google's core updates
In 2024, Google introduced sizable system updates. These updates led to one of the most significant shifts in internet searches ever. Over the last several months, we’ve seen how these updates scrutinize organic searches. As the world’s largest internet search engine, Google’s updates caused ripple effects around the world for businesses. Site traffic dropped for many. This is a game changer for marketing plans at companies big and small. Large corporations are already pivoting. Here are four things you can do to improve your ranking.
Improve or remove low-quality content
Google is doing more to reward websites with higher-quality content. This is an effort to reduce the plethora of AI-produced content the internet has become inundated with over the last few years. What does this mean for your site? Provide less generic content information that just mirrors other websites. Create more unique content that stands on its own.
Google set an example for this with their core update in March 2024. With this update, they promised to reduce unoriginal, low-quality content by 45%. The impact was felt immediately by sites relying heavily on AI-produced content. According to a study done by Originality.ai, 1,446 websites had action taken against them by Google. This included some sites finding themselves completely removed from Google’s search index. The Originality.ai study found that 100% of these websites had some AI-generated posts.
Included in this were some sites with stellar reputations. By posting low-quality content provided by a third party, Google flagged them. Most often, this was AI-produced content. This led to some organizations becoming more prudent with their content. Unfortunately, editors using their own form of AI for fact-checking have caused many writers to get their original work flagged as AI-produced.
Remember, AI isn’t creating new content. It is pulling pieces of content from other websites and repackaging it as new. Don’t do this! Make your content shine with original work from real people. Writers can reduce having their work incorrectly identified as AI by keeping their writing unique. AI’s, like ChatGPT, are predictive language models. Writers should avoid repetitive phrases and predictable language to avoid sounding like a bot.
Keep it fresh
Google also rewards routinely updated content. Keep your content up-to-date by reviewing and refreshing it regularly. How regularly? That depends on the content. There is no golden rule for the timing of updating content. If new information is out on a topic, it is time to update it. Don’t forget to review evergreen content. Consider reviewing evergreen content every 6-12 months. Check to ensure statistics and trends are still correct. A review is also a good time to update SEO keywords and refresh meta descriptions.
Create people-first content with E-E-A-T
Google uses many tools to help rank the quality of the content it searches. E-E-A-T is one of the primary factors used in prioritizing ranking. E-E-A-T stands for:
Experience
Expertise
Authoritativeness
Trustworthiness
This means Google prioritizes sites and content that check these boxes, with trustworthiness carrying the most weight. This is especially true when it comes to topics Google considers “Your Money or Your Life” topics (also known as YMYL). These topics include health and finance. Businesses must strike a balance with sales and well-researched materials when creating content.
Google recommends considering the “Who, How, and Why” when creating content or evaluating the content you have. Doing this helps ensure your site is rewarded.
Who created the content? Is the author identified with a byline? Is there information about your authors?
How was the content created? Are statistics included in the research? Are there images? Was AI used?
Why was the content created? Is the purpose to help people? Is AI being used to manipulate SEO ranking?
Use author bios
When using content created by a team of writers, make sure to identify the writer and reviewer, if needed. Google uses author information to help establish the trustworthiness of the content.
Create a page of your author biographies. Give background information on them along with the areas they write about.
Link their content to the bio page.
Give the authors bylines on their articles. Include their certifications or accreditations to add authority to their work.
Organic search is evolving, but not impossible to manage. Keep your site fresh with well-written content authored by real people. Use writers that readers will know as authoritative and trustworthy. This will likely mean a greater expense for your content. However, the benefits of keeping your SEO rank high will far outweigh this expense.
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