If your website is suddenly enjoying higher traffic since the middle of March 2023, or even worse, seeing a drop in traffic, it may possibly be about Google March 2023 broad Core Update.

In this blog, we’ll talk about this core update to help you understand What happened, why it happened, when it happened, and (most importantly) what are your options now that it has happened with your website ranking being dropped.

Table Of Content

  • Google Broad Core Update March 2023 Schedule

  • Effects of the March 2023 Core Update

  • Did the March 2023 Core Algorithm Update Really Cause the Ranking Drop?

  • How to Optimize Your Website For the March 2023 Core Update?

  • IT Verticals Recommendation

  • Conclusion

If you’re new to the digital marketing landscape, you may ask the question, “What are the Google Updates?” followed by the second one, “Should I know about these updates?”

We have a detailed blog answering all of these questions. Google Search Algorithm updates to give yourself a Google Search Algorithm Updates 101.

Google Broad Core Update March 2023 Schedule

On March 15th, 2023; Google announced it has rolled out a broad core update. This rollout started on March 15th and it was announced to take 2 weeks. This Google Core update took 13 days and 7 hours to complete and end on March 28th, 2023.

Google-Core-Update-Tweet

Effects of the March 2023 Core Update

It can be difficult to fight the battle with a Google core algorithm update because there’s no official document about what Google crawlers will be looking for.

Many websites have seen massive growth in search engine rankings, while others have succumbed and lost their rankings. Some websites have also been de-ranked from search engines.

Did the March 2023 Core Algorithm Update Really Cause the Ranking Drop?

When your website ranking drops, it may not always be because of the March 2023 Google core update. Maybe your search engine ranking dropped because your competitors are doing well and fulfilling the SEO factors better than you.

Here are some ways to identify if the Google core update was the reason for your search engine drop.

Look for the Pages Affected

When the website ranking is decreased because of the Google core update, almost all web pages are impacted. If only a few of your web pages have lost their rankings, the Google Core Algorithm update might not be the reason for the drop in ranking.

Competitor Analysis

We’ve mentioned that one of the most likely reasons for the ranking drop is that your competitors have paced up their SEO activities. You can use tools like Ahref and SEMrush to know what they’re up to.
Check out the following on your competitor’s website.

Webpage content quality
Backlink quality
Keyword coverage

After you’re done, now compare these factors with your own website and see if you’re ahead of them in these areas.

Exact Timing of the Ranking Drop

Use the webmaster tool to know the exact time when your website ranking dropped. If it happened within a day or two of the Google core algorithm update, that was likely the reason for your ranking drop.

On the other hand, the ranking drop was far off, there might be another website revamp or change that may have been the cause of losing your search ranking

How to Optimize Your Website For the March 2023 Core Update?

We’ve already mentioned that Google hasn’t shared any specific information about the March 2023 core algorithm update. The next best thing that content writers and SEO professionals have is the Google page quality guideline. Google has mentioned that practicing EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) is what you need to improve your SERP (Search Engine Result Page) rankings

Some other factors that can impact your search engine rankings are

Mobile-Friendly Display

With more than half of the internet users viewing the website on phones, Google rewards the websites that are mobile responsive. If your website’s mobile view isn’t user-friendly enough, you’re signing a one-way ticket to a lower search engine rank.

You can test your mobile-friendliness from search.google.com.

mobile-friendly-display
mobile-friendly-display
optimized-page-speed

Optimized Page Speed

The lives of people have gotten busy, and you can’t afford to have them wait long for the website to load. Google realizes and encourages websites to improve their search engine ranking for a better search engine rank.

You can assess your Page Speed Insights on mobile and desktop from pagespeed.web.dev. In addition to your page speed status, you’ll also get suggestions on the factors you can improve for an enhanced website speed.

optimized-page-speed

Better Navigation

Making your website easy to navigate isn’t with buttons and breadcrumbs isn’t only for your website viewer to explore the website longer. With well-defined image alt text, links, footer, header menu, and other factors, you’re giving a clear path for the search engine crawler to view and rank your page.

better-navigation
better-navigation
original-content

Original Content

Writing content on a famous topic isn't about copying others' work. Google discourages and penalizes websites that plagiarize content on their website from another source. You need to share your own ideas, experiences, and expertise to draft content that'll provide value for your clients.

original-content

Write for Humans

You may think it’s easy to rank a website when you have a high-traffic keyword. Just use it throughout your webpage, and eureka, your page is ranked on the first page. But here’s the thing, if it was that easy, everyone would do it.

What you call “writing keywords across the website,” Google calls “Keyword Stuffing.” Not only will your website ranking fail to increase, but you can also have the ranking decrease as well.

write-for-humans
write-for-humans

IT Verticals Recommendation

IT Verticals has a team of experienced SEO professionals who have successfully ranked websites high on the search engine. Here are some of our recommendations to produce high-quality content to avoid being panelized with Google core algorithm updates.

IT-verticals-recommendation

Avoid keyword stuffing and duplicate content to provide value to the reader.
Use AI Tools like ChatGPT and Jasper to save the time it takes to research.
Double-check the facts and stats presented in your content. The content generated by AI Tool isn’t always accurate and may require a re-read.
Proofread the content for grammar and spelling errors.
Understand your target audience and use niche-specific terms to build authority in the eyes of your reader.
Keep an eye on individual web pages which aren’t doing well and understand why.

IT-verticals-recommendation

Conclusion

The March 2023 Google algorithm broad core update tells us that we cannot rest when it comes to your SEO activities.

Update your content according to the changing demands, optimize the technical aspects of your website, and enhance your user experience to protect your website from suffering during algorithm updates.

If you’ve lost your website ranking because of this Google Algorithm update, you’re not alone. The best way to move forward is to perform a website audit and analyze the website improvement areas.

SEO is not a sprint. It’s a marathon. Start today for sustainable growth

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