Google rolls out its Core Update on August 15
Google is rolling out its Core Update on August 15. No ETAs have been confirmed. Google’s Core Updates typically take 2 to 4 weeks to roll out fully. The 2024 March Core Update took 45 days to roll out fully.
Google also updated its help page about core updates, which includes more in-depth guidance for those who may see rank and traffic changes after an update.
Read More: My Expectations on August 2024 Core Update
Importance of the 2024 August Core Update
The August Core Update is a critical algorithm update that can potentially reverse the traffic drop for sites that took a hit on the September 2023 Helpful Content Update (HCU) and March 2024 Core Update.
John Mueller has confirmed that the August Update has considered the feedback received after the March 2024 Core Update.
This latest update takes into account the feedback we’ve heard from some creators and others over the past few months. As always, we aim to connect people with a range of high quality sites, including small or independent sites that are creating useful, original content, when relevant to users’ searches. This is an area we’ll continue to address in future updates. This update also aims to better capture improvements that sites may have made, so we can continue to show the best of the web.
John Mueller, Search Advocate, Google Switzerland
This potentially means that the August Core Update could reverse the traffic drop for sites that got hit after the previous two updates.
How Does the Core Update Work in 2024
The purpose of any core update is to serve helpful and reliable results for searchers. Core updates are broad in nature and don’t target individual pages or specific sites. That’s why they are called Broad Core Updates.
The Core updates ensure that as content on the web changes, the system also keep up with the changes.
Content Freshness, adherence to Google spam policies, helpfulness of the content, accuracy of the information, etc determine whether a page or a site is demoted or promoted in the search.
For example, if you have a page on “Top 10 photo editors” published in 2020 and has not been updated as new photo editors enter the market, then the list becomes outdated and unhelpful for the searchers.
August 2024 Core Update Analysis
I have checked the traffic trends for sites that improved or dropped after HCU or the March 2024 Core Update to identify any cases of reversals.
Disclaimer: The August 2024 Core Update is ongoing and the traffic data shown below could change as the algorithm rollout progresses.
Data Source: I have used traffic data from Ahrefs for the analysis
Reddit Gained 5% in traffic after August 15
Reddit saw an increase in traffic from 570M to 600M after August 15. This continues the trend of Reddit gaining organic visibility after each Google Update.
TikTok dropped in Traffic by 10% after the August Google Update
TikTok received 495M traffic before the August Core Update. This dropped to 445M after the update.
Looking at the keywords, the drop is mostly from head-tail keywords and navigational keywords.
Pinterest.com too Dropped after the August 15 Update
Pinterest.com dropped in traffic by ~5% according to Ahrefs. Like TiTok, the drop for Pinterest is also from navigational keywords.
Sites that Showed Early Signs of Recovery Post August 2024 Core Update
Sites that took a hit after the HCU or March Core Update have shown some reversal in the August Update.
AllRecipes.com
This site has taken a hit on both the September HCU and March Core Update. The site’s traffic is up by 10%.
RetroDodo.com
Retrododo was drastically hit after the September HCU update. The site got 530K traffic before September 2023 which dropped to 37K in July 2024 according to Ahrefs.
The site’s traffic is now up by 41%. The site shows some major recovery at the keyword level during this update.
Sites that are Yet to Recover
GGRecon.com
This site dropped from 4M to 165K after the September HCU. The site has not shown any recovery during the August Core Update.
OutlookIndia.com
OutlookIndia dropped from 16M to 3.9M after September 2023. The site has taken a hit from both HCU and March Core Update.
RoyalOakIndia.com
RoyalOak dropped in traffic after the March 2024 Core Update. It dropped from 230K to 80K. The site is yet to show any recovery.
Sites that Dropped during August Core Update
GameWith.net
This site has dropped in traffic after both HCU and March core updates. The site received 1.2M traffic before the HCU. After the HCU and March Core Update, the site traffic stands at 750K.
During the August Core Update, the site dropped further by 12%.
Key Takeaways from Early Analysis of August 2024 Core Update
Reddit and Other Forums Continue to Grow
Reddit has seen increased search visibility from the last 3 Google Updates. This trend continues with the August 2024 Core Update as well.
Website forums are also seeing an uptick in traffic in this update.
Traffic Improvements and Drops Seen for Sites
Though it is too early to conclude the 2024 August Core Update, the takeaway is mixed. I have seen drops and reversals in this update. Sites that have not fixed content quality and tech hygiene have further dropped.
Some sites that changed content and improved their SEO have seen improvements, while others have yet to see any change in visibility.
What Google Recommends during and after a Core Update
1. Avoid doing “Quick fix” Changes
Google advises against making “quick fix” changes to your website. Instead, focus on making changes that are helpful to your users and that will be sustainable in the long term. If you’re not sure what changes to make, look at your analytics and see what’s working and what’s not. Then, make changes that are relevant to your users and that align with your long-term goals.
Tip: In my experience, a rank drop after an update might be due to “Content freshness”. An example would be a top 10 listicle you might have written 2 years back and now it’s outdated. In this case, updating the content can bring the position back.
2. Delete Content when it’s your Last resort
Deleting content or pages signifies that you have written it for search engines rather than users. If you have pages that don’t help users in any way, deleting them might actually help the site.
3. Wait till the Update fully rolls out to make changes or debug
Google says a drop of 1 or 2 to position doesn’t require drastic changes. In fact, Google recommends avoiding making changes to content that’s already performing well!
If the position drop is large, try comparing the before and after performance at the keyword and page level to understand the scale of impact. Look at SERP intent, Content freshness, Tech SEO, etc for the root cause analysis.
Great Analysis, thank you.
You should cehckout the openletter to Google from the Health Framework. Last time it was Retrododo.
I have seen drops in AI Overview’s visibility after the update. Some of the client sites (niche categories) have also dropped.
Google has deteriorated over the last few years. They are bunch of money minded people, focusing on making money through advertisements. They are playing safe with these updates – that’s why small sites are destroyed in each update. With the anti-monopoly ruling & intervention from DOJ, things may become better – but at what cost!
Damn, look at that growth for Reddit
Reddit gaining traffic and tiktok losing traffic looks very.. anticlimactic! The August Core Update looks no different from the previous ones.