The November 2024 core update from Google has wrapped up, bringing shifts in how websites are ranked and signaling adjustments in Google’s search algorithms. Each core update brings refinements to meet users' intent better, so understanding its impact on your site is essential for retaining or improving your rankings. Here’s a detailed look at what to expect, how to monitor changes, and actionable steps to align with the latest ranking signals.
Key Points to Consider Post-Rollout
1. The Update Has Officially Finished Rolling Out
Now that the November 2024 core update has finished rolling out, all search data will reflect its influence. Core updates generally impact rankings and site visibility on a broader scale rather than just targeting specific pages or keywords.
- Why It Matters: Since the update affects the entire site, it is crucial to analyze fluctuations across all primary traffic-driving pages.
- Action Tip: Take a baseline of your site’s organic search traffic, conversions, and rankings post-update. Compare this data with the period immediately before the update. If you observe negative trends, identify which pages, categories, or keyword clusters were most affected.
2. Evaluate Content Quality and Alignment with User Intent
Google’s core updates increasingly align search results with user intent and content quality. This is an excellent opportunity to review your content comprehensively.
- Content Depth and Relevance: Ensure that all your top pages cover topics deeply and match what users will likely seek. In particular, content should go beyond the basics, offering unique insights or new data points.
- User Intent Alignment: Consider the different intents behind search queries—informational, navigational, commercial, and transactional. Adjust content to fit these intents based on the type of keywords or queries each page targets.
- Action Tip: Conduct a content audit focusing on user intent and value. Optimize or consolidate shallow content and consider adding expert viewpoints or case studies, which can add depth and relevance and improve performance.
3. Review Your Top Pages and Queries in Detail
Once you’ve benchmarked site-wide performance, you can examine the specifics by evaluating individual pages and the queries they rank for.
- Traffic Drivers: Identify the top 10 or 20 pages that drive the most organic traffic and note any significant ranking shifts for each.
- High-Value Queries: Look at the top queries that bring users to these pages and assess their impact on impressions, clicks, and position changes.
- Action Tip: If your top pages have lost rankings, try updating them with fresh, high-quality content. This could include adding updated statistics, case studies, or addressing new user concerns related to the topic.
4. Assess Search Types Separately for Optimized Performance
Google’s core updates impact various search types differently—web, images, videos, news, and local search. Each has unique ranking factors, so analyze them separately to understand how each performs.
- News and Blog Content: News sites should examine recent articles that may have gained or lost visibility. They should emphasize E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) principles and ensure timely, well-researched content.
- Images: For image-heavy sites, ensure alt text is descriptive, image file names are relevant, and images are compressed for speed without sacrificing quality.
- Videos: Videos should have detailed descriptions and be optimized for both YouTube and Google’s video search. Adding transcripts and relevant titles will help Google better index this content.
- Local Search: Local businesses should focus on the accuracy of their Google Business Profiles, including up-to-date contact information, business hours, and services.
- Action Tip: Use structured data to help Google understand your multimedia content better. For local businesses, update any seasonal promotions, which can improve your visibility in local search results.
5. Focus on User Experience (UX) Signals and Page Experience Metrics
User experience has become a core component of Google’s algorithm. The November 2024 update emphasizes page experience metrics even more.
- Core Web Vitals: Track metrics like Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). Google wants fast, responsive pages that don’t shift around as they load.
- Mobile Friendliness: Google prioritizes mobile-first indexing, so a seamless mobile experience is essential. Ensure your content is accessible and readable without excessive zooming or scrolling.
- Action Tip: Use Google’s PageSpeed Insights or Lighthouse tool to assess UX issues. Prioritize fixing slow-loading elements, optimize images, and ensure a smooth layout for mobile users.
6. Refresh Your Link-Building and Authority-Building Strategy
With each core update, Google re-evaluates how it assesses authority and trustworthiness, which can impact rankings.
- Internal Links: Evaluate your internal linking strategy to ensure that critical pages are well-linked across your site, increasing their authority.
- External Links and Backlinks: Aim to acquire high-quality backlinks from reputable sources. Avoid low-quality or spammy link-building practices, as these can be harmful post-update.
- Action Tip: Revisit your top pages and make sure they include relevant internal links. You can focus on building natural relationships with other reputable sites in your niche for backlinks.
7. Monitor Long-Term Trends and Refine Your Strategy
Core updates are broad and often have a longer-term impact. Following this update, Google may adjust its algorithm in minor ways, so keep a close eye on your website’s performance.
- Monthly Reporting: Track your search performance monthly to catch any more minor changes and adjust accordingly.
- Continuous Improvement: Use this core update as an opportunity to consistently improve content quality, user experience, and site performance.
- Action Tip: To stay proactive, consider creating a monthly SEO audit checklist that reviews top pages, backlink profiles, site speed, and user engagement metrics.
Final Thoughts
The November 2024 core update brings both challenges and opportunities for website owners. Focusing on high-quality content, user experience, and relevancy across different search types, the update reiterates Google’s commitment to meeting user intent with precision. By monitoring your site’s performance and following these best practices, you’ll be well-equipped to adapt to this update and continue to grow your visibility in Google’s search results.
