Google’s May 2022 Broad Core Update
On the 26th of May 2022, Google started its first broad update of the year since it’s last in November of 2021. These algorithmic updates take place every few months and aim to improve the overall search experience that it offers. It states that while the update isn’t site specific, it may change the way that your site performs. To help you understand a little more about this change, we have shared what we know so far with you below.
As we know, the update started at 23:30 pm ET on Friday 25th (or 04:30 am on Saturday for those of you in the UK). It is believed that this will take around a week or two to roll out so it’s important that you keep an eye on your analytics. It appears to affect all types of content as it promotes and rewards great web pages as opposed to penalising them. While the impact of the update is unknown so far, we know that it is one that will affect webmasters globally as it will affect search in all regions and languages.
SEO’s also predict that it will affect Google Discover and existing featured snippets so if you are a business that ranks highly for informational pieces, it may be worth reviewing your content and monitoring how they change over the next coming weeks.
What to Do if You Have Been Affected:
Luckily, if your site has been affected, Google has some advice for you to follow. You will need to carry out a content review to understand whether your content matches search intent and how it weighs up against others ranking on the SERP. We have a few questions below to help you with this.
- Is your content original?
- Does it provide a partial or complete description of the topic?
- Is your content insightful and beyond the obvious?
- If it draws from existing sources, does it provide enough additional value and demonstrate originality?
- Are your H1 and title tags descriptive and do they provide a summary of your content?
- Are your H1 and title tags exaggerated, or do they do an accurate job of summarising?
- Is your content share worthy and something that your audience would save / bookmark?
- Would you expect to see content of this quality printed or in an encyclopaedia?
All of the above questions can help you to boost the quality of your content so that it ranks higher on the SERP. Additionally, your site may also benefit from a core web vitals review to improve its score in light of the prior speed update. As we know, page speed has always been a ranking factor and now it has been given even greater importance to ensure that web users receive the best page experience possible.
If you would like to learn more about core web vitals and how we can help boost your site’s score, please get in touch.
