Google September 2022 Search Algorithm Core Update
On September 12th, 2022, Google announced through Twitter that its second broad core update of 2022 would start rolling out. In addition to announcing the update on Twitter, Google updated their search updates pages with the announcement saying “Today we released the September 2022 core update. We’ll update our
ranking release history page when the rollout is complete.” Google also stated that the update would take about two weeks to complete and that they would update the public when the update was finished. This update will not only impact English sites but will also impact all language sites as it is a global update.
The announcement followed shortly after the completion of the Google helpful content update that was completed on September 9th. This confused many as they thought that the next update they would see come from Google would be the fifth product reviews update as they were told that this updates roll out goal date would be the week of August 29th 2022.
The last core update that we’ve seen from Google was the May 2022 core update. To many in the SEO community they felt that update did not have much of an impact as Google’s previous core updates that they have seen in the past. Many also felt that the September 2019 update felt weaker than the others.
Core updates are done to change and improve the overall search ranking of a webpage. Making a webpage’s ranking better or worse when someone searches for it. When Google announces these core updates it allows those working in SEO to understand whether or not the changes they are seeing in Google’s ranking algorithm is a result of something they personally have done to their webpage or if it was a result of something that Google changed within its ranking algorithm.
Previous Google Search Algorithm Core Updates
The last core update that we have seen from Google was the May 2022 core update that rolled out May 25, 2022. This was the first broad core update of the year. This update was done to improve the overall ranking process of a webpage. As most core updates this one was designed to increase the relevance of a web-page’s search results. Four months later Google began rolling out its September 2022 core update which began sparking up some interesting conversations on WebmasterWorld and Twitter. Most of them are conversations from people being upset about the changes they are seeing that have come along with the update.
Google has released many core updates in the past which can be seen below…
- November 17, 2021: The November 2021 core update
- July 1, 2021: July core update
- June 2, 2021: June core update
- December 3, 2020: December 2022 core update
- May 4, 2020: May 2020 core update
- January 13, 2020: January 2020 core update
- September 24, 2019: September 2019 core update
- June 3, 2019: June 2019 core update
The list could go on and on about Google’s core updates over the years. Many of the updates have had significant differences and changes while others have not had as much of an impact on the
SEO (search engine optimization) on webpages. The June 2021 update was a slow one to roll out but was also a big one that seemed to have a larger impact than the other updates in the past. Back in December of 2020 the update that came out then was much bigger and broader than updates of the past and took a longer time to roll out than the others. When the September 2019 core update was finished, many working in SEO did not see any significant changes come from this update and felt like a much weaker update than they were used to seeing.
Results of the Update
Many have been seeing the changes brought on upon them from the Google 2022 board core update. These changes have been happening rapidly and are beginning to look unpredictable for those in the SEO community. Many are seeing a drop in the traffic of people visiting their webpages and some are even showing a significant drop. Most are seeing a 20% to 60% drop in the number of visitors that are coming to their web-page’s since the update rolled out. Others are seeing an increase and decrease in their webpage traffic all within the same day which is creating confusion for many. Some are even saying that this is the worst core update that they have seen Google put out due to the significant decrease in traffic that they are seeing.
When Google puts out a core update like the September 2022 update it usually means that your webpage will do better or worse depending on the search ranking algorithm. With the information about an update rolling out those working in SEO can determine whether or not the increase and/or decrease in web traffic is a result of a change that they have personally made to their web-page’s or if it is a result in a change that Google has made with the way that it ranks pages. This also usually means that a core ranking update is something we can see coming from Google in the near future. Therefore, it is important to keep up with your pages’
analytics and ranking to help determine what change you may need to make in order to rank higher in Google’s search results.
What to do if you are Negatively Impacted
Google has come out with advice on what to do if you are negatively impacted by the September 2022 broad core update. Google has said.. “We suggest focusing on ensuring you’re offering the best content you can. That’s what our algorithms seek to reward.” Google also has offered a variety of questions to go through and consider when determining whether or not you are offering the public the best content that you can.
A few things to consider when you are evaluating your content are as follows…
- Is your content original, comprehensive, and/or interesting?
- Does it provide value?
- Is your content avoiding copywriting?
- Does it avoid exaggeration?
- Is your content trustworthy?
- Is your content free from any spelling or grammatical errors?
- Is your content being displayed well across various devices?
Most importantly the content that you are putting out should provide some sort of value to those searching and/or reading about it on your webpages. By answering the following questions and then making the changes you see are appropriate to your web-page based on those questions you may see an improvement to the traffic coming to your pages. Usually you will see some sort of recovery between each update that Google puts out.
In the meantime you should keep any eye out and monitor the traffic you are seeing happening to your pages. If you are seeing a positive impact due to the September 2022 update then you do not need to make any changes to the content you are displaying and putting out. On the other hand if you are seeing a decrease in the traffic to your web-pages then it may be time to look back at the questions Google has provided and make some changes to your content.
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