The August 2024 Core Update is now complete, taking 19 days to finish. It started on August 15 and wrapped up by September 3, 2024. This update had a significant impact on website rankings and search results.
This was not just another routine update. Google used feedback from the September 2023 Helpful Content update, which negatively affected many small and independent publishers, to shape this one.
What we noticed: Some sites hit by the previous update showed signs of recovery, but it wasn’t widespread. A poll of site owners showed the following:
- 44% saw their rankings/traffic drop
- 27% experienced an increase
- 29% noticed no change
While a few sites recovered from the 2023 update, most saw little to no improvement, and some even experienced further declines.
Ranking bug: During the first four days of this rollout, there was a bug affecting rankings, which was fixed quickly. So, any changes you saw in that time may not be accurate. It’s better to compare your rankings from this week onwards to those before the update started.
Google’s statement: John Mueller, Google’s Search Advocate, said the update aims to highlight more useful content and reduce the visibility of content created solely to rank well in search results. This update focuses on promoting quality content from smaller, independent publishers, responding to feedback since the March 2024 Core Update.
Mueller also noted that the update is designed to better reflect improvements websites may have made and bring the best content to the forefront.
Google has also updated its guidelines to help those affected by this or future updates. The most important takeaway is to focus on creating helpful, people-first content rather than content aimed only at ranking.
If your site was impacted by the update, Google suggests reviewing their list of questions to assess your content, but there are no specific actions guaranteed to improve your rankings immediately. Some recovery may happen between updates, but more significant improvements are likely after the next core update.
Why it matters: By now, you should see how this update has affected your website. If you’ve noticed improvements, great! If not, it may be time to focus on making your site more useful to users so Google will rank it higher. Google regularly rolls out core updates, so continuous improvement is key to benefiting from future updates.
Lastly, Google has confirmed there will be no feedback form for this update.
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