September core updates 2022

Google has rolled out two new updates on September 2022. The first is the - broad core update and and the second is the recent one - product reviews update. We’ll dive into them in the blog. It’s important to note that Google, the massive search engine platform is constantly changing and evolving to fit the user experience demands of its ever growing user base. Often, these search algorithms can impact rankings. The one we’re discussing today definitely will.

Core updates are listed out by Google on a regular basis. The updates change the way google crawals web pages and assigns ranks. This could also impact other sections like Google Discover. An update will certainly change the way your website ranks, this is why it is important to stay tuned to these updates as a publisher or content creator on the web.

Google usually releases updates that improve search results. The aim is always to make the search experience better. Google also tells what website owners can do to improve their performance and rankings. Google also gives notice and guidelines to go with these updates. If your ranking drops or hikes suddenly after an update, it's important to know that you must depend more on long term patterns and always prioritize analytics.

The broad core update, which primarily looks at all content types around the world to assign rankings and determines how valuable the web page is. It focuses on promoting / prioritizing high-quality web-pages rather than poor performers. 

The product reviews update is now fully rolled out and is only applied to English language product reviews thus far. This update was made to reward the best quality product reviews - on the basis of analysis and research. Google will now promote these product reviews over others. This will affect the reviews you put out and the reviews out there on the product/service you offer that are reviewed on other sites. As users continue to value reviews before any digital interaction with the product, this update is more relevant than ever. Google took 6 days to fully roll out this update. As a product review page, you will now have to stand apart from the rest and provide all answers to any and all questions posed by your user base. 

Google is yet to announce the percentage of searches that have been affected by this update so far but this is a typical core update and should see traces across all regions. 

Through the older Google core updates, we can say that you should see changes in 2 weeks time after an update. The update needs to be fully rolled out to Google’s data centers and for one to see the results on analytics. The change could be more drastic in the initial days and this usually when publishers notice a trend with their content. Remember to focus on your target audience and observe the long term patterns. The updates are designed for the users and that should be your focus, as a publisher as well.