Surviving Google's March 2024 Update: Tips To Recover Your Website FAST
AngieG. ~ GinAngieLa
Digital Artist & Photographer | Art Blogger | Artpreneur - helping artists turn their passion into profit, find their authentic voice, develop creative confidence, and make money selling art.
March 2024 brought a tough blow for many websites due to Google's latest core update. While a few sites saw gains, countless others took a significant hit, with some disappearing from the search results completly. This “deindexing” wiped out the hard work of many website owners overnight.
If your website got hit, you're likely wondering how to bounce back from this Google core update.
As a website owner myself—I run an artist website along with an art blog—I’ve spent countless hours applying search engine optimization (SEO) strategies throughout my site. Because, one thing we all know, without effective SEO, your website remains unseen. That’s how it is.
In this post, I’ll share my top tips on recovering from the Google March 2024 core update—as fast and stress-free as possible. Even if your site was affected by the latest algorithm changes, there are still ways to get exposure for your website.
One thing remains certain: SEO still works. Apply it correctly, and you can drive organic traffic to your site, regardless of Google updates.
But before diving into the best recovery strategies, let's first understand what the Google 2024 core update is all about.
Understanding The Google March 2024 Core Update
The March 2024 update marks Google's latest effort to tackle spammy, low-quality content in the search engine result pages (SERPs).
Google made key changes to their search and ranking algorithms, aiming to enhance the quality and usefulness of the results in response to a search query. These "algorithmic enhancements" are supposed ensure that only the most helpful information appears, minimizing "unoriginal content."
The update also introduces new spam policies designed to exclude websites that offer a poor user experience or appear to be created solely for search engines rather than for people.
Specifically, the new spam policies target three main practices: expired domain abuse, site reputation abuse, and scaled content abuse.
By addressing those issues, Google's March 2024 update aims to deliver a more valuable and user-friendly search experience.
Does that mean that Google is now punishing AI-generated content?
According to the new policy, content is deemed spam if its primary purpose is to manipulate search engine rankings. This includes automatically generated content, but even "man-made" or hybrid content can be classified as spam if Google perceives it as manipulative.
In its guidance on AI-generated content, Google emphasizes that “it’s important to recognize that not all use of automation, including AI generation, is spam.” In other words, not all automated content is considered spam. It’s about intent and quality.
So far, this seems like a positive change. We've all encountered those frustrating websites filled with AI-generated gibberish, optimized for search engines but offering no real value.
A search experience free from spammy results sounds just great.
So, why the uproar? Shouldn't everyone be happy with the Google March 2024 core update?
In theory, yes. However, something seems to have gone wrong…
The Impact Of Google’s March 2024 Core Update
Google likely launched their latest update with the best of intentions, but something seems to have gone awry. This sentiment is echoed by many SEOs.
The core update began on March 5, 2024, and concluded 45 days later on April 19, 2024. As I write this article in early July, we've had over three months to adjust. Typically, technological changes can be bumpy initially, but they should stabilize after a quarter of a year.
However, Google's new ranking criteria haven't quite settled.
The March 2024 core update is one of the most complex updates Google has ever implemented. It affects multiple core ranking systems, not just one or two, which is likely where the issues are stemming from.
Who Are the Big Winners of the Google March 2024 Core Update?
Following the Google March 2024 core update, several types of sites have seen significant boosts in their search engine rankings. These include:
These platforms have emerged as the major beneficiaries of the latest update.
Who Are The Big Losers Of The Google March 2024 Core Update?
Interestingly, the biggest losers of Google's latest core update are major informational sites with user-generated content, such as Wikipedia, The New York Times, LinkedIn, and Medium.
These are just some examples of large, well-established sites that will neither disappear from the search nor from people’s mind.?
What’s worse, many smaller sites have also been severely hit. These include smaller blogs and new sites. Those sites face a much tougher recovery due to their lower brand awareness compared to the well-known giants.
A quick web search for “March 2024 core update Reddit” reveals numerous website owners bewildered by the sudden drop in their rankings and unsure how to address it.
Some website operators have even reported receiving a “manual action,” where a Google employee reviews and flags a site as spam.
Even without manual action, many bloggers find their sites have vanished from search results despite containing no mass-produced, AI-generated content.
Interestingly, those sites haven’t been deindexed—they simply don’t show up in the SERPs anymore, and no one knows why. On the other hand, sites with large amounts of AI-generated articles have seen significant boosts following the update.
To check if your site has been deindexed, simply type “site:yourdomain.com” into Google’s search bar. If your pages appear on the search results page, you're not deindexed. If they don’t show up, you might have been deindexed.
I ran this test for my artist website and the result confirmed it’s indexed.
?
Please pay attention to the last page that shows up as?indexed?in Google’s results, because this is where I believe things are going wrong with the Google March 2024 core update. I'll delve into this further in a moment. I’ll come back to that page in just a moment.
Does Google’s March 2024 Core Update Rank Websites Fairly?
As I mentioned earlier, I have my own website and have been diligently optimizing my art blog for SEO. This means I regularly check how my posts are performing across different search engines.
One post I recently checked is a tutorial on how to make an artist website with WordPress. Here’s where it gets interesting...
When I check the performance of this post on Yandex, Bing, and Ecosia, it's the first organic search result for the query "make an artist website with WordPress ginangiela." On Yandex, it even ranks high without adding my domain name (ginangiela). Take a look:
This is what you’d expect to see in search engine results for that query, right?
Well, not on Google.
Despite typing in the exact title of my blog post along with my domain name, the page doesn’t appear in Google’s search results at all. Instead, you get a couple of YouTube videos and links to other platforms I use, like LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Medium.
As shown in the screenshot above where I pointed out that my post on "How To Make An Artist Website In 5 EASY Steps" is indexed (just like my entire website), yet it’s nowhere to be found in Google’s SERPs!
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Let me repeat: I’m searching for a specific post on Google, typing in the exact title along with my domain name, and despite the page being indexed, it doesn’t appear in Google’s search results.
Is Google’s Search Really Working After The March 2024 Core Update?
Now, this begs the question how well Google’s search is actually working—after the March 2024 core update.
You can find the page on every other search engine, but the market leader, which claims to have improved its search results significantly with the recent core update, fails to show the most relevant result for the query.
How would you rate the quality of these search results on a scale from 1 to 10? In my opinion, it’s a zero.
Now, here’s the million-dollar question:
If you believe you’ve created genuinely helpful, high-quality content on your website and it no longer shows up in Google’s search results, how much helpful quality content will Google return when you search the web for something?
Probably you won’t get to see the most helpful content other bloggers created, either.
Something is definitely going wrong here.
This shouldn’t happen, especially with the world’s leading search engine, which aims to maintain its dominance in the market.
This is more than just a sign of low quality; it’s also a severe violation of good practices. As the market leader, Google holds immense responsibility.
How many website owners have lost half or even all of their income overnight because their site no longer appears in search results for no apparent reason? I don’t even want to think about it…
But it gets even weirder.
While Google’s text search doesn’t list any of my pages when searching for "make an artist website with WordPress," my articles do appear in Google’s image search — from my own website as well as from LinkedIn and Medium.
Does anyone still believe everything’s working well with Google’s March 2024 core update?
In my view, things have never been this bad—not after Google’s August 2022 helpful content update, not after the revised E-E-A-T quality guidelines... NEVER.
It is what it is, and as website owners, there’s not much we can do about it. The key takeaway so far is that Google Search isn’t performing as well as it used to.
But don't worry, I'm here to help. The main purpose of this article is to provide you with practical strategies to navigate the Google March 2024 core update. No need to stress—there are still plenty of actions you can take to get your website back on track.
So, let’s dive in!
4 Strategies To Deal With The Google March 2024 Core Update FAST
1. Consider Switching Your Search Engine
Google has long been the market-leader and the default search engine for Chrome and many other browsers. We're all used to seeing the red-green-blue-yellow G in the address bar when looking for answers online.
However, with Google’s search results deteriorating to the point where you can't rely on getting the most helpful and relevant information, it might be time to change your default search engine.
In a recent Medium article, I mentioned that other search engines often provide more precise results than Google.
As a website owner, if you’ve spent years creating helpful content only to have Google ban your pages for no apparent reason, why continue to support that search engine?
Instead, support the search engines that support you. Personally, I’ve set my default search engine to Yandex.com.
Google has long held the status of "too big to fail," but as more people realize they’re not getting the same quality results, they might start turning to other search engines. And rightly so.
2. Diversify Your Traffic Sources
Relying solely on one source for website traffic is never a good strategy.
Google updates are a regular occurrence, and with the latest update proving problematic, we can expect more algorithm changes in the future. Even if Google’s search improves, it’s crucial not to depend entirely on search engines for driving traffic to your site.
That’s why it’s important to actively use social media and other platforms like Medium to attract readers to your website.
Promote your site on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn—whichever suits your niche best.
I’ve written several posts on how to leverage social media for creatives, which you might find useful:
You can also explore more tips in my Medium article on how to drive traffic to a new blog.
3. Expand Your SEO Strategy Beyond Google
While Google remains the largest search engine, it’s far from the only option available.
Most SEO tools and experts primarily concentrate on Google rankings. However, it's important to remember that other search engines can also drive significant organic traffic to your website.
When reviewing my analytics, I’m often surprised by the traffic I receive from Bing, DuckDuckGo, Yahoo, Ecosia, Yandex, AOL, and others. I even come across search engines I hadn’t heard of before, like Oceanhero.today, which operates similarly to Ecosia.org.
While Ecosia uses its profits to plant trees and is known for its privacy features, Oceanhero focuses on combating ocean pollution.
These alternative search engines can be excellent choices for your default search engine, offering both environmental benefits and privacy features.
4. Focus On People-First Content And Use SEO Wisely
SEO is far from dead. It remains a crucial tool for ranking your website in search engines, even in 2024.
To effectively recover from the Google March 2024 core update, the best approach is to create people-first content while applying SEO strategies correctly.
Without search engine optimization, your content won’t gain visibility. Relevant keywords are essential for search engines to recognize and rank your content, including Google, which claims to prioritize content created for people rather than search engines.
The key is to craft content for your audience, not just for search engines, while still using SEO techniques effectively.
Basically speaking, SEO comprises three main pillars:
1. Technical SEO
2. Site Structure SEO (Architecture)
3. On-Page SEO (Content)
By integrating these three types of optimization into your blog or website, you’ll enhance your chances of achieving strong search engine rankings, even in 2024.
If you need assistance getting your website in shape, I have a comprehensive guide that covers everything: from setting up a website and starting a blog to optimizing for all three types of SEO, attracting organic traffic, and monetizing your site, plus much more!
Alternatively, you can book my One-On-One Website Consulting for Creatives, which is currently free. If you were affected by the Google March 2024 core update or just want advice on optimizing your site for better search rankings, apply here. I’d be happy to help!
What has been your experience with the Google March 2024 core update? Did it impact your website?
Share your thoughts in the comments—I’d love to hear from you! To stay updated with my latest blog posts, sign up for my newsletter here.
See you in the next post!
Cheers, Angie ??
Logo & Brand Identity Designer
7 个月Thanks for sharing, Gina. March 2024 was indeed a challenging time for many. It’s important to acknowledge these tough moments and find ways to support each other through them. Here’s to resilience and moving forward stronger together.