How to recover your website after a Google core update

June 03, 2024

Feeling the blues after a traffic drop? You’re not alone. Google's core updates can have a big impact on businesses relying on organic traffic. The March 2024 core update was a clear example, shaking up search rankings and leaving many site owners scrambling to recover. This guide uses that update as a case study, but the recovery steps apply to any Google core update.

The March 2024 update: A focus on quality

The internet often feels like it’s overflowing with low-quality content. Google’s March 2024 core update, which rolled out between 5 March and 19 April 2024, was designed to tackle this issue. It aimed to reduce the presence of subpar content and enhance the overall quality of search results, targeting fluff articles, keyword-stuffed sites and unoriginal content produced at scale.

Key changes

1. Increased quality: Google expected a 40% reduction in low-quality, unoriginal content in search results and reported a 45% reduction once the rollout was complete.
2. Content targets: Articles lacking substantive information, websites optimised solely for search engines without valuable content, and pages mass-produced to rank, whether by automation or by people, were the primary targets.
3. New spam policies: Alongside the update, Google introduced three new spam policies against scaled content abuse, expired domain abuse and site reputation abuse. The site reputation abuse policy took effect on 5 May 2024.

Core updates since March 2024

The March 2024 update was not the last. Google has released further core updates in August, November and December 2024, in March, June and December 2025, and in March and May 2026. Before you analyse a traffic change, check the Google Search Status Dashboard for the dates of the most recent update.

Steps to recover your website

If your site’s traffic took a hit, there are strategic steps you can take to recover:

1. Stay calm and plan

A sudden drop in traffic can be alarming, but it's crucial to avoid hasty decisions:

1. Stay calm: Google updates can take time to settle. Wait until the update has finished rolling out; Google recommends waiting at least a full week after a core update completes before analysing your site.
2. Monitor changes: Use the Search Status Dashboard and Google Search Console to track changes and understand the impact. Compare a week after the update with a week before it started.

2. Analyse data to identify issues

Identify which parts of your site were most affected:

1. Track the damage: Tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, and Google Analytics can help pinpoint which pages experienced the biggest traffic drops.
2. Judge the size of the drop: Google’s guidance on core updates advises against drastic action for small drops (for example, from position 2 to 4) and recommends a deeper assessment for large ones (for example, from position 4 to 29).
3. Evaluate content: Assess the quality and relevance of the affected content. Look for areas that may have been targeted by the update.

3. Enhance content relevance

Improve the relevance and quality of your pages:

1. Update content: Regularly refresh your content to keep it current and informative.
2. Deep dive: Create comprehensive content that provides detailed information and answers users’ queries thoroughly.
3. Write for humans: Prioritise helpful and accurate content over keyword-stuffed articles.
4. Improve before you delete: Google describes deleting content as a last resort, for pages that cannot be salvaged.

Read on: Google will expand generative AI tool to select websites.

4. Boost page authority

Increase your site’s authority both on-page and off-page:

1. Secure website: Ensure your site is HTTPS secured.
2. Author clarity: Attribute content to authors and provide bios to establish credibility.
3. Quality backlinks: Acquire backlinks from reputable sites to boost your content’s trustworthiness.
4. Expert contributions: Collaborate with industry experts to enhance the authority and reliability of your content.

5. Conduct competitor analysis

Learn from your competitors to improve your strategy:

1. Analyse competitors: Use SEO tools to understand what keywords and links competitors are using.
2. Identify gaps: Spot areas where competitors excel and find opportunities to improve your content accordingly.

6. Revisit technical SEO

Ensure your site’s technical foundation is solid:

1. User-friendly design: Optimise your site for speed, mobile compatibility, and ease of navigation.
2. Optimise Key Elements: Focus on page load times, effective use of headings, and strategic internal linking.

7. Offset traffic loss with new content

Publish fresh, high-quality content to regain lost traffic:

1. Create valuable content: Address trending topics and provide in-depth information.
2. Establish expertise: Regularly produce authoritative content to position yourself as an expert in your field.

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Be patient and keep improving

Every core update underscores Google’s commitment to delivering high-quality, user-centric search results. While some sites may face challenges, others have opportunities to improve. Recovery takes time: Google says some improvements show within days, but it can take several months for its systems to recognise that a whole site has improved, sometimes not until the next core update. Prioritise creating content that genuinely helps users, stay informed about future updates, and adapt to Google's evolving algorithms. Remember, adapting to Google means prioritising users first!