How Googles Core Update Works

How Google’s Core Update Works 

Google’s core updates are the search giant’s largest-scale revisions to how it ranks sites and content. While the company makes small, more frequent updates that target specific areas of the search experience (spam, for instance, or local product reviews), core updates change how Google assesses every piece of content on the web. The goal is to improve the relevance of its results so people can more easily find the information they’re looking for.

Google doesn’t select which sites or pages will be affected when a core update goes live. Instead, a core update adjusts the value or weight assigned to the thousands of different ranking signals that the search engine uses to try to determine the best, most relevant content for any given query.

One core update may increase the weight of some signals related to original research and firsthand expertise, for instance, while another might recalibrate signals related to search intent or unhelpful content. Sites that see traffic drops after a core update are not being penalized. Rather, the signals the algorithm now places more weight on are a better match for users’ queries.

Site owners can and should optimize their sites for Google’s quality guidelines, but Google discourages a “signal chasing” approach to algorithm updates. Google’s guidance is fairly simple: create content for people, not for its algorithms. Does the content demonstrate expertise and useful information, answer real questions, and generally add value to the world? From a technical perspective, pages that load quickly, are mobile-friendly, and easy to use and understand also have a better chance of ranking well.

Core updates are usually rolled out 2-3 times per year. These larger updates can take a few weeks to fully deploy. Google tests and refines its ranking systems all the time, using both automated evaluation of its results, as well as feedback from human quality raters. Google never reveals its ranking formulas, of course, but the company’s overall intent is to improve its understanding of “helpful” and “trustworthy” content.

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