The Purpose of Google’s March 2024 Core Update
On March 5, Google announced its latest comprehensive core update, and SEO specialists worldwide felt a disturbance in The Force. The new update comes accompanied by revised spam policies and seeks to reduce unhelpful, low-quality, and unoriginal content. But how will this update affect Google rankings for dentists?
In a blog post published the same day, Elizabeth Tucker, Google’s Director of Product Management, wrote:
“We believe these updates will reduce the amount of low-quality content on Search and send more traffic to helpful and high-quality sites. Based on our evaluations, we expect that the combination of this update and our previous efforts will collectively reduce low-quality, unoriginal content in search results by 40%.”
Google will achieve this reduction in subpar content by enacting new spam-control policies and enhancing its core ranking systems by using multiple signals indicating poor-quality content rather than relying on a single system. If that explanation sounds a little obscure, that’s because it is.
While Google keeps the details of these internal signals vague, they have given us some examples of content that is harmful to the user experience and guidelines to keep content helpful and compliant.
Google’s New Spam Policies
Spam is a problem as old as the internet, as ancient as dial-up modems or allegedly haunted email forwards. Google’s latest policy aims spammy practices designed primarily to get views and game the search system:
Scaled Content Abuse
Websites that churn out a large amount of low-quality content to manipulate search rankings are guilty of scaled content abuse. Previous Google updates targeted automatically generated content, but even human-written articles that lack value are also on the chopping block.
Scaled Content Abuse
Websites that churn out a large amount of low-quality content to manipulate search rankings are guilty of scaled content abuse. Previous Google updates targeted automatically generated content, but even human-written articles that lack value are also on the chopping block.
Site Reputation Abuse
Site reputation abuse is a strategy where subpar content is hosted on a reputable third-party website to exploit its domain authority in search rankings. Content should be relevant to the host website and offer value to users rather than being published as a way to manipulate search engine results.
What Should I Do if My Website Is Affected?
This update will take several weeks to fully roll out because of the enormity of its scope. Regular monitoring and tracking of data like search rankings and website traffic can indicate how the update affects your site. Check your Google Search Console reports for any manual actions that have been applied. Manual actions can affect Google rankings for dentists, so addressing these notices is critical for the success of your website.
Identifying A Problem
Site reputation abuse is a strategy where subpar content is hosted on a reputable third-party website to exploit its domain authority in search rankings. Content should be relevant to the host website and offer value to users rather than being published as a way to manipulate search engine results.
Take Corrective Actions
After you’ve made the necessary corrections, you can submit a reconsideration request through Google Search Console. Include documentation of the changes you’ve made and specify the steps taken. You’ll receive updates in your email, and once your manual action on your website is revoked, Google rankings for dentists can begin to recover and become visible to potential patients again.
Submit a Reconsideration Request
Site reputation abuse is a strategy where subpar content is hosted on a reputable third-party website to exploit its domain authority in search rankings. Content should be relevant to the host website and offer value to users rather than being published as a way to manipulate search engine results.
Keeping Your Dental Website Compliant
The best way to preserve your dental SEO is to proactively assess your website now while the core update is still being implemented. Staying informed about Google updates allows you to make timely adjustments to your website and overall dental marketing strategy. Keep up with Google’s webmaster guidelines and policies and closely monitor data and performance in Google Search Console.
Complete a website audit to remove any potentially non-compliant pages and links from your site, and plan to perform regular reviews of your backlink profile and content in the future. Make sure any new pages contain valuable copywriting, and learn how to ethically and effectively use AI if you plan to use automatically generated writing.
If you’ve been creating high-quality, user-centered content and engaging in ethical SEO practices, then congratulations! You’ll likely be unaffected by this update. However, a nice perk for on-the-ball dental practices could be an increase in Google rankings for dentists as spammy competing websites are removed from search results.
How An Expert Can Help With Google Rankings for Dentists
As you may have noticed, navigating the complexities of Google’s frequent updates can become complicated. While there is no surefire way to prevent fluctuations in rankings during an update, a comprehensive dental marketing strategy involving ethical SEO practices, quality copywriting, and data monitoring can help Google view your website as authoritative and valuable.
Data Monitoring and Indexing
A dental marketing company won’t just create a plan for you to follow; they’ll also monitor data and adjust accordingly. We constantly analyze your website’s traffic, search rankings, domain authority, and more to understand how Google’s algorithm affects your site performance. We also monitor indexing, which can be affected after an algorithm update.
Google’s index is like its library—once your page is crawled (aka analyzed for content and meaning), it’s added to the index and can be found in search results. A great dental marketing company will make sure Google has indexed your website and content and will monitor existing pages to re-index them if necessary. Even the best SEO strategy will only be effective if your website is searchable!
Key Takeaways to Maintaining Google Rankings for Dentists
As the new Google core update and spam policies are implemented, you may see fluctuations in your website and dental local SEO rankings. Even if you have a great dental website, search engine results can take a significant hit if you’re not compliant with each new Google update. Choose a dental marketing company that understands core updates and how to maintain Google rankings for dentists. Specialists with expertise in creating custom, user-centric content can ensure that your site adheres to Google’s guidelines and provides genuine value to your patients.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the impact of a Google core update?
Google’s updates aim to reward websites that offer quality content to users while penalizing or removing those using spammy or abusive practices. While the results of a core update on your individual website can fluctuate, you can give your website the best chance of maintaining high rankings by using ethical SEO practices, avoiding toxic backlinks, and publishing valuable content.
How do I prepare for Google algorithm updates?
There are a few things you can do to make sure your website is ready for a significant Google core update:
- Reference Google’s guidelines to make sure your website is compliant.
- Keep up to date with Google and industry leaders by following them on social media.
- Continue to create helpful and valuable content.
- Keep reports of your website’s performance to compare after an update.
- Contact an SEO expert for help.
A solid SEO strategy and ethical practices can protect your website from being penalized for spammy practices.
How do you write helpful dental content that ranks on Google?
Quality content combined with ethical and effective SEO practices can drive up Google rankings for dentists. Content should be keyword optimized, utilize SEO best practices, and provide users with genuine value. Google provides documentation to help you self-assess your content and avoid spammy practices.
About the Author: Megan Nielsen is an SEO strategist and the Grand Overlord of copywriting at My Social Practice. My Social Practice is a dental marketing company that offers a full suite of dental marketing services to thousands of dental practices throughout the United States and Canada.
