Google has confirmed that the October 2023 Core Update – the third core update this year – has completed rolling out. The update started on October 5, 2023, a day after the October 2023 spam update was released, and completed 14 days later on October 19, 2023.
Lots of volatility. This update, like most previous core updates, felt significant in terms of the number of sites that saw ranking volatility and the complaints from SEOs noticed throughout the rollout. While we will attempt to analyze data from providers, having two major confirmed updates rolling out simultaneously might complicate this task.
The update seemed to have caused significant movement in search rankings from October 10 through October 12 and again over this past weekend. However, this observation is based on what I am monitoring, not from any formal data source.
Why we care. Google algorithm updates are critical for all brands, businesses, and organizations because they can impact your site’s performance in search results. Any change in rankings from a core update – positive or negative – can affect your organic traffic, conversions, and revenue.
Being aware of when Google makes these updates provides insight into whether changes in your site’s performance are due to something you altered on your website or something Google modified with its ranking algorithm.
What to do if you are hit. Google has provided advice on what to consider if negatively impacted by a core update:
- No specific actions are needed to recover. A negative impact on rankings does not necessarily indicate any issues with your pages.
- Google has offered a list of questions to consider if your site is affected by a core update.
- Google mentioned you might see some recovery between core updates, but the most significant change would occur after another core update.
Previous core updates. Here’s a timeline and coverage of recent core updates:
- The August 2023 core update started on August 22nd and ended on September 7.
- The March 2023 core update began on March 15th and ended on March 28th.
- The September 2022 broad core update was less impactful than previous core updates and finished on September 26.
- The May 2022 broad core update was significant and fast.
- The November 2021 core update.
- The July 2021 core update.
- The June 2021 core update, which was slow to roll out but significant.
Other recent Google algorithm updates. Google has finished rolling out the October 2023 spam update, which took two weeks to complete. Thus, the October 2023 core update and the October 2023 spam update overlap. In September, Google rolled out the September 2023 helpful content update over a 14-day period.
