Google’s October 2023 Core Update: What You Need to Know

The previous core update finished rolling out on September 7, 2023.

Highlights:

• Google’s October 2023 core update is rolling out, with an estimated completion time of up to two weeks.
• This marks the third broad core algorithm update of the year.
• Monitoring site analytics and rankings is crucial during this period.
• Google has some advice for website owners whose search engine rankings may be impacted by the update.

Google’s broad core update for October 2023 has officially entered the second half of its rollout. Initiated on October 5, it is expected to finish rolling out in two weeks.

This marks the third broad core update of 2023, with the previous two having finished rolling out in March and September, respectively.

The X Announcement

Google Search Central announced the rollout on X, the day it was initiated on its search status page.

Today we released the October 2023 core update. We’ll update our ranking release history page when the rollout is complete: https://t.co/pooeFs6tEC

— Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) October 5, 2023

The Implications

Core updates are essentially changes that Google implements in its algorithms for determining the web pages that appear in search results when users search for information. It does this to ensure the search results are helpful and up-to-date.

The search engine has a secret recipe—an algorithm—for ranking web pages, and it makes little adjustments to this recipe with each core update. This way, it can find the best web pages to show the users.

Unlike a minor update, which makes a negligible difference, a core update may affect 5–10 percent of Google search engine rankings. Therefore, it’s vital to keep a close watch on analytics and rankings during this period.

Google’s Advice For Those Affected

 In the event that a website experiences a dip in rankings, website owners, marketers, and SEO specialists are expected to do the following:

• Take no specific recovery actions, as a decline in rankings does not necessarily indicate a problem with the pages.
• Observe analytics and rankings in the week following the rollout, as the most significant changes typically occur after another core update.
• Create helpful, people-first content to improve page experience.

A Spam Update Is In The Works

 It’s worth noting that Google is concurrently implementing its October 2023 spam update. As a result, website owners may face the challenge of distinguishing which update affects their site’s performance.

The only way to maintain Google search engine ranking despite quarterly rollouts is to follow these SEO best practices.