August core algorithm update: What has the impact been

The August 2024 core update took 19 days to fully roll out, starting on August 15 and completing on September 3, 2024.

This update further solidified Google’s overall commitment to quality content that brings value to the user, emphasising the importance of E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness).

In summary, the main aims of the August core update were:

• Improving search result quality by showing more useful content.
• Surfacing more high-quality content from small and independent sites. Google said they aim to “connect people with a range of high-quality sites, including ‘small’ or ‘independent’ sites that are creating useful, original content on relevant searches”.
• Better capturing and rewarding improvements sites have made since previous updates. Google said this update “aims to better capture improvements that sites may have made, so we can continue to surface the best of the web”.
• Addressing feedback received from website owners over the past few months, particularly regarding the negative impact of the September 2023 helpful content update on smaller publishers.
• Continuing to prioritise content that demonstrates experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T).
• Demoting low-value content that appears to be created primarily for search engine optimisation rather than user value.

John Mueller, Search Advocate at Google, said: “Today, we launched our August 2024 core update to Google Search. This update is designed to continue our work to improve the quality of our search results by showing more content that people find genuinely useful and less content that feels like it was made just to perform well on Search.”

Why was the August core update important?

This core update garnered more eyeballs than usual because it took on board the feedback Google had received following the September 2023 helpful content update, where lots of independent websites saw huge drops in their rankings and traffic.

Google said: “This latest update takes into account the feedback we’ve heard from some creators and others over the past few months.

“As always, we aim to connect people with a range of high-quality sites, including small or independent sites that are creating useful, original content, when relevant to users’ searches.

“This is an area we’ll continue to address in future updates.

“This update also aims to better capture improvements that sites may have made, so we can continue to show the best of the web.”

Many website owners had hoped this latest update would rectify the impact of the September helpful content update.

What impact has the August core update had?

Search Engine Land found:
44% of surveyed sites reported decreased rankings/traffic
27% saw improved rankings/traffic
29% noticed no change

Partial recoveries

Some sites that were negatively impacted by the September 2023 helpful content update showed signs of recovery, however, they were limited and not as widespread as expected.

The update did take into account feedback received since previous updates, particularly regarding small and independent publishers, according to Google.

Changes to core update documentation

Google made changes to their help page about core updates, including more in-depth guidance for those who saw fluctuations in traffic.

Ongoing evaluation

As the update’s full effects continue to unfold, it’s still too early to draw definitive conclusions about its long-term impact.

Google has advised website owners to remain patient and wait for the update to fully settle before making significant changes.

What about Google Discover?

Since the August 2024 core algorithm update, there have been notable changes observed in Google Discover:

A number of publishers have noted fluctuations in traffic.

We’re seeing largely publishers take a drop in Discover visibility, while niche publishers have seen an uptick.

Content that is relevant to current trends seems to be favoured in Discover after the update.

Publishers who are writing heavily teased content are still being rewarded.

If your website has been negatively impacted by the August 2024 core update, get in touch: hi@trafck.co.uk.

How to recover from the Google August core update

Google has made changes to its help page on how to recover for an algorithm update.

This includes more in-depth guidance for those who have seen a drop in traffic and organic rankings since the update rolled out.

TRAFCK can help you diagnose the drop in traffic but have some actionable tips for all website owners who have seen a decline:

1) Conduct a content audit – focus on high-quality content

We’d recommend reviewing your top pages and queries. How did they rank before and after the core update?

Is the change small? For example a drop from position 1 to position 3? If so, don’t make any changes.

Is the change big? For example a drop from position 2 to 23? If so, you need to dig deeper into your content.

Evaluate the quality, relevance and ‘helpfulness’ of your content. You should be asking yourself whether it meets a reader’s needs or was just created to rank in search engines.

We wouldn’t recommend deleting content, you should aim to improve it. Deleting content should only be done as a last resort.

2) Conduct a technical audit – monitor website performance

Does your website load fast? Is your website easy to use? Is your website mobile-friendly? Are your Core Web Vitals competitive? These are all questions you should be asking yourself.

Google has said website owners can see a recovery between core updates but the biggest change would be after another core update.

You can read more about how to recover from a Google algorithm update here.