Expect another round of search ranking volatility as Google releases the November 2023 Core Update on November 2. Aware of the slim time gap from the last core update (which was just a few weeks ago), Google also released a Q&A document addressing some of the most common concerns of SEO professionals.
“Why another so soon after the October 2023 core update? We have different systems that are considered core to our ranking process; this month’s core update involves an improvement to a different core system than last month,” said Google in its help document.
Basically, this month’s core update focuses on revamping a different core system than last month.
This doesn’t really mean much in terms of what you should do after every core update, though. The search engine company still advises that you follow its existing guidelines when it comes to dealing with core updates, namely:
Like the earlier three core updates this year, the November 2023 core update still didn’t disclose what “core system” was targeted.
We’ve covered the previous core updates with guidelines on how you can deal with them. Check them out here:
You can also check the Google Search Status Dashboard to monitor the core update’s real-time status. As of writing, this is still set to “Information,” indicating that it’s still in the process of getting rolled out. The status will change to “Available” once the rollout wraps up.
This is another big one for Google and SEO experts, as websites are still reeling from the shocks of the previous months’ algorithm updates, including helpful content, spam and two core updates.
Have you seen any changes in your rankings yet? Read the full forum discussion on X.
More SEO News You Can Use
Google Completes Transition to Mobile-First Indexing After 7 Years: In a crucial milestone, Google finally announced that its indexing system is now mobile-first. “It’s been a long road, getting from there to here. We’re delighted to announce that the trek to Mobile-First Indexing is now complete,” Google said in its October 31, 2023 announcement. But just how long was this transition? It all started on November 4, 2016, which was seven years ago. This is a crucial moment in SEO as websites will now be forced to adopt a mobile-first approach in their content and architecture. Google also hinted at this, saying, “We’ll continue to reduce our crawling with legacy desktop Googlebot as much as possible,” which means websites that don’t support mobile-first indexing will gradually lose their ranking over time. To stay compliant with Google, we recommend reading through its help document for mobile indexing best practices. Read Google’s blog for more information.
Recipe Queries Now Trigger AI-Generated Answers on SGE: AI as a chef assistant? Google just made it happen with Search Generative Experience (SGE). X user Brendan OConnell pointed out that SGE is now displaying AI-generated recipe information, something that was not seen in the initial rollout. What does this mean for food-based SEO? An X thread speculates that this could be devastating for the niche since there’s no available data to measure CTA and organic traffic. It’s important to note that SGE is still in its early stages, and Google is still working the kinks out of its AI-powered search solution. Read this article from Search Engine Roundtable to dive deeper into this story.
Google Adds Small Business Attribute to GBP: Small businesses now have another way of standing out in Google Maps and local listings as the search engine company adds another attribute called “small business” that companies can display in their Business Profiles. This is on top of existing attributes, such as LGBTQ+-owned, Asian-owned, Black-owned, Women-owned and more. Dive deeper into this story with this post from Search Engine Land.
Repetition Is Not The Problem – Google on Keyword Stuffing: Google Search Liaison cleared the air about keyword stuffing in its reply to an X thread on November 1, 2023. It’s not about exceeding a particular keyword quota, but “actual spam and tends to be repeating a term in non-sensical patterns over and over.” Google Search Liaison advises that Google has “pretty good ways” to understand meaning and concepts through natural language. The bottom line? “Just write like you would for people,” said Google Search Liaison. If this sounds familiar, that’s because it’s been Google’s SEO stance for so long. We’ve previously covered the need to focus on the bigger picture according to Google’s in-house experts like Danny Sullivan and John Mueller. In another post, Mueller advised that keyword research alone wouldn’t be enough to succeed in SEO. So, don’t be too zealous about keywords – it’s not the only thing that matters. Instead, look at your content and assess its quality. Does it help people? That’s the type of content that Google loves.
All-In-One GPT-4 Tools Now Available: ChatGPT is becoming better and better feature-wise. You no longer have to choose between its tools – plugins, DALL-E 3 or Advanced Data Analysis. Instead, just use the default model, and ChatGPT will automatically switch between these tools. This means you’re no longer limited in terms of functionality when using the GPT-4 model. As of writing, the ChatGPT release notes don’t include this feature yet, but users report they can actually use them. Check out this article from Search Engine Journal for a deeper dive into this story.
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