Google August 2024 Core Update presented changes on improving ranking for useful content, content that is not created just for rankings and SEO. This represents further improvements in Google algorithm that would benefit websites with actual useful content.
But in the official release notes there is also a remark about technical improvements: “This update also aims to better capture improvements that sites may have made, so Google can continue to show the best of the web”.
We noticed these changes affecting some of the websites we manage, but it seems other wesbsites are affected also.
Results so far from the web
Looking at the polls, like the one from Search Engine Land, the impact of the August 2024 Core Update has been mixed. Mentioned article from Search Engine Land states their polls show:
- 44% said My Rankings/Traffic Are Down (total votes 1,583).
- 27% said My Rankings/Traffic Are Up (total votes 993).
- 29% said No Change (total votes 1,038).
Source: https://searchengineland.com/google-august-2024-core-update-rollout-is-now-complete-446225
So it seems that August 2024 Core Update caused further decline for some websites, similar to September helpful content in 2023 Core Update. We are wondering why? Let’s break it down.
In our own backyard
Starting August 16 we noticed an increase in traffic across a few of the websites we manage, they started to get more visitors from Google.
Most notable increase in traffic was on a news / media website we developed and now manage. At first, we thought the content might be the reason. But the content did not change much, the editorial structure remained the same, nothing significant changed. And they were ranked at certain positions among other similar web locations, which also have very similar content.
Then, we started looking at technical aspects of competitors and realised almost all have inferior page speed measurements than our project. It started to make sense.
Speed And Performance
The project’s performance metrics and speed have been ahead of competitors.
We are old school first and then follow all the guidelines for a certain topic. So the first thing we measured was pure time to first byte between our project and closest rivals, which either had ranking unchanged or down.
Another test that is most relevant for comparison of this type is the PageSpeed Insights test by Google.
Server Speed
Testing server speed and how fast servers start to return content to the user (time to first byte or TTFB) was performed first. Our project averaged 2 to 4 times faster than competitors with an average TTFB of 0.0451 seconds.
While you have to be over 800ms to get out of green in PageSpeed Insights, there is surely a ranking indicator for being ultra fast.
PageSpeed Insights Tests
Second most important measurement was overall “Core Web Vitals Assessment” status. If anybody wants to rank well this status has to be “Passed” with all parameters in the green and aimed at best possible results for each metric.
Page Speed Insights report for one of article pages, which are most important for visitors and also Google.
All competitors that have “Core Web Vitals Assessment” status “Failed” have their rankings down after August 2024 Core Update. This is a clear indication that websites that perform benefited from this core update.
Besides “Core Web Vitals Assessment” status, other metrics that include:
- Performance
- Accessibility
- Best Practices
- SEO
Have to be all in the green, or at least you should aim to have them all in the green. Our score:
Looking at this, the “Performance” metric is not in the green, but given this is a website with numerous 3rd party tools, analytic tools, ad platforms, this is a very good result with some places for improvements.
We say it is a good result since none of the competitors had any of the metrics in the green! 🤯
Results After August 2024 Core Update
Since the start of August 2024 Core Update we started seeing gain in traffic and active users.
Most significant change was the “New users” metric. This is attributed to wider presence in Google Discover and Google News channels compared to preceding period.
In terms of “Pageviews” increase is inline with the increase in “Active users” metric.
Conclusion
The Google August 2024 Core Update is a reward to the web locations that are working on optimizing user experience in terms of fast page loading, fast page rendering and stable performance.
This is also fair to the organisations that are investing into better experience for their users, they should be compensated via better ranking, given they provide the same content value as their competitors.
Google is sending a clear message: prioritize your users’ experience, and the rankings will follow.
Does your website need a boost? Want to know how you can optimise for Google’s latest core update?
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