August Core Update Brings Hope: Sites Affected by HCU Show Signs of Life

On August 15, 2024, Google announced the rollout of the August Core Update. Google stated that this update, which aims to improve search results by showing more helpful content, was significantly influenced by the valuable feedback from the SEO community.

Since Google’s Helpful Content Update in September 2023, many sites have felt debilitating ranking effects from which they have yet to recover. Many small, independent sites have yet to recover from the HCU, sparking frustration with the search engine giant. SEOs are hopeful that this core update will finally provide relief for many sites. 

Lily Ray, Vice President of SEO Strategy and Research at Amsive, has posted updates showing that some sites have already seen positive trends after the rollout of the core update.

It’s important to note that these are not full recoveries. Instead, these are signs of improvements from sites that had seen no movement since the September HCU. 

Noteworthy: Google confirmed a ranking bug impacting a large number of sites shortly after it released the August Core Update. The bug is not related to the August Core Update, but it is affecting the ranking results of many sites. Google is actively working on fixing the bug, and I will update the article as soon as it is available. 

Google also updated its core update documentation to help SEOs better navigate the after-effects of a core update.  

Marie Haynes, a notable voice in the SEO community, summarized the document changes in a detailed post on her blog, providing valuable insights for SEO professionals.

If you were hit by this core update, you must review your content and improve it per Google’s guidelines.