The Ultimate Guide to Recent Google SEO Updates (2023-2024)

Staying on top of Google’s SEO updates is crucial for businesses and website owners looking to maintain and improve their search engine rankings. Google continually refines its algorithms to deliver better search results and user experience. In this blog, we'll walk through the most important Google updates related to SEO from 2023-2024 and how they impact your digital marketing strategy.

1. August 2023 Core Update

In August 2023, Google rolled out a major core algorithm update. Core updates are broad changes that impact how websites are ranked across various industries. Google didn’t release specific details, but many SEO experts noticed a shift in how the algorithm assesses content quality and relevance.

Key Takeaway: Focus on producing high-quality, user-focused content that addresses search intent. Regularly audit your site for performance, page experience, and relevance to ensure it aligns with these new ranking factors.

2. Helpful Content Update (December 2023)

Google expanded its "Helpful Content" update to improve the overall quality of search results by rewarding websites with useful and informative content while penalising content designed solely for search engine ranking. This update targets sites with a high volume of unhelpful content written for clicks rather than users.

Impact on SEO: Google now rewards websites that focus on human-first content, meaning it’s important to avoid content written just for keyword stuffing or ranking manipulation. Instead, invest in in-depth articles, how-to guides, FAQs, and other informative resources that provide real value to users.

Actionable Tip: Perform a content audit to remove or improve thin, outdated, or poorly structured content. Make sure every piece on your site genuinely helps your audience.

3. E-A-T Becomes E-E-A-T (Double E-A-T Update)

Google’s focus on Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-A-T) has long been a core part of its algorithm. However, in 2024, Google expanded this concept to include a fourth element: Experience. This addition means Google now evaluates not only how authoritative and trustworthy your content is but also whether it's written by someone with first-hand experience in the subject matter.

Impact on SEO: Websites that demonstrate expert knowledge through real-life experiences, case studies, or hands-on insights are likely to perform better.

Actionable Tip: Highlight content written by industry experts or contributors with relevant experience. If possible, showcase author bios, credentials, or real-world examples within your content.

4. Google's AI-Enhanced Search Experience (SGE)

With the rise of AI, Google introduced Search Generative Experience (SGE) as part of its broader implementation of artificial intelligence in search results. This feature delivers richer search results by summarising information from multiple sources and presenting AI-generated responses for more complex queries.

Impact on SEO: SEO strategies must now consider the possibility of users not clicking through to websites as AI snippets might already provide answers. To optimise for SGE, it’s important to focus on long-tail keywords and offer comprehensive, in-depth content.

Actionable Tip: Continue optimising your content for featured snippets by answering common user questions clearly and concisely. Also, create pillar content to cover broad topics thoroughly.

5. Page Experience Update (2023 Refresh)

Google’s 2023 refresh of the Page Experience Update continues its push for fast, user-friendly websites. Core Web Vitals remain a significant factor, which include metrics like Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). Websites that perform poorly on these metrics are likely to experience a drop in rankings.

Impact on SEO: Page speed and user experience are more critical than ever. If your website is slow, cluttered, or difficult to navigate, it will be penalised.

Actionable Tip: Conduct regular website audits with tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights to ensure your site is loading quickly, free of intrusive ads, and mobile-friendly.

6. Mobile-First Indexing

Google continues to prioritise mobile-first indexing, meaning it primarily uses the mobile version of a website for indexing and ranking. This update has been in place for a few years, but its importance was underscored again in 2023-2024, especially as mobile search traffic continues to grow.

Impact on SEO: Websites that are not optimised for mobile will face ranking difficulties, while mobile-friendly websites will have a competitive edge.

Actionable Tip: Ensure your website is fully responsive, with a mobile-friendly design, easy navigation, and fast load times on smartphones.

7. Passage Indexing Update

Google’s Passage Indexing update allows the search engine to rank individual passages from a web page instead of ranking the entire page. This helps users find specific answers to their queries, even if the overall page covers a broader topic.

Impact on SEO: Content optimisation must go beyond traditional on-page SEO. Google’s ability to extract relevant passages means that every section of your content needs to be valuable, clear, and optimised for search intent.

Actionable Tip: Organise your content into well-structured sections with clear headings and concise information. Make sure each passage is relevant and answers specific user queries.

8. SpamBrain and Link Spam Updates (2023-2024)

Google’s SpamBrain algorithm has become increasingly sophisticated in identifying and combating spammy backlinks, paid links, and low-quality content. Link-building strategies based on unnatural or manipulative tactics are likely to be penalised.

Impact on SEO: Building a strong backlink profile is still essential, but the focus must be on quality over quantity. Earning high-quality backlinks from reputable sources will strengthen your domain authority.

Actionable Tip: Prioritise ethical, white-hat link-building strategies. Focus on earning links through guest posting, industry partnerships, and content marketing efforts that naturally attract backlinks.

9. BERT and MUM Algorithm Advances

Google’s BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) and MUM (Multitask Unified Model) are continuing to evolve. These AI-driven algorithms help Google better understand natural language and context, especially for complex queries. MUM is also capable of interpreting text, images, and even video to provide more in-depth search results.

Impact on SEO: SEO content needs to be written in a natural, conversational tone. Keyword stuffing is becoming increasingly obsolete as Google focuses more on intent and context.

Actionable Tip: Ensure your content is structured in a way that answers questions thoroughly, using natural language. Provide a variety of formats, such as text, video, and images, to cater to diverse search preferences.

Conclusion

As Google continues to improve its algorithms, SEO strategies need to evolve alongside them. The common thread in Google’s updates for 2023-2024 is a focus on delivering high-quality, user-centric content that prioritises relevance, experience, and trustworthiness.

To stay ahead in the competitive SEO landscape, make sure your website delivers value to users, offers an excellent user experience, and is optimised for both humans and search engines.

Ready to optimise your content for these Google updates? Reach out to our team at Raadl IT Solutions for expert SEO services that will boost your rankings and grow your online presence.