Webmasters, site owners and search marketers – buckle up! The first Google broad core algorithm update of 2022 has officially landed and is expected to shake up the search results in the next two weeks or so. The May 2022 broad core update was launched on May 25 (Wednesday) at around 10:30 am CST and will take 1-2 weeks to finish rolling out, as predicted.
The last core update took place over six months ago, the November 2021 core update. And like the November update, the Google May 2022 Broad Core Update, as it’s officially titled, won’t be penalizing underperforming pages but instead rewarding and promoting high-quality pages in the search results – as is the case with all broad core updates.
The latest broad core update will consider all types of content and affect all regions in all languages. However, Google would not disclose the number of queries or searches being impacted by this update. The SEO community also doubts that the company will notify webmasters of any future refreshes to the algorithm, if the unconfirmed updates over the last few weeks are any indication.
It’s worth mentioning again that broad core updates are not done to demote or penalize pages. “Core updates are changes we make to improve Search overall and keep pace with the changing nature of the web,” Google stated in the announcement. They will, inevitably, change how most sites perform on the SERPs because higher-quality pages that have undergone significant content improvements will most likely see increased rankings.
The company wants to emphasize that being negatively hit by the update doesn’t automatically mean you’re doing something wrong – you haven’t violated Google’s webmaster guidelines or been slapped with algorithmic or manual actions. Broad core updates are purely for helping Google better assess content across the web and promote those deemed to be authoritative, trustworthy and relevant.
However, the company has provided recommendations to help you prevent being negatively affected by future core updates. We still have a week or so to see the latest one play out, so keep a close eye on your analytics and SERP performance until then.
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