Last Updated on May 5, 2025
The recent updates this March have sparked widespread discussion on AI content, bringing fresh challenges and opportunities for SEOs. Focusing on quality and keeping users in mind is crucial to staying ahead.
Google’s March 2024 update encourages websites to eliminate low-quality content and focus on creating more genuine and helpful content for users. If your website was affected by this update, bouncing back might seem harsh, but it’s also a chance to improve it and discover new ways to grow.
For example, look at juliangoldie.com. This website used to get a lot of traffic, around 7,000 visitors, but it dropped to almost none after the update. Additionally, where it once had hundreds of pages showing up on Google, only 10 are now indexed. This significant drop illustrates the substantial impact the update can have and underscores the importance of creating high-quality content that effectively answers users’ questions.
I’ve added my thoughts to decode these changes and contacted a few SEO professionals for their insights and forecasts.
Impact on Content Strategy after the March 2024 SEO Update
The March 2024 SEO update has significantly changed how content strategies are formulated and executed.
With the advent of AI-driven overviews (SGE), it’s more imperative than ever to focus on content further down the funnel.
So instead of asking, “What type of litter box is best for cats?” try “Open vs. closed litter box: which is best?” Peter Rota, SEO Specialist.
Here’s a closer look at the key impacts:
1. Quality Over Quantity
One of the most prominent shifts is the heightened emphasis on content quality. The update prioritizes well-researched, insightful, and engaging content over sheer volume. Producing numerous low-quality articles is no longer a viable strategy. Instead, content creators must focus on delivering value through comprehensive, accurate, and reader-centric pieces.
2. E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness)
The E-A-T principles have become even more critical. Google’s algorithm now more accurately evaluates the expertise and authoritativeness of content and its creators. Websites that consistently demonstrate high knowledge and credibility are rewarded with better rankings. This necessitates collaboration with industry experts and ensuring content is authored by recognized professionals.
Read more on: Will AI Kill SEO?
3. User Experience (UX)
With the new update, user experience has taken center stage. Content that enhances the user experience (UX) through straightforward navigation, fast loading times, and mobile optimization is favored. Interactive elements such as videos, infographics, and interactive polls that engage users are now essential to an effective content strategy.
4. Intent-Based Content Creation
Understanding and aligning with user intent has become crucial. The update enhances Google’s ability to understand the purpose behind search queries, underscoring the importance of content that directly addresses specific user needs and queries. This shift encourages content creators to delve deeper into keyword research and develop content that matches various stages of the buyer journey.
5. Local and Niche Content Gains Importance
Local and niche-specific content has gained increased importance. The update enhances the algorithm’s ability to deliver highly relevant local search results, making it crucial for businesses to prioritize local SEO practices. Creating highly specialized content for niche markets catering to a specific audience can increase visibility and engagement.
6. Multimedia and Visual Content
The update has also underscored the significance of multimedia and visual content. Integrating high-quality images, videos, and other visual elements can enhance user engagement and dwell time, ultimately positively influencing search engine rankings. Content strategies now need to include a robust plan for multimedia integration to captivate and retain audience interest.
7. Focus on Content Refresh and Updates
The update has placed a renewed focus on the freshness of content. Regularly updating existing content to keep it relevant and accurate is now more critical than ever. This practice not only improves rankings but also maintains audience trust and engagement.
Download my on-page SEO checklist for the best results: https://shahidshahmiri.com/on-page-seo-checklist
Technical SEO Adjustments
The March 2024 SEO update has underscored the importance of technical SEO, prompting website owners to make crucial adjustments.
One of the first steps is to focus on Core Web Vitals, which measure your site’s loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability performance. Using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse can help identify areas for improvement.
Read more on: What is the Use of Webmaster Tools in SEO?
Optimizing images, minimizing JavaScript, and leveraging browser caching, you can ensure a faster and smoother user experience, which is now more crucial than ever for achieving a high Google ranking.
Mobile optimization is another critical area to address. With Google’s continued emphasis on mobile-first indexing, your site must perform exceptionally well on mobile devices.
Ensure your site is responsive, loads quickly, and provides an intuitive user experience on all screen sizes.
Tools like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test can help spot issues and guide necessary adjustments. Implementing Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) can enhance loading speeds and performance, aligning your site with Google’s mobile standards.
Lastly, strengthening your site’s security and optimizing technical elements, such as structured data, sitemaps, and error handling, is vital.
Regularly check and update your XML sitemaps and robots.txt files to ensure efficient indexing. Managing 404 errors and setting up 301 redirects where necessary can preserve link equity and enhance user experience, contributing to better rankings and smoother navigation.
Read more on How to manage SEO projects?
SEO for Mobile and Local
The March 2024 Google Core Update aims to reduce low-quality, unoriginal content and display more valuable and relevant content in search results.
With 63% of Google searches in the U.S. occurring on mobile devices, optimizing for mobile and local search has never been more crucial.
This update includes enhancements to the core ranking systems to improve the quality of search results, with a focus on explicitly targeting clickbait content and spammy practices.
To align with these changes, ensure your website is optimized for mobile devices. This means prioritizing responsive design, fast load times, and a user-friendly mobile experience.
Content must be concise, easy to read, and free of intrusive pop-ups, catering to the needs of mobile users.
Businesses should optimize their Google Business Profile with accurate, up-to-date information and encourage customers to leave reviews to boost local credibility.
Link Building Strategies for SEOs Post March 2024 Google Updates
With Google’s recent update bringing significant changes to the core ranking system and implementing new spam policies, SEOs must adapt their link-building strategies to align with these enhancements. Here are some effective strategies to follow:
1. Focus on High-Quality, Authoritative Backlinks
Given Google’s emphasis on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness), acquiring backlinks from reputable, authoritative websites is more crucial than ever.
Identify Niche Authorities: Target websites that are recognized authorities in your industry or niche.
Guest Posting: Craft high-quality guest posts for these authoritative sites, ensuring the content demonstrates expertise and provides genuine value to their audience.
Influencer Collaborations: Collaborate with industry influencers to create content that naturally attracts backlinks from authoritative sites.
2. Emphasize Content Quality and Relevance
With enhanced spam detection, low-quality, manipulative content is less likely to rank. Therefore, it is vital to produce high-quality, relevant content that naturally attracts backlinks.
Create Comprehensive Guides: Develop in-depth, well-researched guides and resources that are your industry’s go-to references.
Update Existing Content: Regularly update your existing content to ensure it remains relevant and continues to attract organic backlinks.
Leverage Data-Driven Content: Produce content based on original research, data analysis, and case studies that provide unique insights and value.
3. Engage in Manual Outreach
Manual link-building remains a powerful strategy, particularly when involving personalized and targeted outreach. SEOs should:
Personalize Outreach Emails: Tailor each outreach email to the recipient, demonstrating genuine interest in their work and explaining the mutual benefit of linking to your content.
Build Relationships: Foster long-term relationships with webmasters, bloggers, and influencers in your niche by maintaining consistent, value-driven communication.
Offer Value-First Propositions: Approach potential link partners with valuable content offers, such as guest posts, expert interviews, or exclusive data.
As a founder who has witnessed consistent growth through all recent Google updates, I can confidently say that our strategy from last year remains effective.
We don’t focus on the immediate or future implications of these updates but on sound principles that are universally applicable.
Link building remains a substantial part of our strategy, not just because data show that links from authoritative sources lead to higher rankings but also because social proof and endorsements are fundamental aspects of human psychology.
Accepting that search engines are designed for humans, it logically follows that these concepts are considered by their algorithms. Liam Doherty – Founder, Hexeum
Conclusion
The March 2024 SEO update has significantly reshaped the SEO landscape, emphasizing the importance of high-quality content, user experience, and adherence to E-E-A-T principles.
While these changes present challenges, they also offer opportunities for growth by encouraging websites to produce more valuable and user-centric content.
For those impacted, the path to recovery lies in creating high-quality, relevant content, optimizing technical aspects, and leveraging authoritative link-building strategies.
Read more: Cheap Search Engine Optimization vs. Expensive SEO
Read More: When Optimizing a Website for Search, What Impact Do Meta and Title Tags Have on the Search Engine?, Manual Outreach Link-Building – Links That Google Loves
