March 2023 Google Broad Core Algorithm Update: What Happened?

In March 2023, Google confirmed the rollout of its latest algorithm update. Any digital marketer will tell you that Google’s algorithm updates can be a bit of a headache. And, these updates are why search engine optimization is never a once-and-done process. While these updates are a necessary evil, the March 2023 Google algorithm update was considered relatively broad, which means it has the potential to affect a lot of websites.

Algorithm updates are designed to ensure users are finding relevant, valuable content when they conduct a search. Therefore, Google periodically makes core updates to how it evaluates a website or webpage before providing its rank on a search engine results page (SERP). The March 2023 Google Algorithm update has the potential to cause a few issues if your cannabis-industry website is not prepared.

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What to Expect After the March 2023 Google Algorithm Update

Google’s latest core update was targeted at changing how Google systems evaluate web page content to improve search results for web users. While we don’t have specifics about precisely what Google is now evaluating to ensure sites are providing quality content, there is ample room to speculate. According to experts at SEO Roundtable, this rollout seems to affect all types of web page content, and the initial implications for many websites seemed huge.

Since the latest update, it is even more important to:

• Make sure all content on your actually provides value to the reader
• Use acceptable keyword practices to attract organic site traffic
• Make sure your meta tags and data are on-point and aligned with your on-page content
• Assess your content compared to competitor content that ranks higher to find out what could be wrong
• Optimize cannabis websites technically to negate issues with load speed, mobile-friendliness, and site structure

How to Determine if Google’s Latest Update Is Affecting Your Site

Google doesn’t blatantly come out and say (usually) what they are changing about their algorithms, and, sometimes they roll out updates without a forewarning at all. This means marketers are left to their own devices to figure out if they’ve been negatively affected after an algorithm update rollout, but also have to make monitoring their web traffic an ongoing project.

If you want to know if the March 2023 Google Algorithm update affected your website keep a close eye on organic search traffic numbers and your keyword rankings. These two metrics will tell you if the rollout has caused downfalls. Keep in mind, algorithm update effects may not always be immediate. It takes time for Google’s internal crawlers to reassess, reevaluate, and then index sites.

Did your digital marketing strategy take a hit?

We get it. Things can be running smoothly with your digital marketing plan and organic search traffic, and then an algorithm update steps in and throws everything off-kilter. In short, what once worked to please Google no longer works, and you have to make changes to keep up. If you need help getting your cannabusiness back on the right track, CannaPlanners can help. Reach out to discuss what’s not working for your brand.

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