Google March 2025 Update Rolling out Recently
Google has officially rolled out its Google March 2025 Core Update, the first core update of the year and the first since December 2024. The update is likely to take up to two weeks to finish rolling out.
The company has shared little information about the update. The public statement states:
"Released the Google March 2025 Core Update. The rollout may take up to 2 weeks to complete."
Core updates, including the Google March 2025 core update, which occur multiple times a year, often bring broad and substantial changes to Google's search algorithms and systems, prompting Google to announce them. This update is released three months after the December 2024 core update, and website owners need to be aware of the Google March 2025 core update's impact.
Key Points from Google's March 2025 Core Update
1. What to Do if Your Site Is Affected?
While Google did not provide specific advice for this update, they have shared guidance for past updates, which applies to the Google March 2025 Core Update as well:
- No specific actions are needed to recover from a negative ranking change, caused by the Google March 2025 Core Update, as this may not indicate an issue with your site.
- Google has previously suggested considering a set of questions if your site is negatively impacted by the Google March 2025 core update.
- Some recovery might occur between core updates, but the most significant changes will be seen after the next core update, which could be the Google March 2025 Core Update.
2. Content Focus:
- Ultimately, Google recommends focusing on creating helpful, user-focused content rather than trying to game the rankings, as seen in the Google March 2025 Core Update.
- Google emphasized that there’s nothing special creators need to do for this update as long as they’ve been producing content designed to satisfy user needs. For those noticing a drop in rankings, Google recommends reviewing their "Creating Helpful, Reliable, People-First Content" guidelines.
3. Previous Core Updates
The Google March 2024 Core Update, was the largest ever, according to Google, and ran from March 5 to April 19.
Here’s a timeline of recent core updates:
- December 2024 core update: December 12–18
- November 2024 core update: November 11–December 5
- August 2024 core update: August 15–September 3
- March 2024 core update: March 5–April 19
- November 2023 core update: November 2–28
- October 2023 core update: October 5–19
- August 2023 core update: August 22–September 7
- March 2023 core update: March 15–28
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What Does This Mean for SEO Professionals?
Google's March 2025 Core Update, brings substantial changes to Google’s primary search algorithms and systems. Unlike smaller updates targeting specific issues, core updates usually result in noticeable fluctuations in search rankings across the web.
Website owners and SEO professionals should expect some changes in search visibility and rankings as the Google March 2025 Core update rolls out. While fluctuations are typical, rankings often stabilize once the update is fully implemented, but permanent shifts can occur based on how Google’s algorithm evaluates content quality and relevance.
How to Prepare for Algorithm Changes?
As with past core updates, Google has not revealed specific details about what changes have been made to its ranking systems. Google’s general advice remains to focus on creating high-quality content rather than attempting to address specific issues when rankings drop after an update.
During this time, it's important to closely monitor your site’s analytics for any significant changes in traffic or rankings. Tracking these changes will help determine if any adjustments are necessary once the update is fully rolled out.
Search Engine Journal will continue to monitor the impact of this update and provide further updates as more information becomes available.
Why It Matters?
Core updates often result in significant fluctuations in Google’s search rankings, which can impact the visibility and performance of websites. While some sites may benefit from these updates, others could see rankings and organic traffic declines.
We hope this update positively changes your site, driving more traffic and conversions. It will be interesting to see if the creators Google has been working with will see any benefits from this update.