What You Need to Know about the Google Core & Review System November Updates

Expectant marketers all over the news are glued to their screens as Google unveils the Core & Review System November 2023 updates. Google, being the dominant search engine, regularly updates its algorithm to ensure that users are provided with the most relevant and high-quality content. Updates like these can significantly impact a website's visibility and success in attracting organic traffic.

Adapting SEO strategies accordingly can help businesses rank higher in search results by keeping up with algorithm updates. Businesses can achieve higher rankings by creating high-quality content, building authoritative backlinks, optimising for mobile devices, and providing excellent user experiences.

Google has released its November 2023 core update, marking the second major change to its search algorithm in as many months. There are different systems that Google consider core to its ranking process, but their guidance remains the same. This latest core update comes after Google's October 2023 core update; and while core updates typically happen every one to two months, it's rare for two major updates to be released so close together. 

Therefore, we must understand what each update means for rankings and what it means for you. Let's zoom in on each of the updates and examine them closely:

The November Core Update: Exploring the Changes and Impacts on Search Results

Google suggests that most website owners don't need to make significant changes in response to core updates, as there's nothing to do for most creators who have already been working on helpful, reliable, people-first content. It is recommended to review Google's core update guidance in case traffic or rankings are impacted.

Key Changes in the November Core Update:

• - Content relevance and quality improvements

• - User experience enhancements

• - E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) signals importance

• - Mobile-friendliness and page speed optimizations

Impact on Website Rankings:

• - Potential increase or decrease in organic rankings

• - Possible changes in featured snippets and rich results appearance

• - Influence on local search results and map pack rankings

The Google Q&A has been updated to address common questions about search updates. It notes that core updates adjust algorithms while ranking systems generate search results. If your site is affected by a core update, it doesn't necessarily mean you're being penalized for spam; non-spam issues may be the cause. Google tries to avoid releasing major updates during the busy holiday shopping season, but it's not always feasible.

While it may be tempting to panic when faced with fluctuating SERPs and traffic numbers, taking a proactive approach and adapting SEO strategies accordingly can help businesses rank higher in search results. By creating high-quality content, building authoritative backlinks, optimising for mobile devices, and providing an excellent user experience, businesses can prepare themselves for future algorithm changes.

Google's November Review System Update: Understanding the Effects

Lastly, let's discuss the review system update since it could affect your rankings overall. One of the key features of the Google review system update is review ratings. In determining a business's overall rating, the algorithm considers both the quantity and quality of reviews. Businesses should generate positive reviews from satisfied customers to improve their online reputation.

Monitoring and responding to customer feedback across various platforms is critical to effective online reputation management. Developing trust with potential clients requires businesses to respond promptly both to positive and negative reviews.

The Changes in Google's Review System: What Businesses Need to Know

Google has deployed a new phase of its review system. There is not much information about the Reviews System but it is likely a machine learning model with a classifier, similar to Helpful Content. This tool evaluates articles, blogs, pages, or other first-party standalone content that provides recommendations, opinions, or analyses. However, third-party reviews are not evaluated, such as those posted by users in product or service reviews. 

In the past, the Google Reviews System has had disastrous effects on websites. Updates were difficult, as the rankings remained in a devastating holding pattern until the next update, resulting in depressed search traffic for months.

Key changes in the November Review System update:

• - The next Reviews System update will be followed by regular updates and improvements.

• - A rolling update could make the system better over time.

• - The Google page about the system will be updated if the system evolves in a major way, like adding more languages.

• - The change to the Reviews System update could help to faster recoveries after a penalty for SEOs and publishers.

There's still a lot to figure out and understand about this change, but it could give better results in future content campaigns; we should all take the numbers after the update with a grain of salt and give it some time. Our team at Clickwire will keep you updated on all the changes, and stick to producing great useful content for your costumers.