While Google regularly releases core algorithm updates on a daily basis, it seems like a recent update is making waves around the web. In a Twitter update published on Monday, Google did confirm that a broad core algorithm update had been rolled out the previous week:

Each day, Google usually releases one or more changes designed to improve our results. Some are focused around specific improvements. Some are broad changes. Last week, we released a broad core algorithm update. We do these routinely several times per year….

— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) March 12, 2018

What is involved in a Broad Core Algorithm Update?

While Google typically doesn’t announce updates to its core algorithm because they occur quite frequently, they did take the opportunity to become a little more transparent this week and confirmed that an update was applied last week. The announcement led the search community to believe that the most recent update isn’t part of the daily optimization Google does, but rather one of the few significant updates that happen several times per year. As a result, this is where the term broad core algorithm update comes into play.

Although the specific details regarding the latest announcement are ambiguous, here’s a summary of what is known:

• The objective of the algorithm update is to improve search results.
• Websites that lost rankings have nothing inherently wrong with them, and there is no way to “fix” sites that lost rankings.
• The ranking changes and improvement in search results are focused on web content, but note that it’s not an issue related to “quality.”

Why is Google Releasing Details of a Broad Core Algorithm Update?

Whenever an algorithm update is rolled out, webmasters incorrectly assume that it’s only coming as a result of targeting low-quality web pages and spammy content. However, Google will routinely make adjustments to its algorithm to improve the quality of search results. For example, if specific web pages provide a better response to a search query, Google will try to make adjustments to its core engine to ensure these pages have higher rankings than other web pages that are not 100% related.

If your website lost rankings over the past week, it doesn’t mean you were doing something wrong. Instead, it indicates that your site is broadly connected to specific search queries that weren’t wholly relevant. Google is now making adjustments to ensure more relevant web pages are showing higher on organic search for particular terms.

What is Google Improving with these Updates?

The main takeaways from this recent development are:

• Google will always refine search results to ensure that the most relevant web pages rank at the top. As Google improves its understanding of the user intent behind searches, it will continue to adjust the corresponding search results.
• Just because your website lost rankings, it doesn’t mean you did something wrong or that your search engine optimization campaigns are misguided.
• While significant updates will routinely penalize sites for not being up to par, the more frequent updates are focusing on merely tailoring search results to become more relevant. There’s also nothing to be “fixed” instantly to regain rankings as Google indicated in tweets published this week.

There’s no “fix” for pages that may perform less well other than to remain focused on building great content. Over time, it may be that your content may rise relative to other pages.

— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) March 12, 2018