Google announced rolling out a new core update on November 17, 2021, and the update is likely to take two more weeks to complete. Several webmasters and SEOs are concerned with the timing of this update as the holiday season is just around the corner.
As it goes with any core update, the update is more general and would reassess how your website’s content has performed since the last update. With that said, SERP fluctuations are expected during the rollout of this update.
Google’s Official Announcement
Google took to Twitter to officially announce the new broad core update and linked to their official guidelines on core updates.
The November 2021 Core Update is now rolling out live. As is typical with these updates, it will typically take about one to two weeks to fully roll out.
— Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) November 17, 2021
What Are People Saying?
Several webmasters are concerned with the timing of this core update, as it is expected to be on the rollout during the holiday shopping season, considering that SERP fluctuations are known to be high during the rollout of core updates. Here is what Glenn Gabe has got to say:
Oh boy. Here we go! I'm surprised with the timing… It's right before Thanksgiving weekend, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, etc. Wow, get ready. This should be interesting. 🙂 https://t.co/J1SBQsKb0d
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) November 17, 2021
Google’s Danny Sullivan addressed these concerns on Twitter, assuring the feedback would be considered.
But we'll give it more consideration. The point of any update isn't to cause concerns. If we can move timings around to ease those, we do look to that, and certainly we'll take this feedback in mind.
— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) November 17, 2021
What’s Next – Dealing With This Update
Core updates, in general, are considered to be broad, as they don’t target anything specific; instead, they’re meant to update how to assess your content. A negative change in your traffic with a broad core update doesn’t mean that something is wrong with your website or you’ve violated Google’s guidelines. It only means the way Google sees & assesses your content (and your website) has changed.
While improvements made during the broad update do not guarantee any immediate results, it doesn’t hurt to get rewarded over time for continuously working & improving your site’s SEO. The only possible way to ensure your site is immune to a core update is by following the best SEO practices and putting together the best possible resource on the topic.
Note: The November 2021 core update finished rolling out on November 30, 2021.
The November 2021 Core Update rollout is now complete.
— Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) November 30, 2021
