September 2022 Algorithm Update

Finalised on the 26^th of September, 2022, Google announced that its core algorithm update has finished rolling out. With the effect of these changes, Google made improvements to its search quality rating system, intending to help users get more practical information from the search engine. This update will affect the core algorithms used to determine how well a page ranks in organic results.

We recognise this recent change and aim to provide you with the necessary information you need to know about it. Read on to learn more about how this algorithm update will affect websites soon and what you can do to prepare for it!

The updated rating system will consider your ability to answer searchers’ questions, social signals, and other features that we believe matter to users. The new goals are going to be:

1. Reward pages that answer users’ questions directly and provide the best possible experience—not just the most relevant information.
2. Rank user satisfaction and engagement over raw query volume or ad clicks.

Changes to Page Quality Ratings

The core algorithms that determine how your pages rank in Google’s search results will get an update. It will use various signals, including the number of people who visit your pages and the number of useful answers your pages provide to users, as well as how long users spend on your pages and how many external links point back to your site.

Even though the update is a broad core update, it is relevant to all Google products, including YouTube, Maps, Inbox, and Search.

More accurate answers to factual questions. It’s worth noting that many of these updates are already live, but this announcement refers to the shift to “core search,” which could indicate that Google’s Knowledge Graph is getting more attention in this update.

Faster and more relevant results for mobile searches, including the possibility of fewer clicks needed to reach a final answer.

The company has been working on and testing this update since May. By August 2022, most website owners started to experience drops in their ranking due to an early test of rolling out the new algorithm.

Since then, we’ve also seen Google launch a separate Knowledge Graph Update which is reportedly another part of the same update. This is why SEOs have warned that if you haven’t started preparing for this update now, it may be too late before it arrives next month.

Although it’s still unknown exactly what this September update will do to your SERP rankings, we’re predicting it will be a big one. Google has been planning on rolling out this update for some time. So, there will likely be many changes and impacts on your rankings.

What Could Happen as a Result of This Update?

We’ve already seen an early test of the September Core Algorithm Update as it rolled out to a small group of Fortune 500 brands. Google said this was “a sample test of new features that may come into play in the future.”

For the most part, there weren’t many changes to site rankings, but we did start seeing short snippets (snippets they later claimed were due to a Knowledge Graph update) shown in search results. This is one reason we’ve been keeping an eye on this update, even though most websites haven’t yet seen the effect of it.

While Google hasn’t yet announced what they believe may play in the final rollout of this update, we expect that it will include some changes to search engine ranking factors. We expect the update to have extra elements for local businesses and websites in English-speaking languages.

What more?

Not only has Google confirmed at least one algorithm change for the upcoming update, they’ve also promised that there will be more algorithm changes added later (in response to user feedback). Google points out that “this is not the launch of a new algorithm” but instead just another change to their current algorithm, which happens routinely and frequently.

They’ve also said that the update is much bigger than most and requires a more “in-depth” look at the data. There may be some tweaks to how pages are ranked on this algorithm, but it’s unlikely we’ll see any major changes to how these site ranks.

The September Core Algorithm Update requires users to opt-in at the start, which means they may need to change their website mark-up and design to accommodate this new update. This may not be possible for all websites, so you’ll want to check with your web developer before making any changes. It’s also possible that the update won’t affect you at all.

September 2022 Algorithm Update – How Could Users Benefit?

Internet users can expect Google to use the same policy on its YouTube platform as they have been doing with its search and news services. As a result, the new algorithm change may affect the traffic of some popular YouTube channels.

YouTube creators, who are in charge of monetising their videos, may try to respond by creating more premium content for their audiences after the algorithm change. In addition, this latest update could help creators gain better reach for their videos and improve their monetisation.

Google also uses the update to tweak its search system to answer user queries better. The most significant is how it moves up or down the links in search results. It will now move them down and show them as questions rather than answers, marking whether a page has useful content. However, this is not a case of Google determining the value or accuracy of a page but rather using artificial intelligence to determine if it delivers what users want.

Finally, the update could make it easier for people to find local results for their searches by giving more weight to what users have said in reviews and rating pages.

Whichever way, we’ll continue to track this update and provide more information on how it will impact users soon as we learn more about this update.