May 2022 Core Google Algorithm Update: Everything You Need Know

Jun 7, 2022 | Google Updates, SEO

Each year Google releases key updates to how their search engine algorithm, or ranking system, works. These are broad by nature and don’t target specific industries or topics. Instead, these updates are often related to Google’s ability to understand/identify quality content vs content that is of lesser quality.

While there are countless other smaller updates to how Google’s search engine algorithm works, this broad update is the first in 2022 – making it one to pay extra attention to as Google usually follows up with another core algorithm update several months later to correct any issues the most recent one created.

Learn more about what Google’s May 2022 Core Update is and how it’s impacting search.

When It was Released

The May 2022 Core Algorithm Update was released at the end of the month on May 25th. However, Google notes that the full rollout of the update will last anywhere from 1-2 weeks. This means that as of this blog post, the rollout still has 48 hours to fully finish.

What The Update Is Targeting

Like all Core Updates, Google put forth their standard press release that “there’s nothing in a core update that targets specific pages or sites. Instead, the changes are about improving how our systems assess content overall.”

However, with some tools, we can clearly see that this algorithm update is heavily tied to knowledge panels & reviews. The number of knowledge panels decreased by around 3%, bringing the average rate they appear down to 26%. Review snippets are now more visible on search results by around 1.5%, raising the average to above 50%.

Serp Features May 20220 Update

How to Tell If Your Website Was Impacted

Depending on how much visibility or organic traffic a website generates, stats should be changing in a way that may look suddenly unnatural. If there is a substantial decrease or increase that sustains itself for longer than 1-2 weeks then the website in question was likely impacted.

However, it’s important to not react to data until after Google has confirmed the rollout of an update is completed. This is because Google will often correct any issues the most recent update created – which will often look like a website making a recovery overnight.

What To Do If Your Website Was Impacted

There are several things that will take place to recover from an algorithm update depending on how severe the impact was on a website. The first is to ensure that no penalties were added to your website which can be seen in Google Search Console.

From there, you would want to have a professional SEO audit your website – whether it’s from an agency or in-house. This audit will help identify issues large and small to fix, which upon making the fixes, can be all that’s needed to see a rebound. Otherwise, core updates are often focused on quality – and if your website was impacted and did not recover naturally then looking at making content updates in the form of better content, more content, or types of content will be needed.

Contact ASTOUNDZ – We are here to help!

Want to know if your website was impacted by the core update? Or do you need help in recovery? Either way, our SEO experts at ASTOUNDZ are here to help! We have been working with websites large and small for over 6 years and have seen it all. Simply reach out to us with our simple contact form or give us a call!

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