Google's May 2022 Core Update: Everything you Need to Know

The core update in Google is released every now and then to improve its search results. These improvements are made to make the overall ranking process better. However, the latest Google core update happened in May 2022. However, these updates completely roll out after a week or a couple. Danny Sullivan, one of Google's Public Liaison, introduced these updates to everyone.

Google's broad core updates mean that a set of new rules is set for web pages. These rules can show a direct impact on your ranking and traffic. Unlike before, Google does not give any early warning about these improvisations. Eventually, it becomes hard for people to make the necessary changes with immediate effect.

If you are also an entity on Google, and if the core updates affect your business too, then this is the right place for you to be. Let's understand everything about the May 2022 Core Update together.

Google's Previous Core Update

Before we get into the latest update, let's learn about the biggest previous broad core update. Although Google's last update was in November 2021, we will discuss the one that took place in June-July 2021. Why? Because that was the one that affected the websites the most. In fact, Google had to divide this update into two parts. The first half was introduced in June, and the rest was in July.

The effect of this update was visible on some of the major websites. Some huge companies' numbers took a fly high while some dropped instantly.

Does the May 2022 core update also has the same impact? Let's take a look!

 May 2022 Core Update

Google's May 2022 core update doe snot have as big of an impact as the one from June-July 2022. But website owners did see changes in their number by the second week of June 2022. This is what we understand the May 2022 update is all about:

1- Google's Advice on the Update
As you all know, Google does not mention what changes are about to happen whenever it makes an announcement for any new core update. However, when Google came to Twitter to prepare its audience for this update, it did send in some advice.

According to Google's advice, people need not fix the wrong things. It clearly stated that there is a possibility that the fluctuations in the ranking might not happen because of that. In fact, there is a chance that there is nothing wrong with your website.

This update is more about working before you put things online. Google's motive for this update was to guide people to bring out their best content.

Good content must have the following qualities:
    • Everything you put on your site must be original, from research to report to the final outcome.
    • It must wrap the topic completely. Incomplete or irrelevant content is not good.
    • Instead of stating obvious facts, it must include in-depth research and new information.

2-  Remember E-A-T

No, we are not talking about the food here. EAT in Google dictionary, means Expertise, Authority, Trust. These three are important pillars of quality content. If you nail this out, you will see significant changes in your traffic and ranking numbers.

Simply put, EAT (Expertise, Authority, and Trust) means:

Expertise
You have to show your expertise in whatever topic and genre you are writing. It should not look like someone with zero knowledge has worked on that.

Authority
The outcomes available on your site must come from someone who holds certain authority.

Trust
In addition to putting your time into coming up with the content, you must also make sure you enter the correct information. Gaining your reader's trust is important to make them come back to you again.

However, EAT does not affect all major factors of the Google algorithm. But, as mentioned by Google in 2019, it does have an impact on many huge factors.

Therefore, companies whose content lacked EAT had to see a drop in their ranking after its May 2022 update.

3- Change in Ranking is Obvious After a Broad Core Update

It is obvious that a website's ranking can be ubiquitous after a broad core update. If the same happened to you, we are in this together. While some generated more revenue, others had to go through some loss after the May 2022 broad core update.

In fact, since Google takes a couple of weeks to settle the changes, the fluctuations can happen for multiple days after any algorithm update.

Since no one knows what the update is about in advance, you cannot even prepare for the same. Therefore, everyone has to face the consequences. However, you can work on the same with time once you understand the core of these updates.

4- Impact of Snippets
After May 2022 core update, Featured snippets are that one feature of search engines that has shown affirmative impacts. Content including feature and FAQs snippets have benefited from the latest update.

FAQs Snippets
Let's try to understand this as a user. When you search for anything on Google, you prefer direct answers instead of long articles. No one loves to read a 1000 words article if you can get the answer in a 2-3 line paragraph. This is why FAQ snippets are given importance.

If we talk about the numbers, The FAQs have gone from 22% t 27% on Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs). This means Google now shows content with FAQs snippets more. This includes the how-to snippets and groups FAQs snippets. This, eventually, has bought more clicks and improved the ranking of FAQs-included websites.

Featured Snippets
The May 2022 update has shown positive as well as negative impacts on websites. Featured snippets are the highlighted paragraphs, bullet points, tables, videos, and lists that appear at Position 0 of SERP before the traditional search results.

Websites with relevant content in their featured snippets have benefited from the latest update. However, if your snippets do not have quality content, then those are removed. These sites had to face a loss in their organic traffic.

To know if your snippets are removed, you can use websites like Semrush, Google Search Console, or Ahrefs, or you can click on your snippets to track them.

5. Who Won The Game?
After May 2022 core update, who actually won the race? Or should we say what won it?

Well, videos, search-intent matching, and content specialization are the winners!

Videos
Video content is back in the game again. From short videos on TikTok to structured, labeled videos on YouTube, websites with video content have seen a spike of 25% in their online presence after the core update.

Search-Intent Matching
Gone are the days when websites could play on keywords and rank on Google. After the latest improvements, sites like Wikipedia, Britannica, and others have lost their place on SERP. Google algorithm now favors websites that focus on providing detailed information on a topic rather than focusing on keywords and lack at matching the real search intent.

Content Specialisation
In addition to that, the sites that focused on everything to rank better end up in the pit. Therefore, it is important to focus on your expertise and offer your best in the same, rather than being all over the place.

Conclusion

Google's May 2022 Core Update implements that the time to provide quality content is long gone. It has been asking its users to offer EAT-rich content for years. If the sites are still not ready to adapt that, then they will have to face the consequences. Additionally, videos, snippets, and search intent content have more value, and Google will not take websites without the same anymore. If you want to improve your online presence, it is time to offer what your readers actually value, quality content!