Many websites experienced sudden large fluctuations in their Google rankings over the past two weeks. The cause? The first core update of 2025 was fully rolled out on March 27. The impact varies greatly from website to website, but for some parties, the change is significant.
Core of the update
The March 2025 core update began on March 13 and lasted for 14 days. It involved a regular adjustment of the algorithm, through which Google aims to improve the relevance and usability of search results. Such updates occur multiple times a year and can lead to increases or decreases in search rankings. Google confirmed on March 27 that the rollout was complete.
This update followed a few months after the previous core update in December 2024. Although Google had previously indicated that it intended to implement updates more frequently in 2025, this one took a bit longer to arrive.
Impact on businesses and websites
Some websites experienced significant increases or decreases in visibility in a short period. However, this update seems to have a narrower impact than previous major core updates. The changes occurred shortly after the announcement. In particular, sites that had previously been affected by updates, such as those from September 2023, noticed little improvement this time.
Tools that typically measure impact became somewhat confused due to changes in the search results pages themselves. This made it more difficult to monitor exact shifts. Google Search Console remains the best tool to check what the update has done to your key keywords. At the end of the rollout, a brief spike in volatility was still visible, indicating a final adjustment in the algorithm.
What can you do if you have been affected?
There is no direct solution. Google emphasizes that a drop in rankings does not automatically mean that your pages are doing something wrong. Instead, Google advises continuing to write your content for people, not for search engines. On the help page about 'helpful content,' there are questions you can ask yourself to assess the quality of your content. Recovery can occur in small steps between updates. However, the greatest chance for improvement will come only with the next core update.
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
The rollout is now complete. This is the moment to analyze what has changed in your search traffic. Use Google Search Console to check your positions and evaluate whether your content still aligns with what users are truly searching for. Continuously improving is and will remain the only way to stay visible in search results over the long term—regardless of which update follows.