Have you seen a shift in how your site appears in search rankings? Google’s recent update may be responsible.
The first major Google Core Update of 2026, which began on March 27, finished rolling out on April 8[1]. This update has created quite the stir in the marketing world, with thousands of sites seeing small shifts in rankings, both up and down, while many disappeared from view.
The key takeaway from this historically volatile update is that websites and creators are being rewarded for in-depth, original, and high-quality content.
It seems the March 2026 update is really doubling down on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust), and genuine, helpful content.
Nearly 80% of top-three results shifted, and almost one in four top-10 pages fell out of the top 100.[2]
It’s worth noting that this update immediately followed another update, which focused on spam (mainly AI generated) content.
Whenever Core Updates happen, there’s a small window of ‘figuring out’ the new normal when it comes to rankings and how websites are positioned. You’ll generally want to wait at least two weeks to see how things have panned out for your brand.
E-E-A-T For The Win
In our previous article, we discussed the E-E-A-T strategy, and why it has the potential to handsomely reward those who follow it, especially in the Real Estate space.
Google is looking for websites and content who provide genuinely helpful and informative content. Part of this consideration is where your website fits in the user journey; meaning if a user hits a website, reads briefly, goes back to Google, then finds the answer somewhere else, the benefits will be handed to those who gave the user what they wanted.
When we talk Real Estate, there’s a lot of generic content created for Agency websites. Examples of this could include:
- generic suburb pages with duplicated information and minor differences
- pages that are short on information and not truly capable of helping the end user
- blog posts for broad topics (e.g. ‘how to choose a property manager’, ‘how to buy a house’)
At Real Coder, our modern SEO strategies focus on building high quality content that represents agencies as the expert and authority in their local marketplace/s.
We’re focusing on unique perspectives from those on the ground, the results that are being seen in the area, and using data that is truly accurate.
Our plan may take longer to roll out than a generic templated landing page strategy, but over time, the gains can produce far greater results.
The AI Warning
We’re becoming more accepting of AI tools, and in turn, more trusting of the content that it provides us.
Unfortunately, AI tools can still make mistakes, and the sources that it pulls from may not be the best choice for your local marketplace.
Google (and other search engines) have begun penalising sites who have high levels of AI generated content.
They want to reward those who have put the time in to think about their services or solutions, and accurately described their offering to potential clients online.
In the March 2026 Core Update, it is estimated around a quarter of websites that had been ranking for keywords completely disappeared from the top 100 for that phrase. The impacts on those businesses could end up being significant.
So How Should You Proceed?
We’ve discussed the impacts of the recent Core Update, and how the E-E-A-T strategy can help businesses elevate to great heights in the future.
We have also highlighted the importance of original, non-AI generated content.
Regardless of the success you may or not not be having in the digital space, all businesses should be operating from the same playbook moving forward:
- Follow the E-E-A-T strategic framework (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust).
- Produce original content that is accurate and relevant to your audience.
- Be aware of the risks that come with using AI tools, and be prepared to take a little bit longer to write content yourself. The rewards could be enormous.
If you’d like to chat about how the team at Real Coder can help your agency with a modern SEO strategy, we’d love to chat.
[1] March 2026 core update https://status.search.google.com/incidents/7eTbAa2jWdToLkraZj5y
[2] March 2026 Google core update more volatile than December — here’s what changed https://searchengineland.com/march-2026-google-core-update-what-changed-474397
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