March 2025 Core Update - Impacts on Rankings and 8 Key Areas to Focus On

The March 2025 core update finished rolling out on March 27, 2025. I do NOT have knee-jerk reactions to algorithm updates as that can lead to improper conclusions and actions.

Now that we have about 45 days in from this update, here are my key findings after auditing a number of SEO campaigns that were affected by the Core Update:

Resolving weaknesses in websites is/has been a KEY component to getting local maps rankings, BUT the March 2025 Core Update put a greater emphasis on SITE SIGNALS, including page speed and site quality as it evaluates every page on the site against the HCS (helpful content system).

The weaknesses in these websites I am auditing fall under a few main areas:

#1 - performance/page speed on mobile

#2 - thin content on key pages or all pages

#3 - very weak site metrics (use Search Atlas site explorer) like DA/DR, Backlinks, Trust Flow, etc

#4 - improper blog categorization and/or no implementation of blog category in the URL permalinks

#5 - no phone numbers in the header that match the GBP listing, and no addresses in the footers that match the GBP listing

#6 - no GBP map embed on the contact page and in footer if you can fit it (also the map embed code MUST be from the proper/new way to generate it in Google Cloud Console via the GBP link to "Add a Map to Your Website"

#7 - The linking and interlinking strategy is non-existent or just not optimized at all

#8 - schema not deployed at all or improperly (ie. organization schema on all pages)

FOCUS on these 8 key website components/areas to drive better rankings, especially if you have seen a recent dip in map or organic rankings. Improving site metrics (#3 above) can take time and very specific actions to acquire backlinks and referring domains to improve overall trust flow, domain authority, and page-level authority for the key site pages.

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