April 2018 core update: dates, what changed and what to do

What Google changed#

Google did not describe what the April 2018 core update changed. It confirmed only the type of update. On 20 April 2018 the Google SearchLiaison account on Twitter posted: “On Monday, we released a broad core algorithm update, as we routinely do throughout the year.” It added a link to its advice from the previous month rather than any new detail.

That March 2018 advice set out how Google framed broad core updates at the time. It said there was “nothing wrong with pages that may now perform less well,” and that changes to its systems were “benefiting pages that were previously under-rewarded.”

When it rolled out#

The Monday Google referred to was 16 April 2018. Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Roundtable reported ranking shifts through that week and asked Google’s Danny Sullivan to confirm them; the confirmation came on Friday 20 April. Google gave no rollout length and no completion date, so this page records neither.

What is known about its impact#

Google published no impact figures for this update: no share of queries affected and no numbers on sites that gained or lost. Treat any percentage you see attributed to the April 2018 core update as a third-party estimate and check its method.

What site owners should do#

Google’s message in 2018 was that “there’s no ‘fix’ for pages that may perform less well other than to remain focused on building great content.” Its current core update guidance, which applies to every core update since, turns that into steps:

• Wait until a rollout has finished, then at least one more full week, before analysing.
• Compare the week after with a week before the update began.
• Avoid quick fixes, such as removing a page element because you heard it was bad for SEO.
• Assess content against Google’s helpful, reliable, people-first content questions.
• Expect improvements to take several months to show, possibly not until a later core update.

How to check whether it affected you#

This is now historical. Search Console keeps 16 months of performance data, so it cannot show April 2018. Use archived analytics exports or rank tracking from that period, and compare organic traffic for the week before 16 April 2018 with a week in early May 2018. The Google Algorithm Updates timeline lists the other updates around it.

Related updates#

• The March 2018 core update was the broad core update before it.
• The August 2018 core update was the next one.