The March 2025 Google Update is over – what now?

So Google’s latest core update has been and gone, leaving the usual trail of panic, confusion and frantic Reddit posts in its wake. Your analytics are going mad, your rankings are bouncing around like a toddler on a sugar high, and everyone’s asking what the bloody hell is going on.

Want to know the single most effective thing you can do right now?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Why doing nothing is actually strategic

Google’s March 2025 core update finished rolling out yesterday , but the truth is, we’re still in the middle of the aftershocks. Rankings are still fluctuating, traffic patterns haven’t settled, and drawing conclusions now is like trying to predict the weather by looking at a single cloud.

I’ve been through more Google updates than I care to remember (decades in SEO will do that to you), and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that patience isn’t just a virtue – it’s a necessity.

If your site’s been hit

Your traffic’s dropped faster than England’s hopes in a penalty shootout. Your beautiful rankings have vanished. Your phone’s ringing with panicked clients or your boss is breathing down your neck.

Here’s what to do:

1. Take a deep breath. No, really. Do it now.
2. Document everything. Note which pages have been affected, how rankings have changed, and which keywords have taken a hit. You’ll need this data later, but not yet.
3. Check if it’s actually the update. Run a quick technical audit to make sure nothing’s broken on your site. Sometimes it’s not Google – it’s that plugin update you installed last week.
4. Do nothing else for at least two weeks. I know this sounds mad, but core updates take time to settle. What looks like Armageddon today might be a minor blip by next month.

For ecommerce sites especially, resist the urge to make sweeping changes to your product pages or category structures. That’s like trying to change your car’s tyres while driving down the motorway.

If you’ve escaped unscathed (or even gained)

First, well done! But don’t get too smug just yet.

1. Document your current position. Take screenshots, save reports, note what’s working.
2. Still do nothing for two weeks. Yes, even if you’ve benefited. Updates can swing both ways as they settle.
3. Learn from what’s working. Once things stabilise, analyse the pages that maintained or improved their performance. There are lessons there.

When it’s time to do something

After giving it a good two to three weeks, that’s when the real work begins:

1. Look for patterns in what was hit. Was it a specific type of page? A certain kind of content? A particular section of your site?
2. Compare against Google’s guidelines. Core updates typically reinforce existing quality guidelines rather than introducing completely new ones.
3. Make gradual, measured changes. Don’t tear down your entire site. Start with one section, make improvements, and monitor the results.

For small business websites, focus first on your core service pages – they’re your bread and butter. For ecommerce sites, prioritise your best-selling categories rather than trying to fix everything at once.

Remember, this isn’t your first Google rodeo

Google’s been updating its algorithm since before some SEOs were born. Your website has survived updates before, and it’ll survive this one too.

The SEO world has a tendency to catastrophise every update as if it’s the end of days. It rarely is. Even the most impactful updates eventually become just another chapter in the ever-evolving story of search.

So put the kettle on, step away from the analytics for a bit, and give Google time to sort itself out. Your blood pressure will thank you for it, trust me.