How is Google’s Latest Core Update Affecting Nutrition Sites

Nutrition is not only about eating a healthy and balanced diet. People are now looking for a healthier lifestyle that can help them with their wellness and fitness goals. This shift has paid off for the industry: in 2023, the sports nutrition market in the UK was valued at £1.3 billion and expects to grow even more until 2028. Additionally, 57% of Brits consider themselves healthy eaters and drinkers.

In recent years, there has been a clear increase in interest around topics related to nutrition. Keywords tied to the industry have seen a significant rise in search volume, especially when compared to just four years ago. Below, the interest over time for the keyword ‘gut health’ in the UK:

As SEOs, we continuously monitor websites across several industries to stay on top of trends and algorithm changes. Recently, our attention turned to the nutrition industry, specifically to see how it has responded to Google’s August 2024 update.

Google’s core update explained

Google’s latest update took 19 days for rollout to complete, starting on 15th August, and completing on 3rd September 2024. According to Google, this update was designed to continue improving the quality of search results by showing more content that people find useful and lessening the amount of content that feels like it was created purely for search engine performance. This update also claims to better capture improvements that sites may have made.

Google frequently rolls out updates throughout the year, but this was not just a regular update. This core update took into consideration the feedback from the September 2023 helpful content update.

As with any major update, the impact has been mixed across industries,the nutrition sector was no exception; some websites saw unexpected drops in rankings, while others experienced growth. Below, we have selected the winners and losers of the nutrition industry after the update. For that, we have looked into their site visibility, E-E-A-T guidelines, and Page Speed.

Who are the winners?

MyProtein

Featuring first amongst our winners, is MyProtein who’s seen its biggest visibility ever registered.

Before the update, the site’s visibility was relatively stable, fluctuating a lot, and right after the August 2024 core update, the graph shows an increase in visibility after a small drop.

This suggests that MyProtein.com either benefited from improved content relevance or enhancements in technical SEO, aligning well with Google’s updated ranking criteria. The ascending trajectory indicates that the website likely meets the core update’s focus areas, such as user experience, authoritative content, and page quality. MyProtein.com is a great example of how brands can stay on top by adapting to Google’s search algorithms, especially in competitive industries like sports nutrition.

Huel

Healthy plant-based company Huel has fluctuated a lot in the past few years, but it has seen a good trend upwards recently after Google’s core update as shown in the chart:

The Google August 2024 Core Update also appears to have had a positive impact on Huel’s UK website. Prior to the update, Huel’s visibility has seen some significant fluctuations throughout 2022 and 2023. However, following the core update in August 2024, the site experienced a sharp increase in visibility, reaching its highest point in recent times.

This suggests that Huel’s content strategy or technical SEO may have aligned better with Google’s new ranking priorities introduced by the update. However, it is important to mention that Huel’s visibility is still very low compared to the other websites, therefore, there is still significant room for growth in Huel’s overall performance.

Who are the losers?

Holland & Barrett

The graph below shows the search visibility for nutrition giant Holland & Barrett in the past 4 years:

As visible in the chart, the website has experienced a significant decline in search visibility since May 2023, with the downward trend worsening over time.

This was not a massive drop, but the decline accelerated following the August 2024 Core Update. While some websites benefited from Google’s updates, with improvements in ranking and traffic, Holland & Barrett appears to have struggled.

Several factors may explain why Holland & Barrett struggled post this latest update. Google’s core updates typically focus on improving the quality of search results by rewarding websites that offer valuable, user-focused content. One possibility is that Holland & Barrett’s content may not have aligned with these standards. For example, if the site features redundant, or outdated content across its product pages or blogs, or it may be struggling with Google’s emphasis on EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness).

Only time will tell whether future updates will provide any recovery for the brand, but as of now, the trend struggles with search engine visibility.

Zoe

The graph depicting the visibility of gut health company ‘Zoe ’shows an interesting trend.. The website is relatively new, and we can see that the website had a boom in visibility earlier this year.

However, following Google’s August 2024 Core Update, the site saw a sharp decline in its visibility index. The graph shows a drop immediately after the update, indicating that ‘Zoe’ may have been negatively impacted by changes in Google’s algorithm. This kind of decline typically suggests that adjustments are needed, such as improving content relevance, technical SEO, or addressing potential issues like backlink quality. Zoe.com may need to reevaluate its SEO strategies to recover from this update, as core updates often reflect a shift in how Google prioritise certain factors.

How to deal with Google’s August 2024 Core Algorithm Update?

While some sites have been more affected than others, it is important to stay alert for any new opportunities of improvement that may come from this update.

Google has said that if your website has seen only a small drop in positions and visibility, it is best to avoid taking any drastic actions, especially in content that is already performing well. In contrast, Google also mentioned that if you have seen a massive drop in positions and visibility, a deeper analysis is required to check if your website is delivering content that is helpful, reliable and focused on people, not search engines.

What’s worked and what hasn’t for the featured websites?

A common trend noticed after analysing the winners is that they both are complying with E-E-A-T guidelines. For instance, neither MyProtein nor Huel contains a proper blog section. However, E-E-A-T can still be seen in eCommerce websites without blog pages. For example, they can use detailed product pages, secure transactions, and customer reviews to comply with E-E-A-T, while service-based sites can highlight expert qualifications and client testimonials. Therefore, proving your credibility in these ways ensures compliance without needing blog content.

Another important mention is Page Speed. Page Speed is a confirmed ranking factor for Google on both mobile and desktop. Faster websites not only improve user experience but also increase the likelihood of user engagement and conversions. A quick and responsive website keeps visitors on your page longer, reducing bounce rates and improving overall performance.

Below is an analysis of all the websites mentioned in this article and their Page Speed scores (mobile):

MyProtein

Huel

Holland & Barrett

Zoe

Interestingly, despite MyProtein and Huel having slower mobile page speed scores and even failing the Core Web Vitals assessment, they saw a significant increase in visibility following the algorithm update. On the other hand, Zoe and Holland & Barrett, which also struggled with mobile page speed, experienced a drop in visibility. Overall, all the analysed websites need to improve their SiteSpeed to achieve better performance scores.

So why are MyProtein and Huel still the winners?

The latest Google algorithm update appears to have shifted focus more towards content relevance, trustworthiness, and the overall user experience than just technical metrics like Core Web Vitals alone. Both MyProtein and Huel have excelled in other areas that were prioritised by the update:

• Relevance to user intent: Their product pages are optimised with detailed descriptions, clear calls to action, and customer reviews, all of which align with user search intent.
• E-E-A-T compliance: Both sites have established themselves as authoritative sources in their niches, focusing on trust signals like product transparency, customer testimonials, and strong brand identity.

Ways to recover from a Google Algorithm update

Improve content

This might not be a surprise, but if your website was massively affected by Google’s core update, a good way to start is to review and improve your content. High-quality content plays an important role in reducing the effects of these updates.

Good content is key to overcome most impacts from Google updates. To ensure your content meets Google’s standards, take the time to self-assess your content using their provided guidelines. These guidelines can help you determine whether your content satisfies key criteria, such as offering value, demonstrating expertise, and meeting user intent. By aligning your content with Google’s expectations, you increase the chances of not only recovering from any negative impact but also maintaining a relevant presence in future algorithm changes.

Audit you site regularly

Another way to keep up to date with Google’s guidelines is to regularly audit your site for technical SEO issues and ensure that your website complies with the latest best practices.

Regular audits help identify potential problems such as broken links, slow page speeds, mobile usability issues, and indexing issues, all of which can impact your site’s performance in search results.

Staying on top of these technical aspects ensures that your site remains optimised for both search engines and users. Additionally, tools like Google Search Console, Screaming Frog, SEMrush, or other SEO audit platforms can help you spot and fix technical issues quickly. It is also essential to monitor algorithm updates from Google, as they can often affect how your site is ranked.