A Two‑Week Tremor in the SERPs
Google finished rolling out its March 2025 Core Update on March 27 after 14 days of rank turbulence that left many local business owners refreshing Search Console like a stock ticker. The update began on March 13 and, according to Google’s own status dashboard, ran a little over thirteen days—roughly in line with previous broad updates but packing very different punches across industries. (searchengineland.com, status.search.google.com)
What Changed Under the Hood
Unlike the targeted spam or reviews updates we saw in late 2024, core updates overhaul Google’s main ranking systems. Early analyses agree that March 2025 dialed up the weight of E‑E‑A‑T signals (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust) and refined intent matching, rewarding pages that demonstrate first‑hand know‑how and topical depth. Sites whose content was thin, heavily templated, or obviously written for bots, not humans, felt the sting. (marketingaid.io, thinklittlebig.com)
A Subtle Shake‑Up in Local Results
Local contractors may have noticed a quieter—but still meaningful—shift in the map pack and organic “service + city” queries. A study of six industries found that roughly 3% of location‑based rankings flipped from dedicated local pages to broader, more information‑rich resources—evidence that Google is testing whether boilerplate “City‑Name” pages actually serve users. Meanwhile, large review platforms (Yelp among them) gained share, suggesting the algorithm leaned harder on robust user feedback as a trust proxy. (greenlanemarketing.com, marketingaid.io)
Winners, Losers and What They Had in Common
| Group | Traits Google Rewarded | Common Shortfalls Among Decliners |
|---|---|---|
| Winners• Regional contractors with rich project galleries• Niche blogs run by trade experts• Aggregators with verified reviews | • Detailed, experience‑driven content• Clear author / company credentials• Fresh updates tied to 2024–25 code requirements (e.g., NEC 2023 for electricians)• Schema markup for FAQs, reviews and services | — |
| Losers• “City‑Name” doorway pages using duplicated copy• Sites with AI‑generated posts but no human editing• Domains showing aggressive interlinking schemes | — | • Thin or duplicate content• Lack of genuine images / project details• Excessive internal exact‑match anchors |
(Volatility data compiled from independent tracking tools summarized after the update.) (searchengineland.com)
Seven Action Steps for Contractors
- Audit Every Money Page for E‑E‑A‑T
Show licensing numbers, decades on the job, safety certifications and real project photos. Every service page should read like it was written by someone who has actually swung the hammer. (marketingaid.io) - Refresh—or Retire—Location Pages
If you serve five towns, give each page unique before‑and‑after shots, local codes addressed, testimonials from nearby homeowners and an embedded map. Merge or delete pages that add nothing new. (greenlanemarketing.com) - Double‑Down on Your Google Business Profile
Core updates don’t directly touch GBP rankings, but stronger on‑site signals (hours, services, NAP consistency) indirectly reinforce map‑pack visibility. Encourage photo uploads from clients; reviews with keywords like “kitchen remodel” or “roof replacement” correlate with higher relevance scores. (ovrdrv.com) - Win the Zero‑Click Real Estate
Google surfaced more featured snippets, FAQ droplines and image packs during this rollout. Mark up Q&As, list pricing ranges in schema, and keep answers tight—40–50 words often grabs the snippet box and pushes competitors below the fold. (marketingaid.io) - Trim the Digital Fat
Low‑value blog posts from 2018 about “Spring Gardening Tips” on a roofing site? Redirect or consolidate them into evergreen resources. Every crawl budget byte should go to pages that prove expertise or drive leads. (seoptimer.com) - Level‑Up Site Performance
Core Web Vitals still matter. Contractors whose pages load in under two seconds kept their newfound rankings more often than slow loaders. Compress hero images, lazy‑load galleries and ditch bulky page‑builder plugins. (impressiondigital.com) - Monitor, Iterate, Repeat
Track rankings and leads weekly for at least a month post‑update; some sites saw delayed rebounds as Google’s machine‑learning systems continued “re‑scoring” pages. Keep a changelog so you can tie traffic lifts (or dips) to specific fixes. (linkedin.com)
If You Lost Ground, Here’s a Recovery Playbook
- Don’t panic‑rewrite everything. Identify which URL clusters slid, look for thin content or outdated code references, and prioritize those.
- Solicit fresh reviews and case studies. Nothing screams “experience” like a homeowner describing the install in their own words.
- Acquire local authority links. Chamber of Commerce, building‑code update articles, supplier case studies—one quality local link often beats ten generic guest posts.
- Give Google a reason to crawl again. A revised service page paired with a new FAQ section triggers re‑evaluation faster than silent tweaks.
Expect ranking recalculations over several weeks; there is no “reconsideration request” for core‑update dips. (reddit.com)
Peering Over the Horizon
Google’s own AI‑generated “AI Mode” answers are rolling out experimentally, consolidating information into on‑SERP summaries—and further reducing clicks. That makes brand visibility beyond the blue links even more critical: build thought‑leadership videos, push project spotlights to social channels, and collect email addresses from every estimate. Contractors who diversify traffic sources hedge against future algorithm whimsy. (thetimes.co.uk)
Key Takeaway: The March 2025 Core Update doubles down on real‑world expertise and customer trust. Local contractors that showcase hands‑on experience, keep each location page genuinely useful and tighten technical performance aren’t just future‑proofing their rankings—they’re signaling to prospects that their craft is as solid online as it is on the job site.
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