SEO Trends, News & Actionable Tips for April

Learn the biggest news leading into April and how you can take advantage of the current trends to boost your SEO, AI skills and more.

Monthly Question

How was April Fools?

😏 I played a few pranks...

😒 I got played!

😶 Nothing, April Fools is stupid

Google Core Update

The March 2025 Google Core Update has come and gone, rolling out March 13, and finalizing on the 27. Read my full post-update analysis and breakdown from multiple sources.

Dropped in a core update? Don’t blame your tech stack.

When Google rolls out a core update, it’s not about broken meta tags or missing alt text. It’s about what Google now thinks is actually helpful.

So if your traffic took a hit, odds are it’s not a technical issue - it’s that what used to work just doesn’t anymore. I covered the full post-update analysis here, along with some next steps and action items.

Need some scripts to explain impact to your team? I got you covered down in the premium section. Hopefully changes are stable or positive, but either way you should be ready to explain what your learnings and next steps are.

Google’s AI Overviews Updates & Data

AI Overviews are being tested to now appear mid-results, not just at the top, changing how people interact with search pages.

Here’s what matters: 82% of citations in AI Overviews come from deep internal pages - not homepages. That means blog posts, support articles, and resource pages are doing the heavy lifting.

If your strategy has focused mainly on your homepage or core landing pages, it’s time to rethink it.

Start treating every piece of content like it could be someone’s first impression of your brand. Make it clear, useful, and easy to scan.

Because AI isn’t just indexing content anymore. It’s interpreting it—and quoting what it finds most valuable.

Google: Your page may be not rankings because users prefer others

Google’s Out Here Subtweeting Your Content

Martin Splitt just confirmed what we’ve all suspected: if your page isn’t ranking, it might not be because it’s bad… it’s because users just don’t like it enough.

His exact words? “We gave it a chance… but others are doing better here.”

Ouch.

So yes, your content can be indexed and still get benched because someone else is giving users what they actually want. This isn’t about keywords anymore—it’s about connection.

Engagement. Stickiness. That moment where someone lands on your page and thinks, “Finally. This is what I needed.”

If your bounce rate’s through the roof and time-on-page is MIA, Google sees that. And it’s not impressed.

Moral of the story? If your page isn’t ranking, it’s not just about what you’re saying—it’s how it’s making people feel.

Make it useful. Make it unskippable. Or make peace with watching someone else take your spot.

Here’s what to actually do with this info:

Go inside GA4 and start playing content detective.

➡️ Head to: Reports → Engagement → Pages and screens Click the “average engagement time per active user” column.

Now you’ve got a clear-as-day list of what people are actually connecting with. Want to know what’s working? These pages are it.

Then click it again—see what’s tanking. These are your cringe posts. The ones people bounce from faster than you can say “algorithm update.”

Now for the million-dollar question: What patterns do you see?

Is there a certain content format people linger on? A tone? A topic? What can you double down on? What deserves a quiet burial?

Because this isn’t about ranking anymore—it’s about resonance. Make content people want to engage with, and Google will follow their lead.

Your job? Create more of what works. Ruthlessly cut what doesn’t.

Google’s SEO Playbook: Key Takeaways From Search Central Live NYC

Google recently shared key SEO insights at Search Central Live in NYC, emphasizing the importance of creating valuable content and focusing on user experience. The discussion highlighted best practices such as structured data usage, ensuring mobile-friendliness, and improving page speed to boost visibility in search results. Google also reinforced the value of E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust) as a guiding principle for building content and brand credibility. If you’d like to dive deeper, here’s the full article:

The AI Traffic Boom: Surprising Numbers From Ahrefs

Ahrefs analyzed how AI-driven sites rank and drive traffic, shedding light on their performance in search results. The research highlights that while some AI-generated sites can attract significant visitors, quality and authority remain key factors for success. The study also underscores the importance of balancing automated content creation with strategic SEO and consistent value for readers. For further reading, check out the full article: https://ahrefs.com/blog/ai-traffic-research/

Free Tool Alert

Darren Shaw made a tool that looks at the SERPs for a query and analyzes how fresh the results are and gives you an idea of how often you should be updating your content. 

Related: Google's past patents have talked about how t how Google can determine if users are likely preferring fresh results for a query and if so, boost those that are fresh and demote those that are not

Check out the tool here

Action Item: SEO In Less than 5 Minutes

Here is a quick action item you can do in less than 5 minutes. Incorporate small 5-minute action items into your week and see how much extra learnings you obtain or organic boosts you receive!

Content

• Create a “Micro-FAQ” for Your Top Product
  • Action: In your product description or blog post, add a quick 2-3 sentence FAQ addressing a common concern.
  • Benefit: Gives visitors instant answers, potentially reducing bounce rate.
  • Tools: Your CMS or blogging platform.

For Premium Members:

Guide:

• Step-by-Step Guide to Increasing AI Overviews Citations

Resources from around the web:

• Automating your SEO Analysis
• Tracking Rankings in AIO
• SEO Trick that works like Magic