How Google’s 2025 Algorithm Update Impacts Websites in Malaysia

The digital landscape is in a perpetual state of flux, with search engine algorithms undergoing continuous refinements that significantly shape online visibility. For businesses in Malaysia that rely on a robust online presence, staying abreast of these changes is not merely an option but a necessity for sustained growth and a competitive edge. Google, the dominant search engine in Malaysia ¹, frequently updates its algorithms to enhance the quality and relevance of search results.² This report will delve into the potential impact of the Google March 2025 Core Update on websites within Malaysia, with a specific focus on two critical ranking factors: Core Web Vitals and user intent. Understanding these elements is paramount for Malaysian website owners and digital marketers aiming to navigate the evolving dynamics of Google search.

The first major algorithmic shift of 2025 from Google was the March Core Update, officially launched on March 13th and completed on March 27th.³ Google characterized this update as a "regular update designed to better surface relevant, satisfying content for searchers from all types of sites".³ The company also indicated an ongoing commitment to "surface more content from creators through a series of improvements throughout this year," suggesting an emphasis on rewarding valuable content from a diverse range of websites, including smaller, independent entities and those demonstrating consistent improvement.³

Initial reactions from the search engine optimization (SEO) community revealed a degree of turbulence and volatility in search rankings.³ Some independent publishers and content creators reported continued declines in traffic, while larger, more established platforms and Google's own AI Overviews appeared to gain increased visibility.³ There were also anecdotal accounts of aggregated and low-quality content outperforming more authoritative sources, leading to some frustration among SEO professionals.³ However, data from some analytics providers suggested that the March 2025 update exhibited similar levels of volatility to the December 2024 core update, implying that its impact might not have been as widespread as some previous major updates.⁵

Despite the nuances of the March 2025 update, Google's fundamental guidance for website owners remains consistent. The advice centers on creating high-quality, original content that offers genuine value to users. This includes adhering to the principles of E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness), strengthening a website's backlink profile, and enhancing the overall user experience by paying close attention to Core Web Vitals as monitored in Google Search Console.³ For websites in Malaysia, particularly smaller businesses, this update underscores the importance of focusing on unique, high-quality content that directly addresses the needs of their target audience and establishes their credibility within their respective industries. The continued emphasis on Core Web Vitals also signals that website performance and user experience remain critical factors in Google's evaluation of websites.

In the digital sphere of 2025, two elements stand out as crucial for achieving and maintaining high rankings in Google search results: Core Web Vitals and user intent.

Core Web Vitals are a suite of metrics that Google uses to gauge the user experience of a webpage.¹¹ These metrics focus on three key aspects: loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability.¹² The specific metrics are Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), which measures how long it takes for the main content of a page to load; Interaction to Next Paint (INP), which assesses a website's responsiveness to user interactions (having replaced First Input Delay (FID) in March 2024 ¹⁴); and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), which measures the visual stability of a page by quantifying unexpected layout shifts.¹²

Google considers Core Web Vitals as integral to its page experience ranking signals.¹¹ Websites that achieve good scores in these metrics (LCP under 2.5 seconds, INP under 200 milliseconds, and CLS under 0.1 ¹³) are more likely to retain visitors, experience lower bounce rates, and ultimately perform better in search rankings.¹³ The fact that many SEO companies in Malaysia are now prioritizing the optimization of Core Web Vitals ²⁵ underscores their growing importance for websites in the region. The shift from FID to INP signifies Google's ongoing efforts to refine how it measures a website's responsiveness, emphasizing the importance of optimizing for INP to ensure a comprehensive assessment of user interactivity.¹⁴

User intent, also referred to as search intent, represents the underlying goal behind a user's search query.²⁹ Google's primary objective is to deliver the most relevant and helpful results that align with this intent.²⁹ Content that fails to match the user's intent is unlikely to achieve high rankings, regardless of how well it might be optimized for specific keywords.²⁹ Understanding the various categories of search intent, such as informational, navigational, transactional, commercial investigation, and local intent ²⁹, is crucial for Malaysian businesses to create content that effectively addresses the needs of users at different stages of their online journey. Optimizing for user intent involves a thorough analysis of search results for target keywords, gaining insights into the language used by searchers, and developing content that directly answers their questions or fulfills their specific needs.²⁹ In the Malaysian context, it is particularly important to consider the linguistic diversity and cultural nuances that may influence how users formulate their search queries and the type of content they find most relevant and satisfying.

Websites in Malaysia might encounter specific challenges related to website performance and user experience. Slow loading times can be a prevalent issue, particularly for sites that feature large, unoptimized media files or complex functionalities.²⁵ Inadequate server response times, often stemming from shared hosting environments or overloaded servers, can significantly hinder the Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) score.¹⁶ Inefficient or excessive JavaScript and CSS code can also contribute to slower page loading and reduced responsiveness, negatively impacting the Interaction to Next Paint (INP).¹⁶ Ensuring optimal mobile performance can also be challenging due to the wide range of devices and varying internet connection speeds prevalent in Malaysia.¹⁶ Unexpected layout shifts (CLS) can further detract from the user experience and are often caused by factors such as late-loading advertisements, dynamic content, or images lacking defined size attributes.¹⁴ While older data suggested potential internet speed limitations in Malaysia compared to some other regions ³⁹, it is crucial for Malaysian website owners to focus on optimizing their sites to deliver the best possible experience regardless of these potential variations. Addressing fundamental optimization techniques such as image compression, server upgrades, and code minification remains essential for improving Core Web Vitals scores for Malaysian websites.

The multilingual nature of Malaysia's online user base presents a unique consideration when it comes to understanding and catering to user intent. Effective keyword research and content creation strategies must take into account the various languages commonly used by internet users in Malaysia, including Bahasa Malaysia, English, Chinese, and Tamil.⁴⁰ Cultural nuances and local context can also play a significant role in shaping how users search for information and the types of content they find most relevant and satisfying. For Malaysian businesses targeting local customers, optimizing for local search intent is particularly crucial.²³ Furthermore, the increasing adoption of voice assistants in Malaysia necessitates that businesses optimize their content for conversational queries, reflecting the natural language patterns used in voice searches.⁴⁰

Expert opinions within the SEO community generally concur that a strong focus on fundamental principles such as high-quality content and positive user experience is the most effective long-term strategy for navigating Google algorithm updates, including the March 2025 Core Update.⁵ This advice is particularly relevant for websites in Malaysia. While the March 2025 update introduced some uncertainty and frustration among publishers regarding its precise impact ⁹, many experts recommend adhering to general SEO best practices ⁹, such as enhancing content quality, removing low-value pages, and ensuring that content genuinely addresses user needs.⁸ Some experts have noted a potential shift in how Google assesses forum content, with certain forum sites experiencing a decline in visibility after a period of increased prominence.⁸ Malaysian SEO professionals emphasize the continued importance of high-quality content, mobile optimization, and robust local SEO strategies for achieving success in the current digital landscape.⁴⁰ They also acknowledge the growing influence of artificial intelligence in search and advise businesses in Malaysia to adapt their content and SEO strategies to align with this evolving trend, focusing on elements like topic clusters, structured data, and the principles of E-E-A-T.⁴⁰

To thrive in the evolving digital landscape of 2025, Malaysian website owners and digital marketers should adopt a proactive approach to optimizing their online presence.

Mastering Core Web Vitals: Several actionable steps can be taken to improve these crucial metrics.¹⁴ Optimizing images by compressing them, utilizing modern formats like WebP, and ensuring they are appropriately sized for different devices is essential.¹⁴ Implementing lazy loading for images that are not immediately visible can also improve initial page load times.¹⁴ Improving server response time by considering a hosting upgrade, leveraging a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to distribute content geographically, and performing regular server maintenance can significantly impact loading performance.¹⁶ Optimizing JavaScript and CSS involves minifying and deferring non-critical code, removing any unused code, and breaking down long-running tasks into smaller, more manageable segments.¹⁴ Enhancing mobile performance is critical given the high mobile usage in Malaysia ¹; this includes using responsive website designs, ensuring appropriately sized touch targets, and utilizing readable fonts and spacing on smaller screens.¹⁴ Addressing cumulative layout shifts involves specifying dimensions for all images and videos, reserving space for advertisements and other dynamic content, and avoiding the insertion of new content above existing content that could cause unexpected shifts in the layout.¹⁴ Finally, Malaysian website owners should regularly utilize performance monitoring tools such as Google Search Console, PageSpeed Insights, and Lighthouse to track their Core Web Vitals scores and identify specific areas that require further optimization.³

Content Creation and Optimization Aligned with User Intent: To effectively reach their target audience in Malaysia, businesses must conduct thorough keyword research, taking into account the linguistic diversity and local search trends.³⁰ Analyzing the search results for these keywords on Google within Malaysia will provide valuable insights into the prevailing user intent and the types of content that Google prioritizes for those queries.²⁹ Creating high-quality, in-depth content that directly answers users' questions, provides comprehensive information, and offers unique value is paramount.³ The format and style of the content should be carefully aligned with the identified user intent, whether it be informational blog posts, navigational landing pages, transactional product pages, or comparison articles.²⁹ Given the increasing use of voice search in Malaysia, incorporating long-tail, conversational keywords and question-based queries into content strategies is crucial.⁴⁰ Structuring content for optimal readability using headings, subheadings, bullet points, and relevant visuals will enhance user engagement.²⁴ Finally, demonstrating Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) throughout the website and within the content is essential for building credibility with both users and Google.³ Including author biographies and linking to authoritative external sources can further strengthen the E-E-A-T signals.⁴²

Metric	Good Score Range	Why it Matters for User Experience and SEO
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)	2.5 seconds or less	Indicates how quickly the main content of a page loads, impacting user satisfaction and perceived speed.
Interaction to Next Paint (INP)	200 milliseconds or less	Measures how quickly a website responds to user interactions, crucial for a smooth and responsive experience.
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)	0.1 or less	Quantifies the amount of unexpected visual instability on a page, preventing frustrating layout jumps.

Intent Type	Description	Example Search Query (Malaysia)	Recommended Content Format
Informational	Seeking specific information or to learn about a topic.	"resepi nasi lemak mudah" (easy nasi lemak recipe)	Blog posts, guides, FAQs, articles.
Navigational	Intending to visit a specific website or find a particular brand.	"Facebook Malaysia login"	Homepage, about us page, specific product or service pages.
Transactional	Ready to make a purchase of a product or service.	"beli kasut Nike online Malaysia" (buy Nike shoes online Malaysia)	Product pages, e-commerce category pages, booking/reservation pages.
Commercial Investigation	Researching and comparing options before making a purchase decision.	"telefon pintar terbaik bawah RM1500" (best smartphones under RM1500)	Comparison articles, product reviews, listicles, expert roundups.
Local	Looking for a local business or service within a specific geographic area.	"kedai makan Melayu dekat sini" (Malay restaurants near here)	Google Business Profile, local business directories, location-specific landing pages.

Core Web Vital	Common Causes of Poor Scores	Recommended Optimization Techniques
Largest Contentful Paint	Large, unoptimized images; slow server response; render-blocking JavaScript and CSS.	Compress and optimize images; use a CDN; upgrade hosting; defer non-critical CSS and JavaScript; ensure LCP element is discoverable early in the HTML.
Interaction to Next Paint	Heavy JavaScript execution; long-running tasks on the main thread; unoptimized event handlers.	Minimize and defer JavaScript; break up long tasks; optimize event callbacks; avoid recurring timers that overwork the main thread.
Cumulative Layout Shift	Images and videos without specified dimensions; ads and embeds loading late; dynamically injected content above existing content.	Always include width and height attributes for images and videos; reserve space for ads and embeds; avoid inserting content above existing content; use CSS aspect ratio boxes for elements without fixed dimensions; use font-display: optional for web fonts to prevent flashes of unstyled text.

To ensure sustained success in Google search, Malaysian businesses must adopt a mindset of continuous learning and adaptation. Staying informed about the latest Google algorithm updates and industry trends through official announcements, reputable SEO blogs, and industry conferences is crucial.⁷ Prioritizing the creation of a website that offers a positive and seamless experience for users across all devices remains a fundamental principle.¹³ Building a strong portfolio of high-quality and relevant backlinks from authoritative websites within their industry and the Malaysian context will continue to be a valuable signal of trust and credibility for Google.² Regularly conducting technical SEO and content audits will help identify and address any issues that could negatively impact a website's performance in search results.¹ Understanding and adapting to the increasing influence of AI in search, including optimizing content and website structure for AI algorithms and utilizing structured data markup, will be essential for future visibility.⁶ Finally, for businesses targeting local customers within Malaysia, optimizing their Google Business Profile and actively engaging with customer reviews will remain a critical component of their overall SEO strategy.¹

In conclusion, the Google March 2025 Core Update, while described as a regular update, serves as a timely reminder of the ever-evolving nature of search engine algorithms. For websites in Malaysia, the implications of this and future updates hinge significantly on their ability to deliver exceptional user experiences, primarily measured through Core Web Vitals, and their success in creating content that directly aligns with the diverse needs and intentions of their target audience. By proactively addressing website performance, user experience, and content quality, and by embracing a continuous learning approach, Malaysian businesses can navigate the dynamic landscape of Google search and achieve sustainable online growth.