The June 2025 Core Update: What Just Hit Us?

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TL;DR:

Google's June 2025 Core Update is live and set to roll out over the next four weeks. It doubles down on helpful content signals and continues site-wide evaluations. If your traffic dipped, don’t look for a magic fix. This is about long-term quality, not short-term tricks.

Table of Contents

• Thanks for following coming with as we all try to …

  • What Does This Mean?

    • It’s a Core Update, Not a Targeted Strike

    • Expect Ranking Fluctuations

    • Content Signals Are Compounding

    • Weak Sections Can Hurt the Whole

  • What You Can Do About It

    • Audit With Brutal Honesty

    • Think E-E-A-T in Everything

    • Clean Up the Clutter

  • Conclusion: Stay Steady, Stay Smart

What Does This Mean?

It’s a Core Update, Not a Targeted Strike

Google's core updates aren't about punishing sites, they’re rebalancing how relevance, authority, and helpfulness are evaluated across the web. This one builds on previous signals, especially from the March 2024 Helpful Content Update.

Expect Ranking Fluctuations

If you’ve noticed drops (or gains), they could continue for weeks. Google even notes that shifts during the rollout might not reflect the final outcome. Don’t make hasty changes just yet.

Content Signals Are Compounding

This update refines how Google assesses site-level content helpfulness, depth, and originality. If your site’s thin content hasn't been pruned or improved, you may feel the sting now.

Weak Sections Can Hurt the Whole

It's not just about one bad blog post. Sections of your site with unhelpful or SEO-first content can hurt domain-wide performance. Google is thinking bigger picture.

In Google's eyes, your website is more than the sum of its pages. While Google ranks individual pages, its algorithm is increasingly influenced by site-wide signals—especially when it comes to content quality and helpfulness.

This means that even if your homepage, product pages, or blog stars are optimized and helpful, low-quality or outdated sections of your site can still drag down your overall trust and visibility. Think of it like a group project: one slacker can tank the team's grade.

Examples of weak spots that might hurt you:

• Old blog content stuffed with keywords but no real value

• Thin location pages created solely for SEO (especially Local SEO) without any substance

• Outdated service pages that haven’t been revised in years

• Auto-generated or AI content with no human oversight

• Archived content that's irrelevant but still indexed

Google’s March 2024 Helpful Content Update introduced a more holistic evaluation, rewarding sites that consistently provide helpful, people-first content and devaluing sites that publish content primarily for search engines.

So if you’ve got a hundred solid pages but fifty zombie ones just floating in your sitemap, it’s time to audit. Cleaning house isn’t just about technical SEO anymore, it's about showing Google that your entire site meets a certain content quality bar.

Bottom line:
If your site is a house, Google’s not just judging the curb appeal—it’s opening the closets, checking the basement, and making sure there’s not a room full of junk bringing down the neighborhood.

Let me know if you want this repurposed for a blog, client deck, or a section in your SEO scorecard.

What You Can Do About It

Audit With Brutal Honesty

Review your content, not just for keywords, but for usefulness.

Ask: Would someone find this genuinely helpful, or is it fluff?

Think E-E-A-T in Everything

Double down on Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust (*is not a ranking factor). Include author bios, cite sources, and make it clear why someone should trust your content.

Clean Up the Clutter

Unhelpful content won’t magically get better. Either improve it or remove it. The days of “just publish more” are over. Google's looking for better, not more.

Conclusion: Stay Steady, Stay Smart

Core updates are the reality of organic SEO. If you’re hit, don't panic, but don’t ignore the signs either. Use this as a chance to refine, rethink, and raise the bar. Those who do will be ready when the next wave comes.