UPDATE: The Google June 2025 Core Update rollout was completed on 17th July 2025 at 01:18 Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) or 08:18 in the UK.
In the world of SEO, updates to the Google algorithm are usually little and often – we don’t always see or even notice them. But core updates are much bigger affairs and today we have been notified of the Google June 2025 core update.
Today we released the June 2025 core update. We’ll update our ranking release history page when the rollout is complete: https://t.co/bOclYyVtYH
— Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) June 30, 2025
If you go direct to the Google Search Status Dashboard you’ll see that the update rolled out at 07:34 PDT, which is early morning on west coast USA, hence the Pacific Daylight Time (14:34 in the UK)
What’s a Google Core Update?
A Google core update is a major change to Google’s search engine algorithms and related systems. They occur a few times a year and can take days or even weeks to “roll out”, or complete.
These core updates are intended to improve the overall quality of Google’s search results and focus on relevance and helpfulness.
Core updates are usually broad in their scope and Google does not specify the fixes in each update. However, in the past, algorithm updated have targeted backlink schemes, thin content, poor quality content.
Spam updates have focused on schemes like expired domain abuse and scaled content abuse.
So Google’s updates generally tend to surface quality content that is human-focused and provides helpful, comprehensive output.
Why Do Core Updates Matter?
If your business has a website and you rely on natural, organic traffic, then substantial changes to how the ranking algorithm works may affect you.
For example;
If you employ a marketer who touts the line that “links are 50% of the ranking factors” toward getting a site to list higher in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) and they pay for backlinks to your website, then you could fall foul of Google. Firstly, paid links are against the company’s Terms of Service (TOS) and you could lose those links, be penalised, or even worse. Also any unnatural linking can be detected and ignored by Google. Links have been the subject of algorithm updates in the past and the risk persists.
Have I Been Affected by This Core Update?
The best way to find out is to regularly check your Google Search Console (GSC) data first and your Google Analytics (GA4) afterwards. GSC is the best indicator of volatility in the SERPs and any search fluctuations. If you see your impressions, rank, and clicks start to dip more significantly than usual and in time with the release and rollout of a core update, then watch and learn. Wait until the rollout has completed.
What Do I Do About Core Updates?
That very much depends on what you’ve previously done, or not. as the case may be.
Google always has a positive slant to its announcements and it has previously said that if you notice dips in ranking or traffic, it may not be that your site has gone down, but that your competitors have gone up.
It’s slightly cryptic, we know, and the best plan of action is DON’T PANIC!
Sorry, we had to squeeze in that Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy reference there.
But seriously, being certain that your situation is due to a core update is the first step. Correlation does not always equal causation, but if you’ve made no significant changes to your website prior to the rollout, and any visibility or traffic drops align with the core update timings, then it’s likely that you’ve been affected.
Analyse, Plan, and Act
Keep a steady hand on the tiller, analyse your situation, look at the data, check who is up and down in the SERPs around you, conduct some competitor research on any websites that have benefited from an update, and then plan out the next iteration of your SEO strategy.
Ultimately, the best advice is to follow best practice in SEO. Here’s a quick checklist:
- Host on a reliable server and keep your plugins and security up-to-date.
- Fix any technical issues.
- Make sure that your website looks professional.
- Fix any UX issues.
- Ensure that your content is written for people first.
- Make sure that your content is helpful and comprehensive.
- Be unique.
- Update thin content, outdated content, and duplicate content.
- Be patient.
This is a good starting point, and any SEO worth their salt will be able to so all of these things for you, with a little help from designers and UX specialists if necessary,
But keep an eye on Google for notifications that the rollout has completed and then you will be able to take stock of the situation.
Next Steps
If you need the SEO tools set up on your website, such as GSC and GA4, or help analysing or recovering from a Google core update, we can help.
Get in touch via our contact form or call us on 01252 692 765.
