Published by NewsPR Today | July 2025
Breathe deeply if you’ve been glued to your analytics dashboard for the past week, watching your website traffic spike or plummet. You’re not by yourself. A significant Google Core Update is the familiar cause of the buzz in the digital marketing industry.
According to Google, the June 2025 Core Update rollout started on June 30 and is already producing definite winners and losers on the internet. This is a fundamental reassessment of what constitutes valuable content, not a bug.
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
Let’s break down what’s happening, what it means for you and your step-by-step plan to not just survive, but thrive.
Let’s start by defining a Google Core Update.
Think of Google as a professor at a university who has graded millions of student essays (websites) over the years. They may have started out with a straightforward grading scheme that rewarded essays that regularly used particular keywords. However, the professor becomes more intelligent over time. They understand that the best essays are not just keyword-rich; they are also perceptive, thoroughly researched, lucid, and rooted in real understanding.
A core update is when the professor rolls out a new, more sophisticated grading rubric to all the essays at once. It’s not a penalty against any single student. Instead, it’s a re-evaluation that rewards the qualities they now deem most important. Essays that were once A+ might drop, while previously overlooked B- essays that are full of genuine insight might jump to the top of the class.
That’s what’s happening to your website. Google has refined its definition of a “high-quality” result.
The June 2025 Update: Emphasising Experience and Authenticity
This update began rolling out on June 30 and is anticipated to last for an additional two to three weeks, according to Google’s Search Status dashboard. This update is most likely the cause of any notable traffic changes you noticed beginning around that date.
So, who is being rewarded by this new “grading rubric”?
Websites That Are Winning:
The pattern is crystal clear. The winners are sites that have embraced genuine, human-first content.
- Sites with Demonstrable Experience (E-E-A-T): Think of a travel blog that doesn’t just list “10 Best Restaurants in Paris,” but has an article titled, “I Ate at 3 Michelin-Starred Restaurants in Paris in One Weekend: Here’s My Budget and What Was Worth It.” It’s filled with original photos, personal anecdotes, and a receipt. That is experience.
- Expert-Driven Niche Sites: A financial planning blog where every article is written by a named Certified Financial Planner with a detailed author bio. This builds immense trust and authority.
- Sites with Superb User Experience (UX): Websites that are lightning-fast on mobile, have a clean and intuitive design, and don’t bombard you with intrusive pop-ups. The user journey is smooth and pleasant.
- Original, In-Depth Content: Pages that answer a user’s question so completely and helpfully that the user does not need to go back to Google. They are the destination, not a stepping stone.
Websites That Are Hurting:
The sites seeing the sharpest drops are those that have prioritized algorithms over people.
- Thin or Unhelpful Content: Pages with only a few hundred words of generic, surface-level text that doesn’t truly help the reader.
- Soulless AI-Generated Content: Articles that feel robotic, lack a unique perspective, and simply rephrase information already available elsewhere. Google is getting incredibly good at spotting content that lacks a human touch.
- Aggressive Affiliate Sites: Pages that are more ads and “Buy Now” buttons than helpful information. The user’s primary goal (to learn) is secondary to the site’s goal (to earn a commission).
- Sites Lacking Credibility: Anonymous blogs with no “About Us” page, no author names, and no way to verify the information presented.
My traffic dropped. What’s My Action Plan?
It’s stressful to see your numbers decline, but don’t freak out. This is a chance to create a more robust and resilient website.
- Await the Dust to Clear:
The rollout is not yet complete. For a few more weeks, your rankings might change. Steer clear of impulsive changes. Take advantage of this time to observe and diagnose.
- Perform an Audit of Brutally Honest Content:
Navigate to your most popular pages that have lost visitors. Pull them up and pose the following queries to yourself as a doubtful guest:
- Is this article filler or helpful?
- Does this seem to have been written by someone who knows a lot about this subject?
- Would I spend my time or money following the advice on this page?
- Are there too many advertisements on this page to make it easy to read?
- Should I share this with a friend or bookmark it?
If “no” is the response to any of these, you’ve found where to start.
- Supercharge Your E-E-A-T (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, Trust):
- Author Bios: Every article must have a named author with a clear bio explaining their expertise and experience.
- About Us Page: Transform this from an afterthought into a cornerstone of your site. Tell your story. Show your team. Explain your mission.
- Show, Don’t Just Tell: Instead of saying you’re an expert, show it with case studies, original research, and real-world examples.
- Obsess Over Page Experience:
User experience is no longer a tie-breaker; it’s a core requirement.
- Speed: Use Google’s PageSpeed Insights to find and fix what’s slowing you down.
- Mobile-Friendliness: Your site must be flawless on a smartphone.
- Readability: Use clear headings, short paragraphs, bullet points, and white space to make your content easy to scan and digest.
- Stop Trying to Game the System:
The days of keyword stuffing, buying spammy backlinks, and using tricks to rank are over. These tactics are now liabilities. Focus on one thing: creating the best possible resource for your audience.
Tools to Help You Audit
- Google Search Console: Your most important tool. See exactly which pages and queries lost impressions and clicks.
- Semrush / Ahrefs: Track ranking changes, analyze backlinks, and see what your winning competitors are doing right.
- PageSpeed Insights: Get a direct report card from Google on your site’s performance and Core Web Vitals.
The Path Forward: Write for Humans
The June 2025 Core Update isn’t a mystery. It’s a loud and clear message from Google: We are rewarding authenticity.
The future of SEO is about building a trusted brand and creating content so good that people want to read and share it. If your rankings dropped, see it as a sign that it’s time to evolve. If they went up, congratulations—you were already on the right path. Now, double down on what works.
The algorithm is just trying to catch up to what users have always wanted: real, helpful, and trustworthy answers from people who know what they’re talking about.
