June 2021 Google Core Update: Great Tips for Recovering – In this article I write about the June 2021 Google core update.
You will learn what a Google core update is, why it’s important that you take notice of this search algorithm update and what to do if your website has been impacted.
If you like this article, make sure you also check my other articles:
What is a Google Core Update?
A Google core update is an official update made by Google to its search algorithm.
What is the June 2021 Google Core Update?
The June 2021 Google core update is the latest official update to Google search algorithm.
Later today, we are releasing a broad core update, as we do several times per year. It is called the June 2021 Core Update. Our guidance about such updates is here:https://t.co/e5ZQUA3RC6
This will be followed by the July 2021 Core update. Here’s more information about that…
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) June 2, 2021
When Was the June 2021 Google Core Update Rolled Out?
The June 2021 Google core update was rolled out on June 2nd, 2021.
After the June 2021 Google Core Update, is There Going to be Another One?
According to Google, there is going to be another core update later in July 2021. The main reason for two updates in such a short time is that ‘some planned improvements for the June 2021 update aren’t quite ready’.
Some of our planned improvements for the June 2021 update aren’t quite ready, so we’re moving ahead with the parts that are, then we will follow with the rest with the July 2021 update. Most sites won’t notice either of these updates, as is typical with any core updates….
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) June 2, 2021
What Was the Last Update Before the June 2021 Google Core Update?
The previous core update was rolled out in December 2020. Previous to that, there was a May 2020 one.
Timeline of the June 2021 Google Core Update
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- 02/06 – At 6:01 PM GMT, Google’s Danny Sullivan, via the Google Search Liaison account on Twitter, confirms they are ‘releasing a broad core update’
- 04/06 – According to SEMrush, this is the first day where the core update was ‘felt’ in terms of volatility in the search results
- 05/06 – Another big day of volatility in search results
- 07/06 – According to Search Engine Roundtable, quoting a number of reports, the effects of the update are ‘now being felt’. In this article, you can also find a list of SEO tools showing the volatility in search results following the update
- 08/06 – According to SEMrush via Search Engine Land, the ‘update was mostly felt on Friday, June 4th and Saturday June 5th. Both desktop and search results saw changes similar to each other, in terms of volatility. The top five categories that felt the most change were health, autos, pets and animals, science, and travel
- 15/06 – In a tweet, Google Search Liaison confirms that the Google Core Update rollout was completed as of June 12th
- 17/06 – Semrush publishes an article assessing the impact of the core update with winners and losers
The June 2021 Core Update rollout is complete as of June 12, 2021.
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) June 15, 2021
What Are the Actual Effects of the June 2021 Core Update?
As with most of Google search algorithm core updates, some websites might experience spikes in their Google rankings, while others might experience drops in their visibility and traffic.
Of course, any core update can produce drops or gains for some content. Because of the two-part nature of this release, it’s possible a very small slice of content might see changes in June that reverse in July….
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) June 2, 2021
Is the June 2021 Google Core Update Site-Specific?
According to Google, none of its search algorithm core updates are site specific, although some site categories might be impacted more than others (see Google medic update).
As a reminder, nothing in a core update is site-specific. Those who seek to perform well with search generally, including with core updates, should look to our guidance here: https://t.co/Mk9xsiTw1B
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) June 2, 2021
Great Tips for Websites Impacted by the June 2021 Google Core Update
Google offers two main tips if your website has been impacted by the June 2021 Google core update:
- Focus on content
- Focus on the quality rater guidelines and E-A-T
Focus on Content
The main suggestion by Google is to make sure ‘you’re offering quality content’. This means asking yourself:
- Content and quality questions
- Expertise questions
- Presentation and product questions
- Comparative questions
Content and quality questions
The key questions to ensure you are offering quality content concern:
- Originality – Is your web page content original or is it just a copy and paste from some other website?
- Comprehensiveness – Does your web page content offer a complete and comprehensive description of the topic?
- Page Titles – Is your page title descriptive of the page content?
- Authority – Is the web page content good enough to be published on authoritative websites or printed magazines?
Expertise Questions
The key questions to ensure you show your expertise in your content are:
- Trust – Is the information presented in a way that makes you trust the author?
- Authorship – Can you find relevant information about the author of the content?
Presentation and Product Questions
The key questions to ensure you present your content in the best possible way are:
- Errors – Is the content free from errors such as grammar or punctuation?
- Hastiness – Does the content look like it was written in a hurry?
- Ads – Does your content feature many ads?
- Responsiveness – Does your content display well on mobile devices? Do your pages load fast?
Comparative Questions
The key questions to ensure your content is of higher quality than your competitors’ are:
- Value – Does your content provide more value than your competitors’?
- Purpose – Does your content serve the purpose of solving your audience’s problems?
Focus on the quality rater guidelines and E-A-T
The second advice from Google on what to do if your website has been impacted by a Google core update is to better understand its quality rater guidelines and E-A-T.
What Are Google Quality Rater Guidelines?
Google quality rater guidelines are guidelines followed by people that Google uses as raters.
The guidelines are listed in a lengthy 175-page document.
Google uses the feedback shared by raters to better understand how well its search algorithm works.
According to Google, raters’ feedback is not a ranking factor and has no direct effect on your website rankings on Google.
Having said that, learning what quality raters consider good content, and applying the insights, might result in your web pages ranking higher on Google.
What is E-A-T?
E-A-T stands for Expertise-Authority-Trustworthiness. These are the three key principles Google quality raters follow to assess how strong the quality of your content is.
Understanding how your content scores in these three areas might help your web pages rank better on search engines.
Is E-A-T a Google Ranking Factor?
Google never confirmed that E-A-T is a ranking a ranking factor, although from the wording used it seems that the main principles behind E-A-T are being used by Google to rank pages:
Since we originally wrote this post, we have been occasionally asked if E-A-T is a ranking factor. Our automated systems use a mix of many different signals to rank great content. We’ve tried to make this mix align what human beings would agree is great content as they would assess it according to E-A-T criteria. Given this, assessing your own content in terms of E-A-T criteria may help align it conceptually with the different signals that our automated systems use to rank content.
How Long to Recover from the June 2021 Google Core Update?
Google is vague about how long it takes for your website to recover from a core update, pointing out that:
Broad core updates tend to happen every few months. Content that was impacted by one might not recover—assuming improvements have been made—until the next broad core update is released.
At the same time, there is no guarantee from Google that improving your content will result in recovering your lost rankings:
Do keep in mind that improvements made by site owners aren’t a guarantee of recovery, nor do pages have any static or guaranteed position in our search results.
Conclusion
Google decreased the number of irrelevant searches by 40% in the last five years.
To improve its search engine algorithm, Google periodically makes major changes, which are called core updates.
These core updates are publicly announced. They usually bring along significant fluctuations in Google rankings for a number of websites.
Google core updates are different from minor, incremental updates that happen more regularly and don’t cause noticeable changes in search results.
If your website has been impacted by the June 2021 Google core update, the best way to recover is to focus on quality content.
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Sources
- https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/guidelines.raterhub.com/en//searchqualityevaluatorguidelines.pdf
- https://searchengineland.com/google-may-2020-core-update-rolling-out-today-334128
- https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/mission/users/
- https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2019/08/core-updates
- https://blog.google/products/search/how-we-update-search-improve-results/
