Google Core Update June 2021

Over the last six months, we have seen a number of Google updates since the last Google core update in December 2020. As of the 2nd of June 2020, Google began to roll out its latest core update which will be more content-focused.

Google is revaluating all websites based on the “EAT” algorithm; the recent “product review” update; the recent “YMOYL” update and now the core update too which is affecting top rankers the most. Unfortunately, this is across the board for all service suppliers and product-based services.

EAT = Expertise, Authority, Trust.

YMOYL = Your money or your life update.

Product update = Product Update 2021.

The current Core update from June 2nd is currently underway but we believe there may be a further core update in July 2021.

Websites across the board are experiencing fluctuations in their ranks both locally and organically because their content no longer meets Google’s heightened standards. Sites that previously ranked on the first three pages are now being replaced with lower ranking sites that Google deems as holding more relevant or more recent content.

The updates mentioned above are still ongoing and focus on content quality, content relevance, your personal experience/expertise in the industry, your trustworthiness as a business, and how much authority you have within your industry. This new update has less to do with link building or SEO services than any of the previous updates.

Seemingly, websites that were ranking well on page 1 of Google previously appear to be the most affected. We have also seen dramatic fluctuations on websites where Google no longer feels their content is relevant or up to date.

This update means marketing strategies will need to evolve as Google will continue to reshuffle websites based on their content relevance and SEO metrics in a bid to ensure the most relevant results for users. Potential drops in the SERPs are no longer solely influenced by SEO updates and link building (although needed) but will now also be heavily influenced by the content and search relevance to an input query each website holds. For more information on this and previous updates please click here.

Moving forward website owners will need to prove to Google that their web content is both newer and more importantly 100% relevant for Google’s users than ever before. Yesterday’s content is no longer deemed as useful by Google as of today. All content must now be useful content and likewise, all pages must be helpful for the end-user, rather than the text pages previously created with the sole aim of increased traffic in mind.

Content must now be full of relevant information to help web users. Whilst it was always this way in part, content relevance didn’t hold as much power in the SERP calculations as in previous updates. Ideally, the content within a website should now be extremely resourceful, verified by a third-party authority, and up to date. Website owners will now need to prove they have the most expertise within their sector to rank higher than their competition, rather than just claiming so. It will also be key to build trust with reviews across the board, “Google Reviews” are best for GMB local search and show authoritative knowledge as the site explains services in more depth rather than the brief overview it once had. As business owners, the focus must shift towards website content, accreditations, and awards in order to stand out.

We expect the current update to finish in the next 10 days or so. Should your SERPs be affected by these changes, incremental edits to your current website content will need to be implemented to make full use of the quality links already there - this will aid in boosting the site up the ranks and with the realignment needed to meet Google’s new demands.

As Google migrates from a Search Engine to an Answer Engine, link building alone (although extremely important) will no longer be enough and frequent updates to the site with relevant information will be required to maintain your rank within Google.

Looking for assistance to meet Google’s ever-changing demands? Click here to get in touch with a member of the team.