Responding to June 2025 Core Update: SEO Strategies to Stabilize Rankings

Surviving the June 2025 Core Update: Your Action Plan

Google’s June 2025 Core Update has sent ripples through the SEO landscape, with significant volatility observed since its rollout began. Many site owners are reporting dramatic fluctuations in rankings, particularly noticeable on June 18th when tracking tools lit up across the board. If your site has been affected, here’s what you need to do right now.

Understanding What’s Happening

This update continues the pattern we’ve seen throughout early 2025, with Google making substantial refinements to how it evaluates content quality and relevance. Unlike the March 2025 update that primarily impacted healthcare and finance sectors, June’s update appears to have broader reach.

The most significant volatility markers:

• Initial fluctuations observed in early June
• Major spike recorded on June 18th
• Continued aftershocks expected through month-end

Sites experiencing ranking drops aren’t necessarily being penalized – Google is recalibrating what it considers quality content.

Immediate Response Tactics

Audit Your Core Web Vitals

First, check if your technical foundation has weakened. Run a comprehensive Core Web Vitals analysis to identify any performance issues that may have become more significant ranking factors. Focus on:

• LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) – aim for under 2.5 seconds
• FID (First Input Delay) – keep under 100ms
• CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) – maintain below 0.1

Content Quality Assessment

For pages showing significant ranking drops:

• Compare against current top-ranking competitors
• Identify information gaps in your content
• Check for outdated statistics or claims
• Evaluate whether your content answers user queries completely

Many sites hit hardest by this update are those with thin or superficial content that doesn’t fully address user intent.

Strategic Adjustments, Not Panic Moves

Resist the urge to make sweeping changes across your site. Instead:

1. Document your current rankings and traffic patterns
2. Identify the specific page types most affected
3. Make targeted improvements to your worst-performing content first
4. Wait at least two weeks before evaluating the impact of your changes

I’ve noticed sites that completely overhauled content during past updates actually performed worse than those making measured, thoughtful adjustments.

What’s Working Post-Update

Early analysis suggests the update is rewarding:

• Comprehensive, authoritative content (depth over breadth)
• Clear E-E-A-T signals throughout content
• Precise keyword targeting rather than keyword stuffing
• Content structured for featured snippets

One counterintuitive finding: some sites with shorter, focused content are outperforming longer articles that cover too many topics without adequate depth on each.

Remember that volatility is normal during major updates. Document your changes, monitor your performance, and focus on delivering genuine value to users – that remains the cornerstone of ranking well through any algorithm update.