June core algorithm update rolled out, Google confirms

Lewis Koch | 24th June 2021 | Organic

June saw the beginning of Google’s roll out of a core algorithm update. Given that it was announced back in November, there has been plenty of time for technical SEO’s to prepare and shouldn’t cause much cause for concern.

However if this is news to you, how worried should you be? Will this hugely impact your website’s rankings, traffic and enquiry/sale numbers?

This blog post provides a top level overview of what to expect and an overview of the initial reaction to the algorithm from the search community.

Please note that there are various factors affecting website rankings so to isolate one issue would be wrong, but from large-scale analysis we can gain a general idea of which websites have benefited and lost out from this update.

How significant is the June algorithm update?

Whilst there are minor updates on a daily basis, ‘core’ updates have the potential to create volatility in the search engine results. It’s important to closely monitor your website’s rankings and traffic over the course of the summer as Google has announced this algorithm will gradually rollout, ending in August:

“…think of it as if you’re adding a flavoring to a food you’re preparing. Rather than add the flavor all at once into the mix, we’ll be slowly adding it all over this time period. Given this, sites generally should not expect drastic changes.” – Google

This core update marks the start of a long summer of updates. So if you’re experiencing visibility drops from the most recent update, as many are according to Sistrix, it’s safe to assume you will need to address this across your website.

Smashing Magazine is a clear example of a domain that has experienced visibility drops since the update, please see below:

Are you a News Publisher? There is a big change with the Top Stories carousel

Another announcement off the back of the June update is that the Top Stories carousel is evolving insofar that a webpage no longer requires AMP to be listed. Google can now validate pages using these new core web vitals. For more information on this, please watch this video.

This will certainly have an impact on your organic visibility if you’re a news publisher as well as your internal processes. For instance, should you continue to use AMP or test how non-AMP pages are ranked?

As Glenn Gabe reported, we are now seeing non-AMP pages ranking in the Top Stories component, please see below:

Who are the winners and losers of the core update?

As with many core updates in the past, they tend to disproportionately impact certain sectors or types of websites. By comparing Sistrix Visibility Index of a given root domain between the dates of June 4, 2021 and June 14, 2021, initial findings are that there are clear winners and losers from this update, as reported by Lily Ray.

Please see image below:

Image credit: Amsive Digital

If your website falls in the following industries, it pays to be extra vigilant with your search rankings over the course of the summer as they are experiencing the most negative volatility:

Travel and Tourism
News and Media
Music
Property

Want to stay up to date with the latest algorithm news?

If you want to stay up-to-date with the latest Google algorithm changes, the Distinctly team would recommend following the twitter accounts listed below for the latest news.