Increase your website traffic?
Written by: Benjamin Paine
Managing Director at Digital Nomads HQ
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Google often updates the way its algorithm works and prioritises content. This recent update was the second of 2025. Google has stated that this update will take three weeks to roll out entirely before it is fully operational.
While some of these updates may not seem major, they are important for businesses and digital marketers to take note of. The content they produce, which may have performed well in the past, could drop significantly as a result of these changes.
Here are some of the key takeaways that are worth looking out for as the new update comes into action:
- The quality of your content matters. Google judges this by the originality and cohesiveness between the title of the piece and the topic the content addresses.
- Demonstrating expertise and value will play a significant role in determining a page’s performance. Google needs to be able to identify that it has been created or reviewed by an expert in the field of the selected topic.
- Prioritise people and avoid heavy search engine-first content to ensure optimal user experience and satisfaction.
What is a core update?
A core update occurs when Google alters its algorithm to favour and boost the highest-quality and most credible pages. As content creation evolves, Google must take into account factors that may hinder the quality of a piece of content, such as the use of AI or false information and statistics.
Here’s how Google Search Central announced the update via LinkedIn.
Google’s previous core update
The previous update put into action by Google in March for 2025 was very similar to this new one in terms of being “people-focused”. However, the guidelines were slightly more vague and less focused on credibility and expertise.
1. Quality of your content
Google has emphasised that the quality of the content on each page will impact the way it ranks significantly.
There are several different ways that you can ensure the content you are creating and publishing to your website will be viewed as good or exceptional quality by Google.
Originality
One of the main things Google will look for when analysing the quality of your content is its originality.
One way to do this could be to conduct your research and provide results or analysis; however, we all know conducting a full-on investigation can be extremely time-consuming and not always worth it.
To avoid this, you can continue to use external sources; however, you must ensure to include your original spin on information sourced from elsewhere. This could be further analysis or commentary that adds value to the existing information.
“Does the content provide insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond the obvious?”
- Google Search Central
This is another interesting question posed by Google Search Central, included in their list of “self-assessment” questions. This means Google will be diving even deeper than before and evaluating how interesting and unique the content found on each page is.
Content must match the heading
Would you click on a title that has nothing to do with what you’re searching for?
Alternatively…
How fast would you click off a web page whose content has nothing to do with its title?
These may seem like silly questions; however, Google is once again emphasising the importance of headings and content aligning to ensure your page is being optimised and viewed as quality.
Google has also emphasised not using exaggerated titles, which essentially means “clickbait”. Using these titles will be viewed as misleading.
Here are some examples of the Dos and Don’ts when it comes to titles and content:
2. Expertise and value
Google states that by clearly displaying the fact that expertise was used to add value to a piece of content, it will automatically be considered more credible and therefore rank higher.
Referencing & Credibility
It is crucial that clear referencing is used when information has been sourced from elsewhere. Google is able to detect when the information presented on a page is not original.
Google Search Central also provides self-assessment questions to audit the credibility of a page, such as:
“Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?”
and
“Would you expect to see this content in or referenced by a printed magazine, encyclopedia, or book?”
The structure and quality of the page in comparison to other ranking competitors will also affect its success.
Expert tip: Before creating a new piece of content, examine the pages that currently rank on Google and determine how you can challenge the content and user experience they present.
Evidence of expertise
Having the author of a piece of content and their visible expert credentials clearly displayed on a page will increase its credibility.
Another popular and effective way to display expertise is to include a link to an author page or an about us page. This internal linking method is a good way to present the reader and Google with more information and insight without overcrowding the one page.
Having an expert review content and including a “reviewed by” tag next to the author can also increase credibility and is commonly used by a number of well-known companies.
Google is also on the lookout for easily verified factual errors that could hinder the reliability of a source.
Additionally, make sure you are across Google’s experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) system. This framework is used to determine which pages are the most helpful to users.
Google is also on the lookout for easily verified factual errors that could hinder the reliability of a source.
Additionally, make sure you are across Google’s experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) system. This framework is used to determine which pages are the most helpful to users.
Here is a great example of a list of expert references provided by the Digital Marketing Institute.
3. Prioritise people and avoid heavy search engine-first content
On page UX
The user experience (UX) of a page is one of the most important factors to consider. If someone is unable to navigate or use a website in the first place, the quality of the content becomes almost irrelevant.
Factors such as bounce rate and time spent on a page will definitely affect ranking and success.
Will the content satisfy the reader?
It is important that when someone has a question, googles it, finds your page and reads your content, that they can walk away having answered their question or found the content useful and informative.
It is also crucial that the content being added to a website speaks to the business’s primary audience and is relevant to their needs.
Google poses this “self-assessment” question:
“Do you have an existing or intended audience for your business or site that would find the content useful if they came directly to you?”
- Google Search Central
For example, if you own an accounting business, you would avoid posting a blog on the “Top Ten Best Running Shoes” even if it might generally be a trending topic at the time.
Manipulative SEO tactics will be flagged
Don’t chase traffic! Common SEO tactics such as mass-producing content, keyword stuffing and writing about topics entirely irrelevant to your business and audience may have been effective in the past, but are now being flagged by Google and negatively affecting the performance of pages.
Using automotive tools or taking other people’s pages and using AI to rewrite the content will also be picked up on. If the content hasn’t had any original material or insight added to it, it will be viewed as invaluable.
Writing to meet a certain number of words is also no longer an effective SEO practice, as it all comes down to the quality of the content.
Another “self-assessment” question provided by Google Search Central makes this very clear:
“Are you writing to a particular word count because you’ve heard or read that Google has a preferred word count? (No, we don’t.)”
Common tricks such as changing the page dates and shifting around the structure of a piece of content to achieve a “fresh” feel are also now considered very much ineffective.
Conclusion
Staying informed is key when it comes to SEO and Google’s rapidly evolving algorithm. If, after reading this article, you still have queries or questions surrounding Search Engine Optimisation or what Google’s June 2025 core update might mean for you. Please don’t hesitate to contact our friendly team here at Digital Nomads HQ.
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