Google's June 2019 core update

On the 3rd June 2019, Google released an update to its core algorithm. There’s nothing news-worthy about minor Google updates (as the specific details of each update are never revealed). Unusually, however, the search giant chose this time to notify webmasters in a series of official announcements.

This almost unprecedented move shows that the core algorithm updates were major in nature and worthy of specific acknowledgement: something Google does not do very often.

But what did these updates change? And how have these changes affected your website? Keep reading to learn the answers to these questions and more!

Making it official

Google constantly releases minor updates to its algorithms. Its standard answer to queries from webmasters is along the lines of “Yes, we release updates all the time to improve things.”

However, on 2nd June, Google pre-announced on Twitter that a major update was impending. Although the Tweet referenced the fact that these changes occur ‘several times per year’, webmasters were quick to note the singular nature of such a public acknowledgement.

Google’s public Search Liaison Danny Sullivan said that the company ‘…wanted to be more proactive… we thought it would be good to just let folks know before it rolled out.’ He went on to add that the update was ‘not a big one’.

A major update?

Immediately after the update dropped on 3rd June, webmasters began to dispute this initial claim that it wasn’t large in scale.

Prominent search engine journalist Barry Schwartz began reporting on the impactful nature of the algorithm update, citing webmaster who were experiencing major shifts in traffic.

Some large websites reported considerable fluctuations in visitor numbers, including that of the Daily Mail. The website’s Head of SEO Jesus Mendez posted on a Google Support page that his site had experienced a 50% drop in traffic overnight. He suspected the broad core algorithm update had a major part to play in this change.

The Google guidelines

The search community was quick to jump on the Daily Mail example, with many noting major criticisms of the site from an SEO point of view. Although traditionally a very popular website ranking amongst the top in visitor numbers, it violated several aspects of Google’s quality guidelines.

Google updated its guidelines soon before the June Core Update. Since the search engine now consistently directs webmasters to this documentation, we can only assume they now play an even more pivotal role in web rankings than before.

All websites that violate Google’s official webmaster guidelines risk negative impact from algorithm updates and even manual actions (active removal from the search engine index).

Digital Marketing by Piranha

At Piranha, we have provided professional digital marketing services for many years. In that time, we’ve experienced many major search algorithm updates both more and less impactful than 2019’s June Core Update.

We have always adopted a white-hat approach to search engine optimisation (SEO). This means that we adhere strictly to the official guidelines published by Google and other search engines. By ensuring our clients’ websites observe rules and regulations, we safeguard them against sudden seismic algorithmic changes.

Are you concerned that your website has been negatively affected by the June Core Update?

If so, we offer a comprehensive SEO audit that can evaluate your website’s health and provide insight into where and why you should make improvements.

Our audit covers (amongst other points):

• Mobile friendliness
• Load speeds
• Site security
• Index and coverage issues
• Technical errors
• Current visibility of target keywords