After years of preparation, Google has finally released its major Helpful Content Update. Google’s latest algorithm change will prioritize content that is created with humans in mind rather than the search engines.
Even though the Google Helpful Content Update isn’t a core update, it can still have a significant effect on your site’s traffic. Even though Google makes an effort to be open and honest about the update, there is still a degree of uncertainty that forces SEOs to search for information about it and how to recover.
In the following blog posts, we will discuss the update in greater detail. Read on to learn how you can use this update to get an edge over your competitors or bring your website back from a big drop in traffic and ranking caused by the Helpful Content Update.
The rollout of the Google Helpful Content Update started on August 25, 2022, and it went global on December 5, 2022. The update’s goal is to find content that was made to give users a good experience and give it a higher ranking.
If a website tries to trick Google by adding a lot of unnatural content, not only will it experience a significant drop in traffic, but Google will also lower the site’s overall ranking. On the other hand, sites that focus on giving their visitors value will rise in search engine rankings.
The Helpful Content doesn’t involve any manual penalties. Instead, Google’s algorithm uses a new signal to better enforce the rules that webmasters already know.
Let’s Take a Look at Google’s Helpful Content Update:
Fortunately, the update for Helpful Content does not add any new rules that webmasters must adhere to. Google’s only goal is to provide better search results for users by prioritizing content that is useful to them rather than search engines.
Google highlighted the following:
Let’s get started with some guidelines for making search results more useful.
Follow a People-First Approach to Produce Content:
“People-first content” emphasizes content that is written for humans, not search engines. In other words, the focus should shift from maximizing word count, keyword stuffing, and other SEO parameters to giving the audience the answers they’re looking for—the information they are looking for.
Make sure “YES” is your answer to the following questions if you are following a “People-First Content” approach:
- Do you offer genuine insight into a topic rather than merely summarizing the work of others?
- Is there a particular topic that you cover on your site?
- Do people who come directly to your site find what they’re looking for?
The guiding principle behind the Helpful Content Update is “people first.” If your content is useful to readers, Google will rank it higher.
Concentrate on the Target Audience:
Every website has a specific group of readers called a “niche audience.”
You will gain credibility with your audience and search engines when you consistently publish high-quality content related to your site’s topic. However, if you post irrelevant material, you risk confusing both.
Provide First-Hand Experience:
Google prefers not to index material that has already appeared on multiple websites. You can, however, present the same idea in a way that incorporates your own research and provides some value for the audience. Search engines don’t care if you just write a summary or use AI to generate content. Your goal when making content should be to give searchers the most relevant and current information you can.
Give Detailed Explanations:
Google only thinks that content is useful if it gives users enough information to do what they want to do. No matter how much you write, it should be the final word on a subject before your reader can move forward with confidence.
Do not simply write in order to increase the word count; rather, focus on producing content that is helpful, as there is no ideal word count and the length does not affect how helpful something is.
In contrast, comprehensive and useful answers are characterized by extensive coverage, unique insight, and relevant images. The length of an article has nothing to do with the level of in-depth analysis it contains.
Advice from Google: What Not to Do?
Now we’ll discuss what you must not do if you want Google to view your content as useful.
Don’t Just Write for Search Engines:
It is considered unhelpful to create content with the sole purpose of attracting search traffic. Because it provides no benefit to searchers.
If you want your content to rank well, Google recommends writing for humans rather than bots.
Having said that, this should not be taken as the end of search engine optimization. The purpose of the Useful Content Update is not to undermine search engine optimization but rather to enhance the user experience.
What’s beneficial to the user is beneficial to SEO.
Don’t try to cover too many things:
Google thinks “people-first” websites always put their users first.
Each website needs to cater to a specific audience with a specific goal in mind.
For instance, if we start covering healthcare issues, not only will our readers become confused, but so will Google. Therefore, you should narrow your site’s focus. If you wish to discuss subjects other than those already covered by your site, you can always create a new one.
Don’t use automation for your content creation:
Webmasters increasingly rely on AI tools, but these tools don’t produce unique material. They take existing content from the internet and pass it off as their own.
Since recycled content isn’t unique, it leads to a subpar user experience. It also goes against just about every guideline Google provides in its webmaster guidelines pertaining to automated content.
Even if you use AI to help you write, you still need to edit your work thoroughly to ensure it’s valuable to your readers. The purpose of Google’s ban on automated content is to protect searchers, not to prevent sites from producing content more quickly.
Don’t Just Give a Rough Synopsis of the Content:
When it comes to content, Google does not consider it useful if it merely summarizes the information that can be found on other websites. Even if your content isn’t completely original (which it almost never is), it should still provide readers with new perspectives and opportunities for thought.
It is important for people to finish your content with ideas that they could not get anywhere else. If that is not the case, there is no legitimate reason for it to exist.
What to Do if Traffic Drops After the Helpful Content Update:
The Helpful Content update is not like a core update, in which Google makes significant changes to its algorithm. With this change, Google now considers a different ranking signal when determining search rankings.
Google will rank websites higher if they are helpful, and lower if they are not. As previously stated, this is not a core algorithm update, so there will be no manual action on websites. However, if you’ve noticed a sudden drop in traffic, it’s possible that others have taken over your ranking, or Google has flagged your website for low-quality content.
Here’s how you can fix them:
Simply improve or delete all pages of poor quality.
Remove offending content from Google’s index. The fastest and most effective way to fix your online presence is to get rid of everything Google thinks is bad.
Three strategies exist for improving low-quality content:
- Edit to conform to Google’s quality guidelines for usefulness. This is the best way to manage your content library, but it’s also the slowest.
- Add a “noindex” tag to it to make it invisible in searches. Whatever you index is all that matters to Google. Marking a page as “noindex” allows you to improve it later when you have the time and resources to do so.
- Just use a 301 redirect to make it disappear. Some content might be too far off-topic or too bad to fix. It’s best to just get rid of it and start fresh with new content. In order to avoid broken links, just make sure that the 301 page is removed from all the pages where it could possibly be present.
Once done, it is time to analyze how you have been adding content to your website. Change the strategy altogether and follow an all new “people-first” approach while still following the best SEO practices. You should seek the help of an SEO agency in NYC that offers full-service digital marketing services. If you’re not sure how to go about it, call us at 315-533-1323 or email us at [email protected] to have a quick consultation.
