23rd August 2022 by 
Another site-wide Google algorithm update is rolling out very soon, this week in fact. Google have named it the ‘helpful content’ update. It will devalue content written specifically for search engines and boost content written for people.
In addition, this update introduces a new ranking signal that Google will use to rank webpages.
Although it is perhaps too short a window to prepare, Google gave web content creators notice nonetheless last week. That said, the content of any website should be written for the user in the first place, not for search engine bots.
Google published the announcement via Twitter last week.
We’re improving Search so you’re less likely to find content made for search engines, and more likely to find helpful, authentic information — particularly for education, entertainment, shopping and tech content.
Google
You can read the article about this update at the Google blog. The notes on this update are on the Google developers website.
What will the new ‘helpful content’ search do?
A new ranking signal will be introduced. This signal will adversely impact website content that offers little value or is deemed unhelpful to users.
So this could mean your content might be in a little trouble if you have been publishing overly optimised content to get high rankings. Throughout our articles such as our ‘Quick Wins‘ and ‘Improving your SEO‘, we have always advised to write high quality content that is unique, relevant and matched with search intent. Since the update is site-wide, any low quality content on your website may be impacted negatively. That is even if you have a high quality article elsewhere. So, it many mean increasing the quality of your content elsewhere or simply removing the low quality content.
Checking your content for this update
Google has produced a series of helpful questions to ask yourself when reviewing your content. Answering ‘yes’ to any of the below may be an indication that you need to make content revisions as outlined previously.
- Is the content primarily to attract people from search engines rather than made for humans?
- Are you producing lots of content on different topics in hopes that some of it might perform well in search results?
- Are you using extensive automation to produce content on many topics?
- Are you mainly summarising what others have to say without adding much value?
- Are you writing about things simply because they seem to trend and not because you’d write about them otherwise for your existing audience?
- Does your content leave readers feeling like they need to search again to get better information from other sources?
- 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)
- Did you decide to enter some niche topic area without any real expertise, but instead mainly because you thought you’d get search traffic?
- Does your content promise to answer a question that actually has no answer, such as suggesting there’s a release date for a product, movie, or TV show when one isn’t confirmed?
Other notes regarding the ‘helpful content’ update
Lastly, some notes to conclude with.
- The automated update utilises a machine-learning model
- Content written for people will rank even if unhelpful content is published elsewhere on the website
- It is a weighted signal meaning some websites will impacted harder than others
- The update only affects English searches, at least at first.
The intent of this update is to tidy up the search results and root out spammy and ad laden webpages which offer no value to the users. News websites… I am looking at you. It may force a rethink of the some SEO and content marketing strategies over the longer term. Many strategies have relied on long form and keyword heavy content. If your website is impacted negatively, it may take some time to recover with some work (and we can help you with that). Essentially, you need to prove that your website content is actually useful to your users over a long period of time.
Perhaps there is an element of users becoming impatient and exasperated with Google’s search results. Users are being served pages which offer them no answers but are stuffed full of keywords and adverts. Some are instead turning to the likes of Reddit and even TikTok. Don’t play the Google game chasing rankings. Write high quality content for your users instead that gives the answers they are looking for.
Wrapping up
In short, get to the point with your content. Add more value, use creative content including video and images to keep a user engaged. Make the content so good that others will recommend you and your content. Lastly, create content you can distribute forever. If you are already doing this then chances are this update will reward your website even more.
If you think you may need help with improving your website’s content and to help your business stand out from the crowd. We have the expertise and we would love to help you.
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