Google is soon going to implement a change to its search ranking algorithm that could end up being one of the biggest updates in over a decade.
This algorithm update is called the helpful content update which will help google search engines showing better results by devaluing content written for search engines rather than humans.
The helpful content update will only target websites/pages that have a relatively high amount of unhelpful content and this broad update will start rolling soon as per Google
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Official Announcement on Helpful Content Update
As Google always tries to provide better search results so that people can connect to helpful information easily.
Google will soon launch this update sitewide.
The official announcement of Google on their twitter handle.
Next week, we will launch the “helpful content update” to better ensure people see more original, helpful content written by people, for people, rather than content made primarily for search engine traffic. Learn more & advice creators should consider: https://t.co/fgf2TPNIqD pic.twitter.com/xOuX2iVk2d
— Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) August 18, 2022
What is Google’s Helpful Content Update?
With Google’s latest helpful content update, Google aims to target
“content that seems to have been written purely for search engine rankings rather than to aid or inform people.”
The actual purpose of this update is to help searchers find/see more original and helpful content written by people, for people, in SERPs.
The helpful content update also introduces a new signal for Google to rank web pages in SERPs.
When will Google’s Helpful Content Update Launch?
Next week, the update will begin to rollout.
The full rollout of the helpful content update might take up to two weeks, according to Google.
This update impacts English searches globally to begin with and we plan to expand to other languages in the future.
What Does The Helpful Content Update Do?
This update adds a new ranking signal that will have a negative effect on websites that produce a lot of content that has little value or is not useful to searchers.
And it aims to provide good content a reward where visitors feel they’ve had a satisfying experience.
What Should To Do If The Helpful Content Update Impacts Your Site?
Google suggests deleting unhelpful content from your website if the helpful content update affects your website.
According to Google, the update’s impacts on websites may last for several months.
Google says:
Our classifier for this update runs continuously, allowing it to monitor newly-launched sites and existing ones. As it determines that the unhelpful content has not returned in the long-term, the classification will no longer apply.
How to Build People-first Content – Google’s advice
Google shared a list of below mentioned questions around building people-first content:
- 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?
- Does your content clearly demonstrate first-hand expertise and a depth of knowledge (for example, expertise that comes from having actually used a product or service, or visiting a place)?
- Does your site have a primary purpose or focus?
- After reading your content, will someone leave feeling they’ve learned enough about a topic to help achieve their goal?
- Will someone reading your content leave feeling like they’ve had a satisfying experience?
- Are you keeping in mind our guidance for core updates and for product reviews?
And when it comes to avoiding search-engine first content, Google pointed out these below mentioned questions:
- 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 summarizing what others have to say without adding much value?
- Are you writing about things simply because they seem trending 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 Key Notes About Google’s Helpful Content Update
- It is not a manual action nor a spam action.
- It is an automated process, using a machine-learning model.
- People-first content website owners can surely take advantage of this algorithm update.
- This update impacts English searches globally to begin with and we plan to expand to other languages in the future.
- The signal is also weighted; which means sites with lots of unhelpful content may notice a stronger effect.
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