How To Prepare for Google's Big Search Update
The 'Helpful Content' release is coming this week.
Welcome to Edition No. 28 of my weekly newsletter, providing practical analysis in the world of digital content strategy.
What Google Deems ‘Helpful’ Content, and How To Create it
Due to the importance of Google’s Helpful Content update, this week’s tip and analysis are combined. Today’s entire newsletter is also accessible to non-paid users to compensate for the absence of Friday editions while I have been traveling for family matters. Thanks for your understanding.
Google recently announced what may be the most exciting search algorithm update in recent memory for original content creators.
Next week, we'll launch the “helpful content update” to tackle content that seems to have been primarily created for ranking well in search engines rather than to help or inform people. This ranking update will help make sure that unoriginal, low quality content doesn’t rank highly in Search…
-Google Blog, Aug. 18, 2022
The update will primarily affect “online education, as well as arts and entertainment, shopping and tech-related content,” but there’s reason for all quality content creators to celebrate.
If you’re doing things “the right way,” not only should this benefit your SERP rankings, but you don’t have to make any strategic changes, either.
Let’s look at what this update means and how it could change the SEO landscape.
These Sites Will Feel the Pain
Thousands of people are making, or aspiring to make, a living wage from the comfort of their home via Google Search traffic.
They create websites with content that’s “optimized” to generate as much search traffic as possible. They make money via platforms like Google AdSense or MediaVine and/or through affiliate marketing1.
These are known as “niche” sites, and there’s a whole cottage industry around the practice.
The problem, as Google points out, is that many of these niche bloggers are much more concerned with maximizing visits than providing useful information.
This is especially prevalent in the industries Google called out in its blog post (online education, et al). (That doesn’t mean, however, that other industries are immune.)
Strong SEO strategies should be rewarded, but not the primary factor in who gets the most traffic. Google recognizes this with its update.
Google’s Authenticity in Confronting Algorithm Gaming
Google is addressing a problem that, in part, it helped create:
“…content created primarily for search engine traffic is strongly correlated with content that searchers find unsatisfying.”
Transparency into its algorithm coupled with vast best-practices resources has inspired bad actors to game the system. This problem isn’t unique to Google. The same thing happens on social networks like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter.
What is unique to Google is how accessible (and helpful) its team is regarding SEO strategy.
Meta platforms, for example, are constantly changing their algorithms – lately based primarily on whatever’s popular on TikTok – while providing broad-stroke, generic guidance.
Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri has made a concerted effort to answer questions and help users. These days, though, he’s much more on the defensive against user complaints.
Google’s Danny Sullivan and (especially) John Mueller are famously accessible and human on Twitter. You never get the sense they’re reading from a corporate script. That’s why search-community uprisings are so uncommon while Meta and the like seem to be under attack every other week.
Characteristics of ‘Helpful’ Websites
“Together, these launches2 are part of a broader, ongoing effort to reduce low-quality content and make it easier to find content that feels authentic and useful in Search."
So here are the “tips.” How do you create helpful content? To paraphrase/quote Google, with my commentary in italics:
Have an existing or intended audience
This is 101 stuff that the algorithm gamers don’t grasp. Are you writing for a real-life group of specific people? Whether that be 50 million Manchester City fans or 5,000 California pepper gardeners. Both are fine, but you better have a specific, consistent audience in mind.First-hand expertise and depth of knowledge
With this update, you’ll see more results with unique, authentic information, so you’re more likely to read something you haven't seen before.
Does your site have a primary purpose or focus?
See the first bullet point.Content follows guidance for core updates and product reviews
In fact, Google just updated the Core Web Vitals report in GSC.
Characteristics of ‘Unhelpful’ Website
Here, then, is a list of content characteristics you want to avoid, lest this update hurt your site:
You’re writing primarily to attract search traffic and not inform readers
We know people don’t find content helpful if it seems like it was designed to attract clicks rather than inform readers.
You cover various topics with little depth
This doesn’t mean news websites that cover sports, local news, government, weather, events, etc., are going to get hit. It means that websites that scattershot various topics with no expertise will.
So long as your content provides original, well-written information, covering multiple topics in and of itself isn’t a reason for concern.Content production automation
Expect be affected if you’re using AI to create your content.Aggregation without added value
It’s great to use other sources to fill out your text. In fact, linking to other authoritative sites makes your site seen as more authoritative.
This is only an area of concern if the foundation of what you write is something others wrote first.
What if I’m Affected?
If you get hit by the update – or want to be proactive – there is something you can do:
"[R]emoving unhelpful content could help the rankings of your other content." (See above.)
The implication here is that this update will have a devastating effect on sites with no helpful content. (Thank goodness.)
Google points out in its release that affected sites won’t receive manual penalties. Rather, this is an update to the algorithm and will not be based on humans scouring content.
“Our systems automatically identify content that seems to have little value, low-added value or is otherwise not particularly helpful to those doing searches.”
(Emphasis mine.)
As of the sending of this newsletter, the release has not begun. Its progress, which could take up to two weeks, will be documented on the Google Search ranking updates page.
The Google Search Central Twitter account typically provides updates, too.
This is when you refer someone to an online store like Amazon, for example, and you get a cut of any purchases they make
Google is also updating its algorithm related to product reviews