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Google's helpful content system update: the (good) content continues king

Now it's valid for the whole world and if you have a website or blog, get ready for changes or alignments of your projects! Google announced at the beginning of the month (December), the global update to the system that manages the search ranking: helpful content system. In this article, you will understand more deeply the [...]

December 14, 2022 · Dudu Gentil · 10 min read

In this article, you will understand more deeply what it is and the main tips to stand out on Google by seeing what algorithms will take into account for your ranking content.

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What's new?

The helpful content system update helps Google systems detect more low-quality content forms created for search engines and not especially for people. I'm talking specifically about the content that seems to have been created primarily for a good classification of research mechanisms, rather than helping or informing people.

The main goal is to bring users to meet high-quality content, Google said. In other words, the search giant wants to reward the best and most useful content that is created for humans and truly help users.

The content written with the objective of classifying research mechanisms – what you might call “research mechanism content” or “seal content” has often been criticized and discussed on social networks. In short, users get frustrated when they reach useless web pages that have a good ranking in the search because they were designed to have a good rating and that's all.

Importantly, Google's new algorithm will degrade these types of sites while promoting more useful sites designed for humans with optimal interface for usability and relevant content above search engines.

See also:

What types of content will the helpful content system update affect?

Although these algorithms do not specifically target any specific niches, Google said that these types of content may be the most affected:

Educational materials online
Arts and Entertainment
Shopping
Technology related

This is because the content written in these areas is historically developed more for search mechanisms (ranking on Google pages) than for human use. Based on Google's analysis, these areas may be more affected by this useful content update from Google than other areas.

Algorithm all over the site

Unlike many Google algorithms that are applied page by page, this new helpful content system update will be made throughout the site. This means that if Google determines that your site is producing a relatively high amount of useless content, written primarily for search ranking, the entire site will be affected.

And it's good to repeat to fix in mind when planning content: This will not only affect individual pages or sections of your site, but it will also affect the entire site!

Google does not exactly tell you which percentage of pages on your site need to be useful or useless to trigger this sorter, but they said it's all over the site and it will affect the entire site, even if you have many useful pages.

Again, if you have useful pages, but a relatively high amount of your content is useless, even your useful content or sections of your website will be hit by this update.

According to Google “the removal of useless content can help in classifying your content”.

How to Create Human Content First

Google, as in previous updates, Panda, major updates and product analytics update, has created a list of questions that you can ask yourself about your content in order to create content rewarded by the current update.

Google shared these questions about the creation of human content to be asked when investing or changing on your website:

Do you have an existing or intended target audience for your company or website that would find content useful if it came directly to you?

Does your content clearly demonstrate first-hand experience and depth of knowledge (e.g. experience that comes from having actually used a product or service or visited a place)?

Does your site have a main goal or focus?

After reading your content, will anyone leave feeling that they have learned enough about a topic to help achieve your goal?

Will anyone reading its contents leave with the feeling of having had a satisfying experience?

You're keeping in mind the orientation for Main updates and product analyses ♪ I'm gonna be a little bit ♪

And when it comes to avoiding the first content of the search engine, Google asked these questions:

Is content primarily to attract people from research mechanisms rather than to be made for humans?

Are you producing a lot of content on different topics in the hope that some of them will perform well in the search results?

Are you using extensive automation to produce content on many topics?

Are you basically summarizing what others have to say without adding too much value?
Are you writing about things simply because they seem trendy and not because you would write about them otherwise for your existing audience?

Does your content leave readers with the feeling they need to search again to get better information from other sources?

Are you writing for a certain word count because you heard or read that Google has a favorite word count? (No, we don't).

You decided to enter some niche topic area without any real knowledge, but mainly because you thought you would get research traffic?

Your content promises to answer a question that actually has no answer, how do you suggest that there is a release date for a product, film or TV show when there is no confirmed one?

And the (good) content remains king

Although Google released the helpful content system update in August, it was not the full update. With updates so large, Google may be being a little cautious, as some sites may suffer huge falls in visibility and ratings. Previous updates have taken some people off the market.

Launching an update gradually will give website owners the chance to adapt and learn. Still, this update can cause many people headaches in the coming weeks.

What can we do to avoid possible punishment?

The answer is simple: if you are not creating good quality content, stop, think, re-plan and improve.

This may be a little too late for sites that are full of what is now seen as useless content (made only by SEO), but also don't be tempted to make a stupid deletion.

If you know that the content of the site, blog posts or anything else you put online is of low value, does not add to the users, now has come the ideal time to assemble an attack plan to revisit the content and improve it.

If Google finds relatively high amounts of useless content on a site, the rest of the content probably won't perform well in the Search. With this system application, useless content is like poison to the rest of the site. Google said removing it could increase the ranking of the rest of the site's content.

Avoid content produced by AI (Artificial Intelligence)

If you have a website that uses AI technology extensively to create content, you may need to review your strategy. The helpful content system update can repress websites that produce content purely written by AI without human intervention or intelligence to make content useful to readers.

Create content for your target audience

If you have a site that has a lot of content, you have a greater chance of seeing the impact of the new update. There are exceptions to this, especially if you are a news or publications site.

However, Google is trying to map each site to a specific niche and evaluate the authority of the site based on shared content. This means you need to find a niche market and the main target audience of your website.

To do so, develop your persona(s) more accurately, plan content that generates value for users and customers and do not just think about the brand or product. Search for competition that has a similar target audience, invest in social networks and email marketing to nourish your potential customers and consumers.

Check the time spent on the page

This is probably the most important reason why you should take care of this update. If the user is not satisfied with the content you offer, there is a greater chance that the helpful content system update will reach your website.

And the rejection rate starts to count... and a lot!

If Google sees a pattern where users who access your site abandon you in a few seconds and return to the search with the same query they entered to access your page, this gives the search engine all the bad indication that its content failed to satisfy the users' intention.

So make sure your content is engaging and hold the users for a few minutes. In addition, try to adopt methods that can reduce the rejection rate, which will again increase the time that the user spends on your site.

Alert for speculative content

When a site creates content about speculative or highly imaginative incidents or topics, it is likely that this content will not appear on Google. The official website of the helpful content system says to avoid creating content that “promises” to answer a question that actually has no answer, such as suggesting that there is a release date for a product, film or TV program when there is no confirmed one.

Conclusion

If you notice any changes in classification and visibility in Google search in the next two weeks, especially if they are major changes, you can probably assign it to this update. Read Google's advice, follow the main tips I've detailed so far, make the necessary changes and expect a recovery in the coming months.

Don't you know how to produce content relevant to your audience or are you out of time? Count on Nationalvox Digital. Click HERE to talk to me.

Dudu Gentil · Nacionalvox

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