Google’s useful content update can be a game changer

This can be a big deal for many website owners…

Google announced the launch of an upcoming search ranking score called “helpful content updates.This new signal should start rolling around the 25th of August 2022, this is a site-wide signal.

Google has published this detailed instructions about the upcoming “useful content update”. Here, I’ve compiled Google’s newsletter, along with some of my tips to prepare for this upcoming algorithm update.

What helps improve Google content?

This update is about rewarding content that focuses on people first. Like the official page

Helpful content optimization aims to provide better reward content where visitors feel they have had a satisfying experience, while content that does not meet visitor expectations will not perform well.

Google has long encouraged publishers to create high-quality content with SEO in mind. However, recently we have seen the rise of AI writing tools such as Jasper that can create automated content that is real and SEO friendly, and at the same time provides recommendations bad, as it creates machines.

At the same time, some publishers work with low-quality authors and create only SEO-friendly content without real value. In my opinion, this new signal is aimed at all such content, which is written only for search engines and does not add real value to users like you or me.

How do you know you’re completing Google Assistant Content Updates?

Google has published many questions, and if you answered “yes” to them, then you are on the right track. Here are the questions:

1. 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?
2. Does your content reflect first-hand expertise and depth of knowledge (for example, technical expertise from using a product or service, or traveling to a place)?
3. Does your site have a purpose or focus?
4. After reading your content, will someone leave feeling that they have learned enough about a topic to help achieve their goals?
5. Will the reader of your content leave feeling like they’ve had a satisfying experience?
6. You keep in mind our guide for main update and for product reviews?

Let’s code some of the queries listed above.

• Question number 2: It seems to pay content creators based on experience. Using real product photos, travel photos, and personal stories should give Google a better signal.
• Question number 3: IMO this is for niche websites, while multi-niche websites do not have a main focus. There may be differences when searching for groups with multi-niche websites, such as “students,” “ex-pats” and others.
• Question number 6: As publishers realize that text reviews are a gold mine for affiliate conversions, they are scrapping a lot of content. This question is based on Google’s recently published guidelines on product reviews. If you haven’t gone through it yet, here it is good time to travel him.

Warning signs for finder only:

Google is not against on page SEO or creating SEO friendly content. However, the problem is that publishers focus only on the search engine and do not make their end users satisfied.

In this section, Google has shared a list of warnings if you said yes to the following questions:

• Is basic content that attracts people from search engines, but is it made for people?
• Are you creating a lot of content on different topics hoping that some of it might perform well in search results? (My point: content cannibalization is something you might want to focus on)
• Do you use a lot of automation to create content on many topics?
• Do you often collect what others have to say without adding much value?
• Do you write about things just because it seems popular and not because you would write about them but not for your current audience?
• Does your content leave readers wanting to search again for better information from other sources?
• Are you typing in a single keyword because you’ve heard or read that Google has a preferred keyword count? (No, we don’t).
• Have you decided to enter some niche topic area with no real expertise, but mainly because you think you will get search traffic?
• Does your content promise to answer questions without answers, such as suggesting that there is a release date for a product, movie, or TV show when one is not confirmed?

How to set up Google’s helpful content advertising system:

Google has published about this signal on 18th August 2022 and suggested that the release will happen in one week, which is 25th August 2022. You can check Google search ranking improvement page to get notified when this update and others will be released in the future.

This move should take about two weeks, and I suggest support for the end of August and the beginning of September.

However, there are a few things you can do right now to ensure that your website is not affected by this update.

• Get rid of your outdated and unhelpful content. If you are cleaning up some outdated content, the video below will help you clean up the SEO residue.

• Update existing content by comparing it to other pages on the web. Make sure your page is better than other pages for the target query. This should not be an SEO comparison but an overall ranking comparison.
• Optimize your website pages to provide a clear value proposition. Use social proof whenever possible to help your readers understand why they should believe you.
• Improve internal linking, which is a sign of good SEO. It helps search engines understand the position of your entire website.

If you create content based on experience, keep users in mind, and talk about SEO best practices, you have little to worry about. However, Google search engine optimization is not 100% perfect, and a good website can be a victim of it.

This update is completely automatic and not manual. If your website is affected due to Google’s helpful content updates, you need to conduct a thorough analysis of your content and take appropriate action. It may take 2-3 months to see your website recover.

IMO if your website content is relevant and focused on your readers, you should be fine. If you find yourself on the other side of the fence, instead of worrying, try to see why Google has penalized your website and rework to improve the quality of the content and give a better signal.

I would love to hear your comments on this upcoming update. But, if you are reading this post about 25th August 2022, I would like to hear; if your website has gained traffic or lost.