Google's Helpful Content Update (Aug'22)¶

Google's helpful content update is currently being rolled out. The full rollout can take up to two weeks.

Search engines will be updated on a regular basis in order to improve the user experience. They fluctuate in response to the needs of content consumers, and it is our responsibility as content creators to provide content that both search engines and audiences will appreciate.

There has been a lot of discussion in the SEO industry around AI content, and it almost appeared as though Google was anti-AI, which we can say is not always the case. Google's Helpful Content Update is anti-low-quality content rather than anti-AI.

Helpful content written by AI or a human with firsthand expertise is always preferable to unhelpful content, clickbait, or plain fluff.

Table Of Content¶

• What Do We All Know About The “Google’s Helpful Content” Update?
• Quick Overview - Google's Helpful Content Update
• What Exactly Is Google’s Helpful Content Update?
• What Impact Does Google's Helpful Content Update Have on Creators?
• 3 Methods for Content Creators to Prepare for the Google Update
  • Concentrate on "content transparency
  • Recognize your target audience
  • Determine what they require and provide it to them
  • Less attention on word count and more emphasis on providing valuable content

What Do We All Know About The “Google’s Helpful Content” Update? ¶

The update on helpful content aims to remove articles that have been published solely to boost their search engine rankings but do not educate or assist readers. This update, according to Google, will "address content that seems to have been generated mainly for ranking well in search engines." According to Google, the change will "help ensure that unoriginal, low-quality content doesn't rank prominently in Search." Therefore, if you write content with the intention of increasing search engine exposure and traffic, this could affect you.

Let us know some quick revisions on Google’s Helpful Content Update

Quick Overview - Google's Helpful Content Update ¶

• Name: Google Helpful Content Update

• Launch Date: It began to roll out on August 25th

• Rollout: The full rollout will take around two weeks.

• Targets: It prioritizes content intended to serve humans over content created to rank well in search.

• Search Only: At the moment, only Google Search is affected by this; none of the other Google interfaces are. However, Google might eventually add Discover and other services to this.

• Penalty: Although Google made no mention of a penalty, the update does feel like one to the sites affected by it.

• Sitewide: The entire site will be impacted by this update because it is a site-wide algorithm.

• Not a core update: Many people will claim that this is a core update, but it isn't.

• Preference With The English Language: Currently, only information in English is being examined globally, but this will probably soon include content in other languages as well.

• Impact: Google told me the modification will be "significant," but would not specify what proportion of questions or searches were affected. Google added that this will be more noticeable for online entertainment, retail, and tech-related content.

• Recover: If this happened to you, you should review your content to see if you can improve it using Google's suggestions below.

• Refreshes: There is a delay period, and a validation period, and it may take many months for the scores to stabilize after an update from Google.

What Exactly Is Google’s Helpful Content Update? ¶

The Helpful Content Update is part of a larger Google experiment focused on increasing diversity in search results. Google sees it as discovering more original, beneficial content published by people for people. "Our testing has shown it will especially benefit results linked to online education, as well as arts and entertainment, shopping, and tech-related content," said Google's Danny Sullivan.

Google strives to reward content that provides readers with a satisfying experience while demoting information designed solely to impress search engines. For this, Google considers not only the quality of a certain piece of content on your site but also what you do on the rest of your site.

"This update adds a new site-wide signal to the mix of signals we use to rank web pages."

"Our technologies automatically detect content that appears to have minimal value, poor added value, or is otherwise not especially useful to those conducting searches," Google explains.

Furthermore, "Any content — not only unhelpful content — on sites assessed to have relatively high levels of unhelpful content overall is less likely to perform well in Search, provided there is other content on the web that is better to display." As a result, eliminating useless content may improve the ranks of your other content."

What Impact Does Google's Helpful Content Update Have on Creators? ¶

More than anything, this Google tweak appears to underline that the traditional "search engine first" strategy is not the best way to rank when readers' demands are considered. Google is a platform for online education, whether we like it or not, and there is no room for unhelpful content.

Google has confirmed that the release date will be August 22nd, 2022. Right now, SEO agencies are bustling, and content authors are rushing.

Don't. This is why.

3 Methods for Content Creators to Prepare for the Google Update ¶

Concentrate on "content transparency."¶

Clickbait should be avoided at all costs. If you offer your readers ten vegan cookie recipes, don't try to sneak in irrelevant information, crammed keywords, or anything else that will leave them unhappy, as Google stated.

Recognize your target audience.¶

What exactly does this mean? Most authors understand what this entails, but it all boils down to meeting your readers where they are in their path and providing as much value as possible. If you're attempting to market an SEO course you created, but your audience is only looking for an answer to the query "What is SEO?" they may not be ready to invest in a course.

Determine what they require and provide it to them.¶

"Do you have a current or intended audience for your business or website that would benefit from the information if they came directly to you?"

Less attention on word count and more emphasis on providing valuable content.¶

This is your moment to shine and demonstrate true knowledge. Yes, the length of the article is important, but guess what? It's fine if people love what they're reading or learn from the post. You want to create content that makes readers happy.

So, let’s wait and see what happens. If you see your website being affected by the Google algorithm change, follow the above steps.

Conclusion:¶

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