I think we have all experienced the frustration of Googling a question or a needed solution and clicking through several links before finding what we need. Google’s Helpful Content update aims to solve this problem once and for all by weeding out content that ranks high with little value. The ultimate goal is to better match users with high-quality content that delivers a satisfying experience.
Google’s new update also offers small businesses and start-ups exciting opportunities to generate digital marketing traffic to their business website. From construction companies to treatment centers, the new Google’s Helpful Content could provide rich opportunities with SEO for smaller companies looking to compete with their bigger rivals.
Let’s go over this update in greater detail and how it can help businesses reach new and highly qualified consumers who are actively researching products in your industry.
What is Google’s Helpful Content?
The Helpful Content update is the fifth Google algorithm update of 2022 and was officially announced on August 18th, 2022, before modifications began to be rolled out on August 25th, 2022. The update targets low-quality content marketing for search engines, not people.
The content Google is targeting is that which lacks expertise, authoritativeness, or trustworthiness (EAT). While a search engine-first article may rank high in search engine results pages (SERPs) and gets a lot of traffic, it may not answer the users’ question, leaving them wanting more and forcing them to keep searching, wasting their valuable time.
To implement the new update, Google began running a site-wide ranking signal, classifying websites with unhelpful content. If Google’s classifier determines your website has a high amount of unhelpful content, your website won’t rank well in search engines. It doesn’t matter if your website has some helpful content. The classification affects all the content on your website. Google encourages creators to prioritize people over search engines with every piece of content. By setting this standard, the search engine hopes to offer more quality results that better meet user expectations.
How do you create helpful content?
While helpful content means prioritizing people over search engines, it does not mean abandoning your SEO best practices. You still need SEO to improve the chances of consumers finding your website. SEO is a broad marketing discipline crucial for web development, improving its ranking on search engines like Google.
Among the most common SEO tactics are on-page optimization, keyword research, and authoritative link building. A well-rounded strategy combined with people-first content will increase your website’s rankings, leading to greater opportunities for your growing business.
Start creating helpful content by satisfying search intent before using an SEO strategy to reach the right audience at the right time.
Wrapping Up
The new update aims to reward high-quality, helpful content over low-quality, unhelpful content. Now is the time to invest in your growth marketing efforts.
While we understand that it may be too soon to determine how impactful the update ultimately will be, the helpful content feature has the potential to help intelligently grow your business.
Your organization can create value and rank high in search engines by removing unhelpful content on your website. Then follow up with a plan to create helpful content in the future to increase user satisfaction and improve your visibility.
At Steady Reach SEO, we have years of experience in the digital marketing industry with the goal of becoming the leading Digital Marketing Agency in Texas.
We are dedicated partners in your success, hoping to build long-lasting relationships with all our clients by providing results-driven SEO strategies. We work with national and local clients to support their marketing efforts, having worked with multiple industries, including roofing, commercial landscaping, custom promotions, home services, and many others.
Our industry-leading digital marketing team will help you expand the reach of your business, grow your business, and compete with your bigger competitors.
To learn more, visit our website, or book a virtual call today.