Google’s 'Helpful Content' Update: What You Should Know

Repeat after me: “Create content for people, not search engines.”  

This week, Google is expected to release a “Helpful Content” algorithm update that takes the above to heart. This sitewide algorithm update takes aim at “unhelpful content”—content designed primarily for search engines. Offending sites are expected to see a drop in rankings and organic traffic that could take months to recover from. 

Some in the search industry are expecting this update to rival Google Panda (2011). That update set much of the EAT (expertise, authority, and trust) standards that Google requires of content today.  

Here’s Google’s official advice on avoiding a search engine-first approach to content. If your answer to some or all these questions is yes, then consider your site at risk: 

• Is your content designed to attract people from search results, or is it written from a people-first perspective? 
• Do you produce a high volume of content on a lot of different topics, hoping it will generate organic traffic? 
• Do you use automation to create content on many topics? 
• Are you writing about topics just because they are trending, and would not write about them otherwise? 
• Do your content leave searchers feeling like they need to return to search to get a better answer from other sources? 
• Are you writing with a target word count or keyword density in mind? 
• Are you writing about topics where you cannot demonstrate that you are a subject matter expert? 
• Does your content promise to answer questions that have no answers? One example of this is suggesting the release date for a product, movie, or TV show when one is not confirmed. 

Investis Digital uses a people-first approach to content that reflects our agency’s values. Our goal is to ideate, create and optimize content that is helpful for searchers and best reflects our clients’ products and services. Because we focus on topics that are meaningful for our clients’ audiences and leverage their well-known and respected areas of expertise, we are confident that our clients will not be negatively affected by this update. 

Based on experience, algorithm updates seldom go as smoothly as one would expect. Google has a history of cranking up the dial on updates to “11”, then dialing them back once they have had a chance to evaluate the impact of a given update. It is because of this that we caution any sites who see a drop in rankings in the next few weeks from making dramatic changes to your site. Here are our recommendations: 

• If you answered yes to some or all the above questions and are concerned your content puts you at risk, you can noindex it, or better, remove it from the site and have it return 404 (not found) status. 
• Clearly show your brand’s expertise and depth of knowledge on every page. This is easier for well-known household brands. But make sure your content reflects your areas of expertise; if you have certifications, credentials, or awards, leverage them to convey trust. 
• Stay in your lane: Only cover those topics and subject areas where you are a known and trusted authority. 
• Ask yourself if the content on your site sufficiently answers your readers’ questions. If it does not, edit and update your content to make it more useful. 
• Most importantly, write using natural language and do not write to specific article length or keyword density targets. Focus instead on content that is just long enough to answer the reader’s primary questions. In other words, Be. Useful. 

We will provide more details on this algorithm update as they become available. If you question whether your site is at risk, please reach out to us. We are happy to evaluate it.