Google’s Helpful Content Update: People-first Content or Content Created for Search Engine Traffic?

Google- the search engine giant, launched its new ‘helpful content update’ that will however start rolling out next week. But before that, let’s understand the essence of the update and how content creators and others can adapt to this new Google search engine algorithm. The update aims to satisfy visitors that they have landed and/or gained knowledge of content that is original, and helpful.?

Here’s a glimpse of the update-

“Google Search is always working to better connect people to helpful information. To this end, we're launching what we're calling the “helpful content update” that's part of a broader effort to ensure people see more original, helpful content written by people, for people, in search results.”?

Let’s make it simple by dividing what Google prefers and what it does not prefer.

Google prefers-

• A site that has a primary focus.
• Satisfying content, i.e., people will leave with a feeling that they have learned something.
• Content that demonstrates first-hand expertise and has a depth of knowledge.

But this does not mean you don’t have to follow SEO guidelines anymore. Google says,

“Our advice about having a people-first approach does not invalidate following SEO best practices, such as those covered in Google's own SEO guide. SEO is a helpful activity when it's applied to people-first content.”?

Now here's what Google does not prefer-

• Content that is created primarily to attract people from search engines than for educating people.
• Creating content on different topics with the hope of getting any of them clicked.
• Producing content using extensive automation.
• Content written simply on trending topics and not for the audience.
• Site or content that left people unsatisfied, looking for more detailed, elaborative and informative content.?
• Content written on a particular word count thinking that Google prefers a particular word count. Because Google says “No, we don't.”
• Entering some niche topic without expertise thinking of getting traffic.
• Content that attracts people by providing answers to questions, but has no answer for a said topic in actuality.?

Few things to keep in mind:

• Google automatically identifies content that has little, low-added value and is not helpful.
• Sites that do not have helpful content do not perform well in search engines. So, it's high time that you remove unhelpful content from your site.
• Sites that have people-first content may still rank on search engines if it aligns with signals that Google uses to evaluate the content such as content that is helpful and answers a query.

The update works by focusing on the English language initially and moving on to other languages gradually. You probably have to re-evaluate your content creation strategy by focusing both on what Google prefers and what it does not.?

Take a look at the Google's helpful content update page and act promptly and wisely to create ‘people-first content’ and rank top in search engines.

References:

https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2022/08/helpful-content-update?hl=en