Google’s new Helpful Content update enables the search giant to help marketers create meaningful customer experiences that start through search.
Google announcing updates to its search engine algorithm has been less of a headline for years. Updates to its popular searches are so frequent, that any news can feel like a blur that generates little interest.
But this latest change from Google is bold, introduced with an easy-to-use name and significant user-friendly signals that marketers and consumers alike can accept.
Google introduces Helpful Content Update in its search engine. It evaluates how well the content satisfies the user. This gives Google a tremendous opportunity to help marketers create meaningful customer experiences that start with search.
How Helpful Content Update Works
Helpful Content Update (HCU) is an algorithmic ranking signal. It checks how closely certain site pages follow Google’s core search guidelines, such as providing substantial descriptions, clear source attribution and original research and analysis in content. This is meant to devalue content that is too optimized to affect search engines.
At first blush, this signal doesn’t feel new. 2019 return date search guidelines; so many recommendations for HCU sound like long shared ones to discourage black hat SEO tactics, a familiar perspective to SEO and marketing experts. Black hat SEO is a tactic that over-optimizes page elements to influence search engine query results.
But a well-intended content tip to prevent deceptive tactics has jumped the shark, with content creators from various backgrounds playing various search engine optimization techniques straddling close to Black SEO tactics. They create searchable content, but most of the content is not Wikipedia-neutral style. This type of content alludes to a response that may not be a great answer for the reader, even if the keyword appears in the metadata and H1 tags without a field.
Additionally some publishers have become too fixated on keeping up with algorithmic changes, even though the announced change will be one of hundreds of algorithmic fixes. Panda, for example, is just one of about 500 search improvements according to Google.
Bringing Balance to SEO tactics
HCU Signals is part of a larger effort by Google to balance what people see in the content they find on its search engine. Google added a suggestion this year that marketers could include the pros and cons of products and services in their structured data. Adding this will appear in the rich snippet query results. Goggle offers the Rich Results Test to verify its recognition in its search engines.
Actually, the name Helpful Content Update is an interesting game to rebalance expectations. This is a label in layman’s language. In recent years, Google’s search engine algorithm changes have become known for their code words, such as Pigeon, Hummingbird and Panda. But while the shift to choosing phrases that speak to common users looks small on the surface, it represents the end of a series of algorithm changes that reflect the technical aspects of queries.
The idea behind Google’s most famous algorithm change is to address how HTML elements on website pages are organized relative to queries. Now search algorithms can distinguish intent between web page elements with sophistication. In addition, SEO techniques have evolved in identifying where keywords can be better placed and in relation to links as signals of interest.
Related Article: How to Use Keyword Density in a Modern SEO Strategy
Putting Search Power in Hands of Creators
The Helpful Content Update is the next step to signal, directing the focus on using content creators instead of HTML. This encourages content creators to choose their content in a more natural way for people to appreciate it rather than the potential to focus too much on page syntax. It also rebalances publishers’ expectations of focusing on key changes, rather than a series of small changes that may not impact the customer experience or page content.
The changes also acknowledge the different ecosystems Google faces compared to the early days of the search engine. Organic search is still the giant when it comes to building discoverability for sales, with Google retaining the lion’s share of the traffic and usage that search generates.
But other platforms have emerged as starting points for the customer journey search, as a result changing the customer experience. People search on Amazon the same way they do on Google or Bing, usually with products they already have in mind. Customers at home will ask Alexa for a nearby service just as they would do a search from a smartphone….and likely won’t be on a laptop at home.
This means Google must take these new attribution points into account while encouraging content providers to envision these touch points when planning content. Those considerations show up in reporting adjustments for tools like Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console. Content is now part of a standard marketing strategy, and the content is scalable and useful for attribution.
Related Article: What Marketers Can Expect From Google MUM
People Still Want Answers Through Search
Moreover, not all people who use search engines are just customers or potential customers. People turn to Google for various purposes. People rely on Google search results for a variety of content that they find factual and reasonable because they expect it to solve problems through advice, inspiration, or guidance.
As such, the Helpful Content Update shows how Google is realizing the remaining social costs of poorly created content. Misinformation and its role in major cultural issues and political events over the past few years have exposed how their products can be abused. Returning accurate information to the query is the start of solving the problem.
You can be sure it will also stream in some capacity to YouTube. YouTube is the second largest search engine behind Google and is the center of some online activity (see my post on CTV for an example). Although YouTube videos have different optimization considerations than website pages, the philosophy behind Helpful Page Updates will be adopted.
#1 Google Ranking Factor At WebTek, we say that the most important part of SEO and the most important Google ranking factor is the web page title and heading tags. The title represents the main real estate of any website – it’s your best chance to tell Google what your website or webpage is all about.
What are the most effective SEO practices to optimize online content?
SEO Best Practices
- Add Your Main Keywords At the Beginning of Your Content. …
- Write a Title, Description and Unique Content. …
- Optimize Your Title Tag for SEO. …
- Optimize Your Site Loading Speed. …
- Track Your Results With Google Search Console. …
- Optimize Images for SEO. …
- Use Internal Links. …
- Publish Amazing Content.
Does Web design matter for SEO?
A good web design affects every aspect of your online presence. Your website is the first thing people see when they want to learn about your brand, and it is also your key to increasing your search engine presence. That’s right: web design has a tremendous impact on your search engine optimization (SEO).
Do website builders affect SEO? They don’t offer any SEO advantages. Ultimately, this WYSIWYG (“What You See Is What You Get”) website builder will severely limit the growth of your business. HTML markup created by any page builder will always be exponentially more bloated than HTML created by expert web developers.
Does changing website design affect SEO?
This can definitely affect SEO. And that can be a good thing, it can be a bad thing. So you don’t have to avoid making these changes, but when you do make these changes, be sure to double-check that you did everything very well.â
Will redesigning my website affect SEO?
How much does a website redesign affect SEO? Website redesign can have a big impact on SEO. When done well, improved UX can improve rankings, but if redirects are not mapped carefully, it can lower your authority and result in your website losing a lot of organic traffic.
Why updating content is important for SEO?
If you frequently update your content with reliable and valuable information, then you stand a better chance of ranking your Google site higher with each update. So add articles, images or make some changes to your site to get noticed.
Does updating content improve SEO? If you want to improve your SEO, look no further than updating your old content. It’s the perfect way to increase the traffic your website gets from search engines, and it’s guaranteed to make a huge improvement in how well your content ranks. To get started, create exciting new content to add on top of your old articles.
Why is updating website content important?
Better Content Gives You More Traffic Keeping content up to date on your site helps build trust between you and your customers. Most likely, customers rely on your site for useful information in whatever market you are in. Updated information also helps establish domain authority.
When should I update my website content?
You should update your website regularly to keep up with the times. Having a site that is up to date and optimized creates a great user experience, and is likely to encourage people to spend more time on your pages. This contributes to your search engine optimization, or SEO, because Google values a good user experience.
Why is updating content important for SEO?
The SEO benefit of updating your content will be to get more traffic from search engines when you have updated the content and make it more qualitatively attractive. You will also rank up on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Sure, this has clear benefits and that’s more traffic.
Does SEO need to be updated?
So, how often should you update old posts for SEO? Optimally, once every three months is a good frequency, but if your time limit is too tight, reviewing your keyword usage every 6 months is also a viable option.
Does SEO need to be maintained?
An SEO strategy is never a one-and-done campaign. They are constant and need to be maintained frequently if you want your site to be found organically in search engines, and if you want to outperform your competitors.
How often should SEO be updated?
Frequency of Repeat Visits According to Jonny Ross Consultancy and other industry experts, it is recommended that you review your keyword strategy every three months and at least 3 – 6 months prior to any campaign or promotion.
Does updating website Affect SEO?
This can definitely affect SEO. And that can be a good thing, it can be a bad thing. So you don’t have to avoid making these changes, but when you do make these changes, be sure to double-check that you did everything very well.†That’s good advice.
Does redesigning a website affect SEO?
How much does a website redesign affect SEO? Website redesign can have a big impact on SEO. When done well, improved UX can improve rankings, but if redirects are not mapped carefully, it can lower your authority and result in your website losing a lot of organic traffic.
Does updating your website help SEO?
Regularly updated content can greatly improve a website’s SEO, driving traffic while increasing a website’s ranking and authority on search engines like Google. Let’s talk about what is meant by “fresh” in terms of SEO content.
How does content improve SEO?
Quality Content Helps You Generate Backlinks – One of the best SEO strategies is to get high quality backlinks from high authority websites. For Google, high quality backlinks show credibility and trust. The more quality backlinks you have, the higher your chances of ranking on Google.
Does SEO Require content? SEO content is an important part of any SEO strategy. Without content, it is impossible for your site to rank in search engines. Therefore, it is important to write and compose quality content!
Does more content increase SEO?
Adding more content to your website can improve your SEO, but only if you take it seriously. Don’t make the mistake of adding a lot of low-quality content unless you want negative results.
Why does SEO need so much content?
In the end, SEO needs so much content because it wants to thrive. Google doesn’t want to see websites that are stagnant and unchanging. It wants to know that you are building strong, useful, and relevant content so that it can provide the best results for each search.
Does More content Mean Better SEO?
SEO Benefits of Long Form Content. Longer Content Leads to Higher Search Ranks. Simply put, research shows that longer content dominates page one search rankings. SerpIQ ran a study that mapped the top 10 results in search queries by content length.