Last Updated on by Michael Brockbank
One of the most difficult parts about owning a blog is keeping up with Google algorithm updates. Literally, within minutes, you could lose or gain 90% or more of your traffic. And recently, Google announced its “helpful content update.” But how will this affect your blog?
It really depends on whether or not you write for people first.
Keep in mind that Google is constantly working to put the best information front and center for any given search topic. And given the nature of the Internet, there is a lot of content to sift through.
This means that the algorithm will analyze and scrutinize every single word in your post.
Is Your Content Helpful in the Eyes of Google?
It’s difficult to know exactly what a search engine deems to be helpful. Instead, you should ask if your content is helpful in the eyes of your human visitor.
Gone are the days of keyword filling and various other blackhat SEO techniques to gain traffic. Instead, it’s all about the user experience and if someone feels your content adequately provides high-quality material.
Now, it’s unknown exactly what Google is focusing on when it comes to helpful content. They’re not going to provide a blueprint for how to create exactly what they want.
That’s because people would try to game the system to reach a better page rank.
But, Google does give us a few things to consider regarding what the Helpful Update will analyze. And by addressing these, we can work to deliver the best answers for searches.
People-First vs Search Engine-First Content
First of all, always write content focused on humans. I’ve been doing this since the first days of the Internet, actually. In fact, after the updates of 2012, a lot of my articles performed incredibly well.
That’s because I create content for people, not bots.
Sure, I’ll keep certain SEO-related things in mind when I write any particular article. But I mostly focus on making sure I’ve completely answered a question or provided enough information for any particular visitor.
Sometimes I miss the mark; we all do. However, there’s nothing wrong with going back and fleshing out a piece to offer additional insights or information regarding the topic.
In any case, this is a people-first update, which greatly reduces some of the tricks creators use to gain favor by the search engine algorithm.
This Will Be a Site-Wide Ranking Factor
Over the years, I’ve seen several site-wide factors that can improve traffic across the board. A few years ago, I performed a case study to demonstrate how a routine publishing schedule impacts the impressions of all content on a website.
The Google Helpful Update is no different. It’s also going to be a site-wide ranking factor. This means that if you have too many “unhelpful” pieces of content, your entire website could see drastic changes in terms of position in search.
For those of us who have hundreds or thousands of articles, the update could make quite an impact on the success of the entire website.
However, you shouldn’t start panicking just yet.
Until you know for sure which articles are helpful or not, there’s no reason to start rewriting everything you’ve ever created. Some articles may be perfectly fine.
What Can You Do to Survive the “Helpful” Update from Google?
The whole premise of this most recent update is to ensure searchers are getting the most valuable information available on the Internet. So, if you’re just regurgitating information that’s already available, it’s not very helpful.
Because of how the update should work, you want to continue working on E-A-T; Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness. I suppose in a way, this latest update is just an extension of the one from 2018 and onward.
So, what can you do to make sure your content performs well after this update is completely rolled out?
Center On Your Niche
Niche websites perform the best when it comes to performance in Google. That’s because the content as a whole focuses on a specific topic and provides a great deal of authority and expertise.
Think of it this way, do you go to an ice cream shop looking for seafood?
Websites that are scattered in the content provided don’t perform all that well during a Google search. It all comes down to making sure your content is synonymous with the primary goal of your website.
As the saying goes, “Stay in your lane.”
Focus on Search Intent and Providing Answers
One of the most important things you can do is learn more about search intent. This is when you understand what someone is looking for using keywords as a baseline.
What is the intent of the person searching for that particular phrase? Are they looking for lists, reviews, tutorials, or other bits of info? Of course, that also depends on the information you plan on delivering.
So, if someone is looking for the “best security plugins for wordpress,” you’d offer a list of security plugins and break down why they are the “best.” Usually, this involves going into greater detail to help someone make a decision about the plugin.
Your article needs to have more than just the keyword laced throughout the piece. You need to provide answers and knowledge regarding the topic.
Use Personal Expertise and Insights
This is actually why I don’t write best-of articles as often as some other “experts.” I only write about products I’ve used, tried, or have in my possession. I can’t call something the “best” if I’ve never used it.
Google wants people to offer personal insights and expertise to provide helpful information. And the best way to do that is to write in the first person using your own point of view regarding the topic.
This means that a list of “best” products probably won’t perform nearly as well unless the writer has actually used those goods. Though, this is uncertain as we don’t really know what the algorithm deems as quality content.
Still, it’s always best to write from first-hand experience. Not only will it make Google happy, but you’re adding value for your target audience.
Revamp Older Articles if Need Be
I’m a huge supporter of rewriting older articles as opposed to simply deleting them. The biggest increase to traffic I’ve seen from a revamped article for a client is a growth of more than 8,000%. And we’re talking thousands of visitors per month.
The idea behind rewriting older articles is to freshen the content while providing further insight into the topic. Sometimes this means just diving a bit deeper into a specific point. At other times, it means rewriting the entire piece.
Think about it; you don’t want to provide outdated or irrelevant information to your visitors.
Unfortunately, this gets more difficult over time as you continue to create new content. Case in point, I have hundreds upon hundreds of articles to keep track of across several blogs. This includes mine and my client’s websites.
Needless to say, this aspect is very time-consuming.
Questions to Ask Yourself Before Publishing
Before you publish that article, ask yourself:
- Does the post thoroughly dive into the topic?
- Is the content easy to read?
- Will the visitor feel satisfied that you’ve addressed the topic after reading the article?
- Are you providing better information than what your competition delivers?
- Are you keeping a casual tone in line with what your target audience wants to consume?
You should answer “yes” to all of these questions. If the answer is “no” or if you’re on the fence, you should probably take another look at your post before publishing.
Remember, Google is looking for the most helpful content available for the specific search term. Answering these types of questions can help you ensure you’re providing the best experience for your visitors.
It’s Not About the Word Count
The total number of words in any given article doesn’t always mean you’ll rank high in Google search. In fact, I’ve seen articles with fewer than 400 words take the number one position for their search term.
The reason why articles with higher word counts perform so well is that they tend to dive deeper into the topic. If you’re just tossing in words to make sure you hit a certain number, the quality of the article drops significantly.
This is why I constantly push to not add filler or fluff. Let your knowledge and expertise of the topic carry the article.
As I’ve said before, there’s nothing wrong with going back and adding information as you continue to learn more. Just don’t try to cram as many words as you can simply because some “expert” says that’s what you should do.
Search Console from Google is Very Helpful
Perhaps one of the most vital tips I can give any blogger is to keep an eye on your Search Console data. It can offer plenty of insights ranging from whether your blog posts are indexed to what terms people use to find your content.
Search Console is your best friend when it comes to knowing more about the performance of your website.
The data in this tool can help you come up with writing topics, ideas for future updates, issues to fix, and a whole lot more. In many cases, I’d say that Search Console is more vital to success than Analytics.
What About Jumping on Trending Topics?
A lot of people will jump on trends in the hopes of gaining traction in Google. And while sometimes it can help drive short-term traffic, too many people will try to fit a trend in their respective niche.
Sometimes you’ll get lucky and a trend will fit perfectly within the confines of your content. However, trying to force a topic that doesn’t fit on your blog isn’t going to bode well for appeasing the algorithm.
In other words, writing about something unrelated to your niche isn’t helpful in the eyes of Google.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep an eye on trends, though. As I said, sometimes a trend will fit perfectly and help you gain a massive amount of exposure. That is as long as you continue to focus on quality content.
Is the Google “Helpful Update” an AI Crusher?
A lot of people are pushing Artificial Intelligence to write content. I’ll never use AI because it removes the human element, not to mention I classify it as “lazy writing.”
While I’ve only used AI a handful of times to see how it works, I can understand how the Helpful Update from Google can crush the AI market for writing blog posts.
If you’ve never used AI before, it scans articles on the Internet related to your chosen topic to put together a piece of “unique” content. The idea is to help crank out more articles in a short amount of time to keep your blog active.
Every time I’ve used AI in testing, the content provided was sub-par to my standards. If I have to spend time rewriting the article, then I might as well just write the piece on not use AI, to begin with.
Not to mention that if you’re specifically using AI, then you’re not learning how to write better content. And an expert who knows what they’re doing is worth their weight in gold.
Now, let’s take a closer look at what I mentioned before about being “unique.” Since AI scours the Internet to put together a piece of content, is it really one of a kind? It’s a culmination of many works just so it could pass Copyscape.
To be honest, I could do an entire blog post about why AI is a terrible idea.
In any case, it would be interesting to see how AI-generated material stacks against the new algorithm update. Depending on the platform, I’m assuming not very well.
Can You Still Use the Skyscraper Technique?
In the Skyscraper Technique, you’re analyzing top-performing content to see what you can do to make it better. It’s not about copying the success of others, but more of using the competition as a template.
The idea is to deliver the best and most unique information possible.
If your article is too closely related to the original, Google will not see it as being helpful. To the algorithm, you’re simply regurgitating something that is already available.
Why should you get the top search result?
When I use the Skyscraper Technique, I take a look at the headers. What information is the competing article providing? What is the article missing? Does it do a better job at providing details than what I could deliver?
This is where expertise comes into play. If you have more knowledge of the topic, or can otherwise dive deeper into certain details, the article will sparkle like a jewel.
The bottom line is that it takes more than just wording an article to succeed using the Skyscraper Technique. If you want Google to see it as “helpful content,” you need to deliver something no one else can.
And that usually falls on your own knowledge and research of the topic.
How Does Your Site Fare After the Helpful Update from Google?
Currently, it’s too early for me to tell how this new algorithm update will affect my sites. After all, I have several blogs spread across very distinctive niches.
Unfortunately for me, this update couldn’t come at a worse time. I was in the middle of a case study for updating older content. This new “Helpful” update from Google is going to greatly skew the numbers.
For those of us who have author blogs, it probably won’t make much of a difference. That is unless you’re trying to teach or share something beyond the titles you have published on Amazon.
What kind of an impact has this update made on your blog thus far?
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