Google's 'Helpful Content' Update: All You Need To Know

Google has released another algorithm update, and this one will prioritise helpful website content written by people, for people.

The aim is to reward sites that write for their audience and penalise sites that take a “search engine first” approach, churning out content for crawling bots and rankings rather than readers.

What is Google’s helpful content update?

Google has updated its algorithm to target “low quality” websites that seem to be designed mainly to rank and pull in search traffic. These sites publish content to push pages up Google and harvest clicks, without giving the visitor anything useful.

The reason is simple. Google wants to help people find high-quality content and get to the answer they need quickly.

Too often, people click a top result and land on a page written for search engines, not for them. It is stuffed with keywords, stretched to hit a word count, and hard to read or navigate. That is the content Google is going after.

Google’s new algorithm seeks to promote websites that are helpful and user-friendly for humans over those built to game the rankings.

Google Helpful content update is a site-wide ranking signal

Most of Google’s ranking signals work page by page. This helpful content update will operate site wide.

If Google decides your site has too much content written for rankings rather than readers, your whole site can be penalised, not just the offending pages. Every page could drop.

And Google has not said where the line is. One low-quality post? Two? Five? Ten? No one knows.

So it is more important now than ever to ensure all content on your site is written with the user in mind: homepages, service pages, blogs - the entire site. If a page exists only to rank, fix it or remove it.

Will the new algorithm impact some niches more than others?

In short, no. Google has said that algorithms don’t specifically target particular niches. That said, sites where accuracy matters most will feel it hardest. Education, news and online shopping are the obvious ones.

Google’s recommendations for producing human-friendly content

Every piece you write should answer one question: what does the reader get from this? Show what you know, and make sure they leave with their problem solved.

We have been pushing this user-centred approach at LoudCrowd for a while. Now Google is enforcing it, your content has to have value in the eyes of your target audience or it will cost you rankings.

Here are 5 quick tips for writing content that puts people before search engines:

1. Tailor content to your target audience

Create the right kind of content for the customer you actually serve. Sell children’s products? Write child-friendly posts and pages. Sell home decor? Cover decorating tips and inspiration. Build content around your customers’ wants, needs, and pain points, not whatever is trending this week.

2. Display your first-hand expertise and knowledge

Show your knowledge of the topic you are writing about. Bring in your own examples, stories from real jobs and ideas you have tested. If you demonstrate a high level of understanding regarding a topic, Google has every reason to send readers your way.

3. Relate content to the primary purpose of your site

Everything you publish should link back to your website’s primary purpose or focus. That tells Google your posts serve your customers and your services, and are not just an attempt to jump on a trend.

4. Make your content as easy as possible to understand and digest

Too many sites pad their pages with filler to hit a word count they think Google likes, often with AI and automation doing the padding. Google has stated that they never have a preferred word count and that long-form content won’t always guarantee better ranking web pages.

Write what the reader needs, structure it with clear headings, and stop when you are done.

5. Ensure your readers have a satisfying experience

Get the first four right and visitors find what they need on your page without bouncing back to Google to try the next result. That is the experience Google is measuring.

Most of this sounds obvious. Plenty of sites still do the opposite: keyword stuffing, padding to a word count, leaning on automation and AI, all to push a page up Google.

A high ranking is worth nothing if the page behind it is useless. The reader gets nothing, and you get a click and a bounce. That is why Google is pushing a people-first approach and penalising content written only to rank.

How is the helpful content update impacting SEO best practice?

At LoudCrowd, we have always advised clients to create high-value, original content for readers, not bots. That advice just became a ranking requirement.

Expertise-Authoritativeness-Trustworthiness (EAT) is the shorthand SEOs use for Google’s quality content guidelines. It matters most on sites where the information has to be current and accurate: medical advice, tips on finance, news on current events.

This update looks set to reward sites that score well on EAT. So how do you demonstrate it?

Improve your backlink profile

The most reliable signal of authority Google has is your backlink profile. A backlink is another website linking to a page of yours, which means they are talking about you and your work. Each one tells Google your content is worth referencing. Why else would another site mention you?

Be careful how you build it, though. Low-quality or “spammy” backlinks from poor sites will hurt you later.

Regularly update new and existing content

Sites that give professional advice have to keep it current. A financial advisor needs to revise posts as new economic factors come into play. Leave old advice up and people get misinformed - a big problem in the eyes of Google.

Ensure content is factual and accurate

Check your facts and cite reliable sources, especially where accuracy matters. A cited claim is more trustworthy than a bare one, to readers and to Google.

Flex your expertise

Alongside writing about what you know, state your credentials, qualifications and awards on the page. It gives readers and Google a reason to trust you.

Give visitors the opportunity to get in touch

Make it easy for visitors to contact you: a phone number, an email address, a form. A site that can be reached is a site that can be trusted.

Contact us for help with your content marketing strategy

LoudCrowd is Yorkshire’s fastest-growing digital marketing agency, winning many agency awards in the UK. We build and run content marketing strategies that hold up to updates like this one.

Get in touch and we will book a quick call, look at what you have, and map out your next steps. You get a named consultant and prices published up front.