Before the new Google helpful content update, many content creators were satisfied with publishing material with a surplus of keywords that were not relevant to each other. Through this new update, content creators must now be careful about the materials they release to avoid weakening their internet influence in the Google search engine result pages (SERPs).
This article will look at the new Google Helpful Content update and its impact on how we create blogs and craft our search engine optimization strategies. After which, we will look at 10 helpful tips to use Google’s helpful content update to speed through Google’s SERPs quicker than our competitors.
What Is the Google Helpful Content Update?
The new Google Helpful Content Update ranks the websites in the search engine results pages based on how satisfying the user experience was during the visit. At the same time, this update reduces the visibility of content that only uses cheap keyword tricks.
This new algorithm also weighs the website’s content quality to determine its overall performance. This means accumulated content will eventually position your website at the top search pages of your chosen niche. However, one unhelpful piece of content could impact your website’s visibility. It would also be harder to bounce back from this rating, which would take months to regain search engine visibility. In other words, you will need to prove to the search engine that your website already contains helpful content.
When was the Google Helpful Content Update in Effect?
The Google Helpful Content Update took into effect last August 25, 2022. This update eventually took two weeks to achieve total effectiveness, even for content created in other foreign languages. This update followed its predecessor, Google Panda Update, by replacing it with a new algorithm focused on high-quality and low-quality content.
What Is the Impact of the Google Helpful Content Update?
Because of the new Google update, the current SEO tactics discussed among many social media marketers are no longer applicable. Simply placing keywords in these social media posts is no longer enough to place them at the top of Google search engines.
Social media marketers must focus on creating high-quality articles that are useful for users. Marketers must make their content as relevant as possible for their readers instead of focusing too much on the keywords they use.
Unfortunately, some writers are so used to the old ways of content writing and need help adapting to this update.
“How do we adjust our writing styles to adapt to the new helpful content update?”
Here are a few helpful tips for crafting your content to place your website at the top of the Google search engine results pages.
10 Tips You Should Know When Writing Helpful Content
#1 Write for Your Readers
In the new update, content creators need to think about the content they write. All the content on the website should provide value and relevance to potential visitors if they want to place it at the top of the Google search engine results page.
First, focus on your website’s specific niche or what your business is about. Make sure to look at irrelevant information that will confuse your readers. Making your intentions completely clear will also help Google’s algorithm bring your website to those viewers who would need it most. However, failing to improve your website’s understandability will force your SERP position to sink lower.
Secondly, research what Google visitors are asking for under your niche. Adjust your content to answer these pressing questions as best as you can or as better as your competitors.
#2 You Do Not Need to Write About All the Trending Topics
You do not need to write about everything people search for in Google search engines. You risk writing about the things you do not entirely understand and are eventually brought to a lower position because of your website’s irrelevance. You might copy your competitor’s content, spin it heavily, and place almost the same content on your website.
Although this strategy gets you in the same ballpark as your competitors, your readers will find no reason to look at your website if they can get the actual knowledge from your competitors.
All you need to do is look at the pressing questions of the subjects under your niche. Writing based on your first-hand knowledge would be helpful if you want your blog to provide quality information.
By writing about the topics you already know, your content becomes unique from your competitors. For all we know, it is your expertise that your potential viewers are looking for.
#3 Do Not Rely Heavily on Artificial Intelligence
To save time, many content creators use article spinners from various websites that can craft the entire article for them. However, the new Google update can find irrelevant and low-quality output better than ever. In other words, this form of laziness is no longer accepted in the new Google platform.
We are not entirely saying to divorce technology from your entire writing process. You may still use artificial intelligence to check your grammar or to determine a weak sentence structure from a strong one. But you are a creative writer!
You do not need artificial intelligence to create the content for you if you want your content to feel natural and unique. If you want your article to be a real conversation starter, readers need content they can relate to.
#4 Make Sure that Your Content Provides Value
Think of content writing like a game of chess. Treat your words as a set of scarce resources that creates a border between what readers find exciting and the ones they will skip through. Like chess, it is crucial for you to only write about the things that matter and remove any irrelevant concepts.
Additionally, stick to the facts as much as possible without jeopardizing your artistic creativity. Make sure to design your article to make readers more intelligent, emotional, or interested in your topic.
#5 Do Not Mislead Your Readers
With the new Google update, make sure to avoid clickbait as much as possible. As much as you want people to click on your article, misleading your readers in such a way will only cause more confusion. As much as possible, stick to the story’s facts, and avoid inaccurate claims, useless opinions, and inaccuracies in your narrative.
#6 Revise Ruthlessly
Now that you have your article draft spend more time revising it before publishing it to your readers. Pay attention to the words that beat around the bush rather than bringing the reader to the actual point. Remove any sentence diluting a solid point and replace it with another.
Avoid creating long sentences whose purpose is only to make the paragraph longer. Believe it or not, even immature readers will sniff this technique from a mile away. You may use these guidelines if you still have trouble making your sentences more relevant:
| Too much | Replace with |
|---|---|
A good guideline in determining whether your revision was successful is seeing if the word count of your draft has significantly decreased from before. Despite how beautiful a sentence is, make sure to “kill your darlings” to derive the complete essence of the article.
#7 Read Your Manuscript Out Loud
Something might sound good while writing but sounds different for your readers. An excellent way to revise your manuscript is by reading your article out loud.
Unlike traditional media like books and newspapers, it would be more beneficial for your blog and professional articles to sound like a conversation between two people. This writing method makes it easier for people to interact with the author, to read through your article in one swift breeze, and to leave your website a happy reader.
#8 Delete Useless Content Currently on Your Website
Now that the Google update is already in effect, the Google algorithm is probably going through your website as we speak. In other words, Google is going through your website’s articles as we speak.
After reading this article, go immediately to your website and look at the articles that do not meet Google’s new standards. As much as possible, you may revise these articles heavily until they are finally optimized. However, those articles beyond salvation will require you to remove these from your website before you sink lower in the Google results page.
#9 Learn from Other Websites and Content Creators
If you still need help creating helpful and relevant content, look through those blog posts already at the top of the SERPs. Take the time to browse their articles and find the things they did exceptionally well and the others that might need improvement.
The primary purpose here is not necessarily to copy the entire article word-for-word. However, please pay close attention to how the writer could attract the reader’s attention, especially in how they provided high-quality content to your target market.
After which, reflect on the numerous ways you can gain a competitive advantage over these successful blogs. Although it might take some time to reach the status of these established websites, it will be helpful if you structure your articles in the same way.
#10 Pay Close Attention to the Google’s New Guidelines About the New Update
There are other aspects of the new Google helpful content update that we have yet to discuss extensively in this article. Thus, it is also essential for you to read these new guidelines and ensure that your articles are optimized in the same way.
Can I Recover My Position in Google’s SERP?
If the Google algorithm determines your website as irrelevant in the new guidelines for helpful content, it might take some time to convince the search engine otherwise. As a result, recovering your position in the SERPs might take some time.
However, you may take small steps to ensure that you eventually regain this position. For example, following these steps, especially in optimizing your website, will improve your chances of returning to the top results pages. In more drastic measures, some website owners would instead start over and create a blog that adheres to the new guidelines.
Overall, time will tell when your website will return to its former glory. In the meantime, invest heavily in other ways to gain publicity for your websites, such as internal partnerships, ghostwriting, and collaborations with more giant corporations.
Conclusion
Unsurprisingly, this new Google helpful content update might have angered many website owners and creators. These creators needed to adjust what they had learned and create content specifically designed for the reader and the reader.
Adapting to these standards would have already been simple if the website’s purpose was truly meant for the reader. If these content creators were already creating relevant posts, focused heavily on their niche, and had avoided any misleading statements, they would have already found themselves at the top of Google’s search engine result pages.
Need help with your SEO content strategy?
Nelson O’Neill is one of the few SEO agencies that has already fully adapted to Google’s new update. Our team of professional content writers and digital marketing experts can create brilliant and impactful content that will help position your business at the top of search results pages.
Contact us now and get a free digital marketing strategy for your business online.
