The content update for humans is expected to roll out for the first time this week. Find out what you need to know from Google’s latest search improvement news.
Dallas, Texas, Aug. 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Google announced on its blog last week that it will roll out a “helpful content update” for English users around the world this week. This update will feature a number of search improvements so that people can easily find useful content made by and for people. As of this writing, the search giant has yet to release an update regarding this week’s rollout.
The Google Search Central blog revealed that a “helpful content update” will be rolled out to ensure that original and helpful content ranks well in search. Here is a statement pulled from their post.
“Google search is always working to better connect people with useful information. To that end, we’re rolling out what we’re calling the ‘Useful Content Update’, which is part of a broader effort to ensure people see more original, useful content written by people, for people, in search results.”
According to Google, a “useful content update” introduces a new ranking signal to the entire website. Along with the rest of Google’s ranking signals, it can immediately detect low-quality content, the kind that doesn’t add value or isn’t helpful to users.
Google said this update rewards content that is primarily aimed at people.
“A helpful content update aims to reward better content where visitors feel they had a satisfying experience, while content that doesn’t meet visitor expectations won’t be as good,” Google wrote on its blog.
When it comes to Google algorithm changes, website owners who run businesses online are always on the lookout to see if their content will be negatively affected after the rollout.
Dallas SEO consultant Qamar Zaman advised them to follow the usual tips and guidelines from Google to avoid deranking or deindexing their websites.
I will be using Semrush Sensor – Google’s rank and algorithm tracking tool
As of August 24, the Semrush sensor shows:
SERP Volatility As of August 24, 2022
“This helpful content update is nothing new. For more than a decade, Google has continuously advised content creators to produce content, not for search engines, but for people,” said Zaman.
Google now calls these content creators First Place Content Creators. This means they create content that focuses on providing solutions or answers to what people are looking for.
For website owners who want to know if their content can survive this latest rollout, Google has offered six questions to gauge whether their website is on track.
Do you have an existing or targeted audience for your business or website that would find valuable content if it came directly to you?
Does your content demonstrate first-hand expertise and depth of knowledge (for example, expertise from using a product or service or visiting a location)?
Does your site have a primary purpose or focus?
After reading your content, will someone walk away feeling like they’ve learned enough about a topic to help them achieve their goal?
Will someone who reads your content leave feeling like they had a satisfying experience?
Have you kept in mind our guidelines for basic product updates and reviews?
Google said that if the website owner answers yes to all of these questions, they have nothing to worry about while the useful content update is rolling out.
Google said the impact could last for months for those websites that will be adversely affected.
“Websites identified by this update may find the signal applied to them for months,” Google revealed.
Fortunately, Google continues to receive cards by monitoring affected pages. Those whose content was affected will eventually recover.
“Our classifier for this update runs continuously, allowing it to track newly launched and existing pages. As useless content is determined not to have returned in the long term, the classification will no longer apply,” Google explained.
While everyone waits for Google to announce that the update has officially started, Qamar Zaman, along with Randy Rohde, CEO of 38 Digital Market, also plans to review the ramifications of Google’s helpful content update on the Subject Matter Expert Podcast next September.
Zaman encourages website owners to listen to an upcoming episode of the Subject Matter Expert podcast as he and Rohde will discuss at length the impact of useful content updates. He’ll also discuss what content creators should do to keep up with this latest change in Google’s search algorithm.
