Google helpful content update - What should you expect? By SEO Consultant Qamar Zaman

Dallas, TX , Aug. 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Google announced last week on their blog that they will be rolling out the "helpful content update" for English users globally this week. This update will be rolled out in a series of improvements to search so that people can easily find helpful content made by and for people. As of this writing, the search giant hasn't posted an update yet regarding this week's roll-out.

The Google Search Central blog revealed that the "helpful content update" will be rolled out to ensure original and helpful content is ranked well in search. Here's a statement lifted from their announcement.

"Google Search is always working to connect people to helpful information better. To this end, we're launching what we're calling the "helpful content update" that's part of a broader effort to ensure people see more original, helpful content written by people, for people, in search results."

According to Google, the "helpful content update" introduces a new site-wide ranking signal. Along with the rest of Google's ranking signals, it can instantly detect low-quality content, the type that doesn't add value or be helpful to searchers.

Google said that this update rewards people-first content.

"The helpful content update aims to reward better content where visitors feel they've had a satisfying experience, while content that doesn't meet a visitor's expectations won't perform as well," Google wrote on their blog.

When it comes to Google algorithm changes, website owners that run businesses online are always on the lookout if their content won't be negatively impacted after the roll-out.

Dallas SEO Consultant, Qamar Zaman, advised them to stick to the usual advice and guidelines from Google to avoid getting their web pages de-ranked or de-indexed.

I will be using Semrush Sensor – Google's rank and algorithm tracking tool

As of August 24th the Semrush Sensor shows: 

"This helpful content update is nothing new. For over a decade, Google has been continuously advising content creators to produce content, not for search engines but people," Zaman shared.

Google now calls these content creators as people-first content creators. This means that they create content that focuses on giving solutions or answers to what people are searching for.

For website owners who want to know if their content can survive this latest roll-out, Google provided six questions to assess if their website is on the right track.

• Do you have an existing or intended audience for your business or site that would find the valuable content if they came directly to you?
• Does your content demonstrate first-hand expertise and a depth of knowledge (for example, expertise from having used a product or service or visiting a place)?
• Does your site have a primary purpose or focus?
• After reading your content, will someone leave feeling they've learned enough about a topic to help achieve their goal?
• Will someone reading your content leave feeling like they've had a satisfying experience?
• Are you keeping our guidance for core updates and product reviews in mind?

Google said that if the website owner's answers to all these questions are yeses, they have nothing to worry about while the helpful content update is rolling out.

Google said the impact might last for months for those websites that will be negatively affected.

"Sites identified by this update may find the signal applied to them for months," revealed Google.

Fortunately, Google keeps on getting tabs by monitoring impacted sites. Those whose content is affected will eventually recover.

"Our classifier for this update runs continuously, allowing it to monitor newly-launched and existing sites. As it determines that the unhelpful content has not returned in the long-term, the classification will no longer apply," Google explained.

While everyone is waiting for Google to announce that the update has started rolling out officially, Qamar Zaman, along with Randy Rohde, the CEO of 38 Digital Market, is also planning to review the aftermath of Google's helpful content update in the Subject Matter Expert Podcast this coming September.

Zaman encourages website owners to listen to the upcoming Subject Matter Expert podcast episode as he and Rohde will extensively discuss the impact of the helpful content update. They will also discuss what content creators should do to keep up with this latest change in Google's search algorithm.

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