Google's Helpful Content Update in Simple Terms

Jared Broussard • August 30, 2022

Current Status: On August 25, Google started to roll out the Helpful Content Update. As of August 30, no evidence of any severe search ranking movement exists. However, the update will take two weeks to roll out fully. 


What is the Helpful Content Update?

In Google's announcement, it states that "the helpful content update aims to better reward 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." 


The purpose of Google's Helpful Content update is to ensure people see more original, helpful content written by people, for people, in search results. 


How Do You Know if You are Creating Helpful Content?

I have a theory that I call the "neighbor test." This theory is not "Google Approved," but it helps clarify the difference between content that is written by a human and for a human, as opposed to content written for a search engine. If you print out the content on your website and hand it to your neighbor, would the content make sense to them? After reading your content, your neighbor should walk away with a better understanding of the subject matter. The goal is for your neighbor to have learned something beneficial by reading your content. 


If your neighbor reads your content and walks away feeling confused and unsatisfied, the content is likely written with the search engine in mind. This type of content is hard to understand, lacks cohesion, overuses various keyword phrases, and is packed with irrelevant geographical headlines. I understand if you're hesitant to share your last cup of sugar with your neighbor, but providing them with unhelpful, spammy content violates everything good about being "neighborly." The next thing you know, you'll be giving your neighbor lawn disease.


Who Will be Negatively Affected by the Helpful Content Update?

Any specific answers to this question currently are complete speculation. However, as with any Google update, the underlying goal is to make the user experience a good one. And the user experience is likely not good when they land on a site written exclusively for the search engine. 


A recent Marie Haynes Consulting blog states that the Google Helpful Content Update has the potential to be devastating for sites creating content primarily for search engine traffic.


The types of sites they mentioned being at risk are: 

  • AI-generated content
  • "Niche sites" unless they do a good job of demonstrating expertise and fully satisfying the searcher's needs
  • Sites that do little more than aggregate information from other sites
  • Affiliate heavy sites (although many of these were already strongly impacted by the July 2022 product reviews update.)


What Should I Do to Prepare for This Update?

Each time there is a Google update, my answer to this question is always the same. To prepare for this Google update, you should do NOTHING. If you are a client of BlinkJar, you understand that we've been creating content that is original, authoritative, and helpful. Like our clients, if you've been following Google's best practices for SEO, then there is absolutely nothing for you to do. If anything, your site will likely benefit from this Google update. 


I equate following Google's best practices for SEO and content creation to telling the truth in life. If you always tell the truth in any circumstance, you never have to worry about covering your tracks. Your story will always be the same. 


However, if you live your life always telling lies or half-truths, it will be hard to keep up with your stories. You will constantly be expending your energy on covering your tracks. At some point, your lies will catch up with you. In the SEO world, if you try to "trick the system" for rankings, it is only a matter of time before you are caught. On the other hand, if you follow Google's best practices of creating authoritative and helpful content for the reader; you'll never have to worry about any damage control methodology. 



What Are Some Important Things to Know About the Helpful Content Update?

  • Sitewide Algorithm: This is a sitewide algorithm, so this update will impact the entire site.
  • Impact: Most SEO-industry experts are saying the effects of the Google Helpful Content Update will be "meaningful."
  • Specific Industries: In its announcement, Google said sectors like online-educational materials, entertainment, shopping, and tech-related sites will be more impacted.
  • Updates & Refreshes: The model that applies this signal to sites runs continuously, "allowing it to monitor newly-launched sites and existing ones."
  • Action Type: The process is automated, so it's not a manual action. It is automated using a machine learning model, which continuously learns and changes.
  • Recovery: Sites can recover after being hit by removing "unhelpful content." Once the signal has been applied to your site, it may take a few months for your site to recover. 
  • Language: This is only looking at English-language content globally now but likely will expand to other languages.



What Should I do If My Site is Negatively Affected by Google's Helpful Content Update?

It doesn't sound like sites will notice any change immediately. SEO Industry leaders estimate that the affected sites will suffer a gradual decline as Google crawls the site and determines how much of it is created primarily for search engines. Like always, Google will likely adjust the updates as it learns over time.


Our team will review our clients' sites consistently to ensure they have not been affected by this update. While we do not anticipate our client's sites will be adversely affected, there are always unexpected circumstances. 


We've followed and implemented Google's best SEO and content creation practices for the last ten years. Our experience and certifications in the SEO and Content Creation fields have prepared us for any Google updates.


If you would like the BlinkJar team to audit and analyze your website, we charge a $2,000 fee. We handle these requests on a first-come, first serve basis. If interested, please click on the consultation button below and complete the form.


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