What Is Helpful Content According to Google?

If you're looking to make your site more visible, you should monitor content metrics to understand what Google considers helpful. A new update by Google is likely to affect new and existing websites. As the update takes effect, the Google classifier will eventually stop categorizing content as unhelpful. Qamar Zaman will discuss the changes in his next Subject Matter Expert Podcast.

People-first content creators prioritize creating engaging content while utilizing SEO best practices

People-first content creators are those who put the person first in creating content. This means that their content is geared towards the needs of the person who is searching for a product. Such content may take the form of a video or a podcast. The focus is on understanding the user's needs and addressing these in an engaging way.

When creating content for the web, people-first content creators prioritize memorability and the reader's experience. This is because every user on the internet is a searcher. Searcher intent is the most important factor in the world of SEO. By focusing on the person's experience, content creators can create content that drives shared emotions.

Monitoring content metrics to determine what content is helpful to Google

Monitoring content metrics can be helpful in identifying whether your content is helping Google's search algorithm. Specifically, you can monitor how long people are staying on your pages and which types of content are engaging to your audience. The average time spent on a page is an indicator of content quality, and if your page has high time spent, you might want to include similar content in future posts.

Another important metric to monitor is bounce rate. Bounce rate is the number of people who visit a particular page on a website. If your bounce rate is high, you should review your content strategy and SEO goals. Bounce rate is particularly important for websites that have a large number of pages. A high bounce rate means that your content is not helpful to visitors and you should aim to keep the number low.

Besides page views, you should also monitor domain authority and page authority to determine the health of your website. By analyzing these metrics, you can monitor the health of your client's website and make changes if necessary. However, you should first identify what your objectives are before implementing any strategy.

Creating high-quality content with a human evaluation

In 2015, Google released the Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines, which serve as a reference for human search evaluators. These guidelines give insight into what makes a high-quality web page. Basically, the content must be user-centered and beneficial. For example, if a page aims to sell something, it will receive a low quality rating.

Recovering from a Helpful Content Update hit

A week ago, Google launched the Helpful Content Update, but it's still quiet. What's up with that? Google's Danny Sullivan responded on Twitter, saying that the update is a continuing effort and that if your website has good content, it should be fine. In other words, an update doesn't mean a major shift in ranking.

The new update will be rolled out slowly, but it will still affect your traffic. The first few days will be the most difficult; it may take a couple of weeks to see the full effects. After the first 24 hours, if you notice a sudden drop in traffic from search engines, you have a good chance you've been hit by the update. It's also possible you've been subject to manual auctions penalty. In such cases, you'll want to use unique images between your content and other content.

The Update isn't focused on a specific area, but it's clear that Google is attempting to reduce spammy content. As such, if your website has a large amount of low-quality content, it could suffer. As a result, Google recommends deleting low-quality content, so you can focus on improving high-quality content.