Google's New Helpful Content Update is Live
So, Google's latest update is now rolling out, and this could have a pretty big impact on websites!
It started on September 14 and is expected to last for 2 weeks.
Essentially, Google is updating its Helpful Content classifier, and is aiming to filter out content that's solely created to rank high in search engines without offering real value to users.
They're cracking down on unoriginal, low-quality content to ensure it doesn't dominate search results.
Are you mainly summarizing what others have to say without adding much value?
Your content needs to be unique, and bring something new to the internet, not just a re-write of what is already out there.
The helpful content system aims to better reward posts where visitors feel they've had a satisfying experience.
While content that doesn't meet a reader's expectations won't perform as well.
And importantly, the system generates a site-wide signal.
So, if some of your content is deemed unhelpful, all of your posts could be affected.
If some of your posts are over 10 months old, and still haven't ranked highly, then realistically, they are not going to.
This is the time to look at those posts and decide if they could be improved, or actually need to be deleted.
Please read Partha's post on how to do this.
Yes, it's very long, but if you are serious about your business, then your time is well spent on furthering your education.
Now, here is something interesting, as relates to AI-generated content!
Google's previous guidance used to say they expect to see "helpful content, written by people, for people."
Now, it says "people-first content means content that's created primarily for people."
This implies that AI is acceptable, if it's genuinely helpful, and not designed to manipulate the ranking system.
Thanks for reading!
Recent Comments
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This was a great post! I've been watching the news about if Google ranks AI generated posts or dings them.
This information is very helpful.
I've been trying out different AI writing platforms and found "Reword" to be my favorite. I love how I can train it to write WITH me.
Anyways, thanks for the helpful post.
When the motor car first landed, people had to walk in front of it so that the cars didn't scare the horses. Looks like AI has just had its break-free moment. A blessing from Google, the universe has opened.
I like your insights, Diane; the content world will be going through some massive changes over the next 12 months. Our own experiences will all be similar; there is currently a lot of sameness in the search results. Google's update may bring some value-added content, which won't be a bad thing. As creators, I guess it's all about us lifting the game in order to stay relevant.
Hi there, Diane,
You are a peach. You work so hard to keep us on track by giving us so much information to help us grow and produce more high-quality content. You are a gem. Thanks for the ParthaB link as well.
Have a beautiful weekend.
Rachele❤️
Thank you for this. Great to have this summary!
Just one thing I saw, too which could have effect:
"If you host third-party content on your main site or in your subdomains, understand that such content may be included in site-wide signals we generate, such as the helpfulness of content. For this reason, if that content is largely independent of the main site's purpose or produced without close supervision or the involvement of the primary site, we recommend that it should be blocked from being indexed by Google."
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Hi Diane,
Thank you for posting this. I took a real gamble on AI. I could not see Google telling people they can't create information using AI, especially since Google is doing just that.
But as you said, the key is that the content is helpful to people. Ironically I think we will see more and more AI tools to help people create content that is helpful to people. Video, audio, image, and so on.
My two cents,
Michael