- Google’s Helpful Content Update rolls out August 21, 2022 and has the purpose of finding and favoring content that’s written specifically for the user.
- The main types of content that will be impacted includes shopping, arts/entertainment, tech and tech related companies, and online education sites.
- Boiling Point Media is a full service marketing agency that has experience in these Google algorithm updates and SEO tactics.
The first Google algorithm update, that is a core update, is about to be released. This is a major algorithm update and the first major update of 2022. This update is specifically focused on the number 1 thing on anybody’s website … Content. Not just keywords but content in general and how helpful or informative the content is. Let’s take a deeper look at what is coming from the Google algorithm update 2022.
What is “Google’s Helpful Content” Algorithm Update?
Google is like a lot of us when it comes to finding useful information on the internet. When we click on a search result, we want to obtain the information we were looking for. Unfortunately, there are many websites out there that have written content for the sole purpose of getting the page to rank on Google versus providing useful information. Additionally, Google favors human written content over AI written content. AI written content tends to be more keyword focused than informational to end users. This practice of writing content for Google and not for the world goes against Google’s whole philosophy of being able to provide timely & accurate information to its users.
The goal of this core update is to improve the search results that are provided to the users with “High-Quality Content ” as well as content written by REAL people who have taken the time to gain the authoritative knowledge of a given subject. Websites with high-quality content will be rewarded with higher placement on search engine result pages while websites with lower quality content will be pushed down in the search results. By improving search results and providing higher quality websites to Google users, Google looks to improve a users online experience by providing the information they are looking for more accurately (and in-turn, retaining their customer base).
How Soon Will Google Launch The Update?
Google will begin rolling out the update during the week of 8/21/22. Like most Google algorithm updates, it should take about 2 weeks. This update will only affect the English version for now. Google is planning to roll out this update for other languages after this update is completed. Google will keep everyone informed about the progress & completion on their updates page. Updates will also be communicated through Twitter.
What Types Of Content Will Be Impacted?
Google clearly stated that this core algorithm update will affect all industries versus a niche but also noted that there will be a few industries that will feel the most impact. These industries include:
- Shopping
- Arts/Entertainment
- Tech & Tech-Related Companies
- Online Education Sites
The overall reason that these specific industries might be affected the most is because most of these types of sites have been written to rank on search engines instead of providing new & useful information to an end user. In a recent conversation between Google & the online periodical Search Engine Land, Google stated their justification for the update.
“If you search for information about a new movie, you might have previously encountered articles that aggregated reviews from other sites without adding perspectives beyond what’s available elsewhere on the web. This isn’t very helpful if you’re expecting to read something new. With this update, you’ll see more results with unique information, so you’re more likely to read something you haven’t seen before.”
Additionally, Google’s Search Liaison Danny Sullivan further justified the need to improve the content delivered by saying, “Generally tutorial, things meant to teach something, not really formal courses. But again, it’s not focused on any particular area. That’s just one example where we see notable improvement but there are others and any query about anything might benefit.”
At the end of the day, Google is looking to make sure that there is a diverse set of high-quality information available for its users so that its users can quickly & easily find accurate information for their search. This is true for not only this Google algorithm update 2022 but for all of their algorithm updates.
How Will The Google Algorithm Update 2022 Be Applied?
Google has stated that this algorithm update will be a “Sitewide” update. What this means is that the update won’t affect each page individually but rather the site as a whole. So if the site has a lot of old, outdated, information that is not being maintained (like old blogs from 2013), then that can actually hurt the site as a whole (versus just having a blog pushed to the bottom of a SERP). That doesn’t mean all old content is bad, just old content that does not bring any value to the end user. The full details of how much content has to be useful or what kind of content is not useful are currently unknown but we all know that we have blogs or old pages on our site that when we look at them, we know they can be improved. Google has said that “removing old content could help the rankings of your other content”. This leads us to believe that it is time to take a serious look at ALL of the pages on our websites to see if they are providing any good to the internet or not.
Importance Of Human Content Creators
If we asked our grandparents or elders about the importance of human content creators, we’d probably get a look. We think that Google is giving AI created content the same look, which is why part of the algorithm update is focused on promoting human writers. So why are human content creators so important? It’s because we have the innate ability to critically think, to reason, to research, and provide insight that only a human can. Webpages & blogs that rank well only achieve this because of the human influence. Google recognizes this and wants to reward human content creators who have taken the time to research & write insightful content on a topic. This is something the machines can’t do. Machines might be good with keyword insertion but cannot write a comprehensive report about the finer points of pay-per-click marketing (for example). I don’t know about you but I would love to read about some hidden tricks to better optimize my PPC campaign that was written by a human in this field, than I would about an overview about how to run a PPC campaign written by a robot.
Is The Google Algorithm Update 2022 Just Panda 2.0?
Who remembers Google’s Panda core algorithm update in 2012? We SEO marketing geeks do and it forever changed the way we wrote SEO content. This Helpful Content update has a strong potential to be the same type of update. Although change can be scary, it can be really good too. Panda stopped websites where the keyword of the page was repeated 1,000 times (and no, that was not an exaggeration for some sites). This new core update will hopefully force content producers to think about what they are putting out in the world. I know I am sick of clicking on a given search result only to find 2 paragraphs of general, unuseful information that I could have found on any other site. Let’s get excited about sharing some new & thoughtful ideas!
Boiling Point Media Is Ahead Of The Curve
At Boiling Point Media in OKC, this core update is really not going to change a lot of how we produce website content. All of our website content, blogs, social media posts, emails, and other digital content is all researched, handwritten, & published in-house. The only AI we use is for a chat box on websites and never for content. We choose our webpage content, & especially blog topics, based upon online research about what people are looking to gain information on. This strategy has worked well for our clients as they have seen a large increase in both the number of keywords they rank for and traffic to their sites. By keeping the content we produce in-house and written by professional humans, we look to stay aligned with Google’s algorithm and be able to provide the best digital marketing available for our clients. Please visit our website for additional information about our marketing services. We wish you the best on the Helpful Content Google algorithm update 2022 and if you need any help, we are here for you!