{"id":14198,"date":"2022-08-25T13:26:56","date_gmt":"2022-08-25T12:26:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inboundcph.dk\/helpful-content-update\/"},"modified":"2024-04-25T05:01:52","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T04:01:52","slug":"-111","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inboundcph.dk\/en\/helpful-content-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Google tightens grip on bad content with new 'Helpful Content Update'"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is the impact of Google's new update?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

On August 18, Google tweeted that they would be rolling out a new update. The 'Helpful Content Update' will already affect search results starting this week (week 34, 2022). The update targets bad content on Google, i.e. content that does not add value and help the user, but is created to rank high in search results.<\/span><\/p>\n

Google's business model is built around being the most preferred search engine for us consumers. Therefore, Google's first priority is to ensure that users are met with valuable content that fulfills their search intent. Unfortunately, many companies that use Google have a less reverent goal. As a result, in recent years, far fewer relevant search queries have appeared on search results, which degrades the quality of Google's product.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The new major ranking algorithm (Helpful Content Update) can be seen as Google's attempt to stay relevant to the user and defend their market share. The purpose of the algorithm is to weed out the type of content that only aims to ensure a high ranking, but is not directly informative or valuable to the user. Google states that the update will \"<\/span>tackle content that looks like it was created primarily to rank high on search engine results pages<\/span><\/i>\" and that the update will \"<\/span>Help ensure that unoriginal, low-quality content doesn't rank high in search results<\/span><\/i>\".<\/span><\/p>\n

Google has said for years that you should create content for the user first and not the search engines, and now comes the consequence. This means that if you write content <\/span>Exclusively<\/i><\/b> with the aim of driving traffic and visibility in search results, then you might be affected by this update.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore, it's also a good time to take a look at your content strategy, as this new update (much like Panda did) will most likely change how we think about content for Google.<\/span><\/p>\n

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What do we know about the update now<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The update is rolling out from this week (week 34, 2022).
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the new 'Helpful Content Update' is being rolled out starting this week (week 34, 2022), Google estimates that it will take up to two weeks before the update is fully implemented. If you want to keep up with the update, Google will be updating us all regularly via their<\/span> update page.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Initially, the update will launch for English search, and later roll out for other languages. This means that if your website is in Danish, you have a little more time to improve the quality of your content.<\/span><\/p>\n

This algorithm is based on machine learning, a form of artificial intelligence (AI) that aims to evaluate and identify content not created for the user first.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This means that the algorithm will improve over time through self-learning and input from Google engineers. In addition, Google has announced that they will use so-called \"<\/span>quality raters<\/span><\/a>\" to ensure that the new update actually raises the level and quality of the content found in the search results. In other words, it is an update that will evaluate your content both based on specific predefined parameters and will continuously improve based on human input.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The 'Helpful Content Update' will look at a number of different signals and parameters. As usual, Google is very quiet about which signals are involved. What we do know a little more about is the type of content that could be affected. We also know what Google qualifies as good content. Based on this, we can hypothesize where to act.<\/span><\/p>\n

As SEO and social media have an indirect positive influence on each other, there can be several benefits to combining the two in your strategy:<\/p>\n

What types of content will be affected?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The algorithm is initially targeted at Google Search. Google is also reportedly considering whether it should affect other products, such as Google discover.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Google states that the algorithm won't target a specific type of niche, yet some content may be more affected than others. This is very much the case:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n