Recently, Google announced the launch of its newest algorithm called the “helpful content update.” Scheduled to be released sometime next week, the new update looks to boost content that’s geared primarily toward readers while also devaluing content that’s mainly aimed at Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
While Google has been releasing similar algorithm updates in the past, this one takes it a step further. While previous versions targeted specific pages, this particular version of the algorithm will be sitewide. This means that it has the potential to influence all pages on a site. The “helpful content” algorithm update will also introduce a new webpage ranking signal that Google will be using going forward.
While Google’s one-week notice may seem like really short notice, some argue that sites should already be written for humans in the first place.
What Is The Helpful Content Update?
The Helpful Content Update is Google’s attempt at improving the quality of its SERPs by ensuring users are exposed to more original and helpful content written by people, for people. The algorithm update will introduce a new ranking signal which will negatively impact websites that publish content regular content that’s not really helpful for readers.
To avoid being penalized by Google, it’s advisable that website owners remove any unhelpful content from their sites. Google has also provided a few guidelines that can help prevent you from being negatively affected by the changes to come. The algorithm will impact individual sites for several months at a time, It’s important to keep in mind that this update is automated by using a machine-learning model. This means that if the update notices that unhelpful content doesn’t reappear on a website over the long term, it will no longer penalize it.
Site owners should also be aware that, for the time being, only English searches will be impacted by the new update. Likewise, the “helpful content update” uses weighted ranking signals. This means that some websites will be more affected than others. Lastly, content that’s geared towards people first will still rank in Google’s SERPs, even if it’s published on websites that hold large amounts of unhelpful content.
