The Helpful Content Update is an update from Google that helps identify when the content of a web page is useful and when it is not. This allows the search engine to improve the user experience when making a query since the system can now guarantee that the content that appears on the results page provides valuable and quality information. Therefore, since this update on useful content (from 2022), several SEO trends have been emerging aimed at creating valuable content in different ways.
However, it is important to note that today, Helpful Content is not just an update but rather a complete system of useful content that is part of the main Google Search positioning systems.
Now, you should know that this system has been having multiple updates and improvements throughout this time since its launch, for example:
We know from our own experience that these updates to Google’s Useful Content System have been affecting the positioning and traffic of many websites. Therefore, below, we are going to leave you a series of SEO recommendations that will allow you to recover and improve your visibility in the SERP.
1. Create content under EEAT quality guidelines
Google uses the EAAT quality assessment guidelines to determine whether the content is useful or not within the context of the Helpful Content Update.
The system only gives visibility on the results page to content that demonstrates experience (Experience), expertise (Expertise), authority (Authoritativeness) and trust (Trust). To do this, the algorithm is responsible for analyzing a series of signals that indicate whether or not a publication meets these characteristics.
To create content that is aligned with EEAT guidelines and can be approved by the Helpful Content Update, we recommend doing the following:
- Provide quotes, sources, and links to research, studies, or reports that support the veracity of the information you are publishing.
- Focus 100% on creating content that is within your area of expertise. Avoid addressing topics unrelated to the nature of your site.
- Write clearly, precisely and in an expert tone, avoiding misleading, inaccurate, subjective or debatable information.
- Please check before publishing that the content is free of factual errors.
- Prioritize content that is based on your own experience or that of your company, collecting your own data and teaching useful solutions to the reader. These types of posts have a high probability of being shared or referenced by users.
- Make sure your website has a professional design, is easy to navigate and has security mechanisms.
- Encourage user participation and offer contact forms for additional questions or comments.
2. Respond to long-tail search intent
An excellent way for content to be considered useful by the Helpful Content Update is by making it respond to a long-tail search intent. Long tails are queries that users make when they are looking for very specific or detailed information.
For example, a conventional short-tail search might just be “CRM programs .” Instead, a long tail could be something like “best CRM programs for marketing and sales teams .”
The interesting thing is that these last types of queries usually have little competition on Google, which increases your probability of ranking higher on the results page.
In this sense, we recommend developing content that directly addresses the needs and questions related to long-tail searches. To do this, follow the following instructions:
- Use tools like Answer The Public to get a variety of long-tail questions associated with the same topic. This, in turn, will help you discover specific subtopics that you can also write about within the same content.
- Make your content provide clear, direct and complete answers to these types of queries.
- Incorporate SEO signals that tell Helpful Content Update that your content is specific and direct and, therefore, is very useful for specific and direct queries. For example, enter data such as dates, quantities or place names in the title and intertitles of the content.
3. Tell anecdotes and share experiences that add value
Both the Helpful Content update and the Hidden Gems update have something in common: both value content very positively when its author tells a story or personal experience that provides value to the reader.
Google’s search systems are capable of identifying a series of signals within the content to know if it is born from a personal and unique experience since this is what makes a publication genuine and authentic.
The underlying idea is that an author’s real stories can provide a more effective solution to users’ real problems and needs.
That said, we want to leave you a couple of tips to create useful content based on personal experiences:
- Analyze what useful information you can share with readers, and that is only in your hands or those of your company. For example, depending on the nature of your business, you can share (anonymous) data about your customers’ spending habits, what their most frequent concerns are, etc.
- Describe your experience with your success and non-success stories. It will be very useful for readers to know how you were able to solve a certain problem or overcome an obstacle, as well as what you were able to learn from your failures or failed attempts.
- Make sure the anecdotes you tell are related to the main theme or message of your content. You must add value and complement the information you are sharing.
- At the end of each story or experience, you have to highlight the specific information that resolves the reader’s doubt according to their search intention.
4. Present the author of the content and his expertise
Although it may not seem like it, this point is related to everything we have mentioned in the article ( useful content, EEAT guidelines, personal experiences, Hidden Gems, etc.), but at the same time, it has been one of the most underrated blogs in general.
Keep in mind that in order for Google to determine the level of expertise, authenticity, originality and specialization of content, it must also be able to analyze author information.
As with other SEO criteria, Google detects certain signals and indicators to know if the author is credible and trustworthy if he is an expert on the topic he is talking about or not, and if he has a good reputation in his sector or not.
For this reason, we recommend creating a section within the pages where detailed information about the authors is found: names, social networks, fields of study, titles, certifications, specializations, universities, and even a professional photograph.
On the other hand, it is not enough to show the author’s information; the author must also be connected in some way to the content. Remember that in the previous point, we talked to you about the importance of anecdotes, stories and personal experiences for the Helpful Content Update. Well, introducing the author within the content is a signal to indicate to Google that the content is original and authentic.
Finally, you must be very clear about the following: just as Helpful Content Update caused many websites to lose positioning, logically, it also made many other sites gain those same positions. After all, those places can’t stay empty; someone has to occupy them, right?
While some go down, others go up.
Implementing SEO strategies like the ones we just taught you, or also GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) strategies, is something that will help you keep moving up, always up. The only thing Google seeks with its updates is to reward content with high added value, which is why it always tries to create useful, practical content that provides direct and real solutions.