Google Search is always working to better connect people with useful information. To this end, we're launching what we're calling the "Helpful Content Update" which is part of a broader effort to ensure that people see more original and helpful content written by people, for people, in search results. Below is more information about the update and things creators should consider.
Focus on people-centric content
Updating helpful content aims to better reward content where visitors feel like they've had a satisfying experience, while content that doesn't meet a visitor's expectations won't perform as well.
How can you make sure you're creating content that will be successful with our new update? Following our long-standing tips and guidelines for creating content for people, not search engines. People-first content creators focus on creating satisfying content first, while also using SEO best practices to provide additional value to search engines. Answering yes to the following questions means you're probably on the right track with a people-first approach:
Do you have an existing or intended audience for your business or site that would find the content useful if it came directly to you?
Does your content clearly demonstrate first-hand experience and in-depth knowledge (for example, an experience that comes from using a product or service, or visiting a place)?
Does your site have a main purpose or focus?
After reading your content, will anyone walk away feeling like they learned enough about a topic to help achieve their goal?
Will someone reading your content walk away feeling like they've had a satisfying experience?
Have you considered our guide to major updates and product revisions?
Avoid creating content for search engines first
Our advice about having a people-centric approach does not invalidate following SEO best practices, such as those covered in Google's own SEO guide. SEO is a useful activity when applied to human-centric content. However, content created primarily for search engine traffic is heavily correlated with content that search engines find unsatisfying.
How to avoid taking a search engine first approach? Answering yes to some or all of the questions is a warning sign that you need to re-evaluate how you're creating content on your site:
Is the content primarily to attract people from search engines, rather than being made for humans?
Are you producing a lot of content on different topics in the hope that some of it will perform well in search results?
Are you using extensive automation to produce content on many topics?
Are you mainly summarizing what others have to say without adding much value?
Are you writing about things simply because they seem to be trendy and not because you would otherwise write about them for your current audience?
Does your content leave readers feeling like they need to search again for better information from other sources?
Are you writing for a particular word count because you heard or read that Google has a preferred word count? (No, we don't).
Did you decide to enter a niche subject area without any real experience, but mainly because you thought you would get search traffic?
Does your content promise to answer a question that doesn't really have an answer, like suggesting there's a release date for a product, movie, or TV show when it's not confirmed?
How the update works
The update will start rolling out next week. We'll post to our Google ranking updates page when it starts and when it's fully implemented, which could take up to two weeks. This update introduces a new site-wide signal that we consider among many other signals to rank web pages. Our systems automatically identify content that appears to have little value, little added value, or is not particularly useful to searchers.
Any content, not just useless content, on sites determined to have relatively high amounts of useless content, is less likely to generally perform well in Search, assuming there is other content elsewhere on the web that is better served.