Another Google update. Should we be concerned, or is it business as usual?
Let's dive into Google's "September 2023 Helpful Update" to see what we can uncover and how it affects your content production.
Google's September 2023 Helpful Update - what's next for your content production
I think we are all getting used to multiple Google updates in a season - aren't we? And as much as it pains us to look at what they've been up to, mostly, if you've been paying attention, your content will be just fine after an algorithm update.
That's because Google has been training us. They are getting more explicit about what they want to see and how they want to see it. Those who want to do well write with these guidelines in mind.
Google doesn’t make changes to cause SEO or sitewide traffic flops - even though many panicked social posts would have you believe otherwise. Instead, they are trying to make their product more valuable to the User.
Google Users have been asking for a lot more out of search in recent years, and as many as there are, Google's updates are always in response to that.
In August, Google rolled out its FAQ and How-to Schema changes, and we saw then how Google is preparing for their rollout of the search generative experience (SGE). To make this new experience work for their User, they want to fill it with the best the internet has to offer. That's why we've just seen a further September Helpful Content Update.
We will continue to see clusters of updates until SGE is released and out of its public Beta testing phase.
The problem with SERP content as it stands
We've all known for quite some time that the internet isn't a perfect fact-based world. Some content is outdated, made up or based on limited understanding. Worse than that, there's a LOT of duplication. That makes search difficult for users. Who do they trust, and how far can they trust the content?
Here's an example of what I mean.
I recently searched for "Top 10 beaches in Devon", and Google gave me two pages of answers - all listicles and most serving the same list, maybe in a different order. There wasn't much depth either, so while I found that Woolacombe Beach comes close to the top of most lists, I didn't always understand why. More than that, I don't know where it's located in Devon, the parking charges, or even if there's adequate parking (which there isn't, by the way). I'd have to commit to an entirely different search or area of SERPs to discover those things (Google Maps being one example).
There are a few unique perspectives in those SERP answers. TripAdvisor is one, with its review-based voting system. Devon with Kids was another, specifically tailoring content to its audience. Most of the others were, well, meh. In fact, they could have been written (and may have been written) by someone who has never visited these places.
As a user, I'm left feeling meh about being able to find what I need in an easy search. That’s where SGE comes in. It’s Google’s attempt to provide all of the information you need about a search related to what it perceives as your intent. It’ll use AI to help guide you through options as it learns more about what you are looking for.
Why Google needs to make a change
Users have other ways to search for information now. Social is one of them, and we discussed that last year during the 2022 helpful content update.
Google is concerned. And they should be. Losing users means losing ad revenue.
And why are people going elsewhere to find what they need? Because the internet is filled with similar content or ill-conceived content. Nothing is primed to help users with their pain points; instead, it is primed to try to outrank the top performers.
As content creators, we've forgotten who we were meant to be helping - the User.
Let’s look at that beach search I completed earlier in this post. Content written to put the User first would be much more in-depth. It would answer all my questions about which beach to visit, not just which is better.
Those users who left Google and embraced social search find it more helpful and valuable, and they trust the perspective. Influencers have become internet versions of friends and family, and their word-of-mouth referrals rule.
Here's an example of how far that goes. I watch a narrowboat YouTube channel called Boat Time (even though I get seasick!). Wes and Amy have this rubber duck night light, which they use around the boat for various things. They haven't asked me to buy it (I don't even think they are affiliates), but having watched them use it several times, I want one - to help me avoid treading on the cat at night when I get up for the bathroom! Now, I could get any night light, but having seen the duck in action, I know the size of this light, how much light it emits and how often I need to charge it - useful stuff when making a buying decision.
I could visit Google and multiple shopping sites to find answers to these questions. Even look for an alternative. I might just come across a product listing or blog post that helps me with those kinds of questions. But I probably, most likely, won’t find anything that helpful. And that is the problem - A problem that social media is answering quite nicely. Sometimes without even knowing it.
Now, as a balanced side note, there is just as much rubbish on socials as there is on search - but somewhere along the line, the format of delivery and the ease of search within socials have swayed the User, and Google is missing out.
SGE is Google's response to the challenge of re-engaging users. Having seen it in action and my first use of Bard, I can see it is an excellent opportunity to handle complex searches in what feels like one attempt to find what I need - not several head-scratching attempts.
What Google hopes the September Helpful Content Update shows content creators
Google is putting the user experience first, so our content and sites must start delivering. That means improved content quality marker standards.
Of course, we know the usual stuff: your content must load fast and read well. But it also needs to offer value from experience in a genuinely audience-helpful sense - answering more than one question for a search intent. That means providing a fresh perspective in a simplified message and a format our users can get to grips with.
Your site should also signal trust, just as an influencer tries to. Social proof is a great asset, but so is creating content based on experience. Google calls this E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority and Trust).
Many factors signal E-E-A-T information back to Google, to ensure you are providing the right content, you need to start with a content audit.
Ask yourself:
Does my content answer a need in my audience?
Does it give a fresh perspective users can't find elsewhere?
How can my content help someone do "x" and all that goes with that?
Can the User trust me as a source?
If the answer is "no", then you need a rethink. Consider what content to update and what needs to be deleted. And don’t be afraid to delete bad content, either. Google will actually reward you for it!
Who will lose in Google's September Helpful Content Update?
From Google's comments and the research I have seen SEO peers create, the losers in this month's update are those sites with poor-quality content. Poor quality refers to content entirely scraped from the web or created for sites without contextual reasoning. It also includes content that is poorly written.
Some of this content might be topics designed just to gain traffic. Here's an example. Let's say you run a book business, and you recently visited Amsterdam and published a blog post called "10 places to see in Amsterdam". You thought this would be useful because of the high-volume keywords, and as you've been there recently, your readers might be interested. As your User, I can guarantee that my search intent is around reading books, not visiting places, when I land on your site. Why would I find that blog post helpful? Google knows this and will penalise that post for it.
Another example of “poor quality” content is a blog post a third party has written to gain traffic from your site (usually for their paying backlink clients). The problem is that they will write for their clients and not your audience. As a result, you get a blog to publish, but it's not helpful to your User. Google will penalise content like this.
"Surely", you might think, "One post won't bring down a whole site?" But you'd be wrong - these little dinks in your authority count.
So what do you do?
You dive into your User. Rediscover who they are, how they think, how they feel, what problems they have and ultimately, how you can help them. Blog based on your experience so you can be truly helpful when they need it and delete everything else.
If you need a content writer to help you create content that will make your User's day, then contact me by pressing the "Contact me here" button below.
