Google's Helpful Content Update

In August, Google announced that they’d be rolling out a “helpful content update.” If that sounds vague and confusing to you, you aren’t alone.

We looked into what exactly this meant and how it can help your business.

Here’s what we learned.

Your Content Type Matters For SEO

If you’ve been writing blogs or other types of content for your website, you’re probably doing so with an eye toward improving your SEO. However, is that all you’re focusing on?

Google’s new update means that they’ll be prioritizing content that is actually helpful and not just filled with keywords.

You’ll want to look through some of your old content to ensure that you’re really providing value to your audience. Don’t feel like you need to remove every keyword. You just need to strike a balance between content that is helpful and SEO friendly.

How To Tell If Your Site Is Affected

While you won’t be able to tell for certain if your content has been labeled as search engine first content, there might be some signs you can look for.

You’ll want to first check out your Google Analytics account. Remember, some changes came to Google Analytics that you’ll want to keep in mind too. Read our previous blog if you haven’t heard of the change to Google Analytics 4.

What you’ll want to do is check how your website traffic from earlier in the year compares to how things are now. You’ll especially want to look at the traffic that you acquire through organic Google searches.

If there’s a marked decrease in traffic, that could be a sign that your content has been flagged as search engine first. Spend some time updating what you wrote to ensure that it’s helpful content instead.

Need SEO Support?

If you need additional SEO support for your website with these new changes, our team is happy to help. Reach out to us today to get started.