The recently launched Google Helpful Content Update has shaken content marketing tactics into a new environment. Undoubtedly, Google Search has developed many unique and extraordinary abilities to understand users and their search intent.
Previously, Google results were based only on keywords. Therefore, it lacked many search queries to answer. Fortunately, this algorithm update aims to provide more relevant results based on the search intent and keywords. This is why Google wants content creators or writers to provide more helpful information to satisfy the searchers.
However, writing helpful content isn’t that hard. All you have to do is follow the tips below and get assured results on the SERPs. But before we proceed to know how to create helpful content, first, let’s see what this Helpful Content Update is about.
What is Helpful Content, According to Google?
As Google has prescribed in the official Google Search update, helpful content will be the future of search results. But the point is, how’d you know whether your content benefits the audience?
Well, Google, on its official blog, said that helpful content must be “people-first” rather than SEO-first in approach. That means, as a content writer or search engine optimizer, you should focus more on helping your audience instead of stuffing keywords. Then, if the audience finds your content helpful enough, Google will ensure it ranks higher.
However, the “people-first” content doesn’t mean you shouldn’t focus on the keywords. You can always optimize the content for search queries following the proper methods. All you need to do is give priority to your audiences’ demands.
Why do you need Helpful Content?
Millions of content are available on the internet, but not all are useful; some are entirely or somehow plagiarized. So how could an audience rely on content from search queries? This is why you need Helpful Content to help readers and make Google rank it appropriately.
Helpful content is a medium to provide the information a user is looking for. Moreover, as a business or brand, you should focus on questions like, “is my content helpful enough for the reader? Can I expect positive feedback from my readers? And is the content focused on a specific audience?” Consider it helpful if you’re finding ‘Yes’ as an answer from your content.
Always remember, Google specified to create “People-first” content in the first place instead of search engine. This means the more you prioritize your readers, the better you rank on SERPs, increasing traffic and ROI.
Should you rewrite previously published content?
As stated in the official Google update, the update was released on the 2nd week of September and will take two weeks to complete the rollout. Therefore, if your website has more than enough unhelpful content, you should consider rewriting them and making them as helpful as possible. Remember, updating a published article isn’t bad; it can improve the ranking.
However, if your content isn’t written in English, you won’t see any effect of the Google helpful content update.
How to Write Helpful Content for Your Audience
- People-first approach
- Proper research on the topic
- No fake claims
- Go practical instead of AI writing
- Quality content
- Stay focused on the target
People-first Approach
In its official update, Google specified that helpful content must be people-first in approach rather than SEO-first. Well, I must agree that Google has really upgraded its algorithm to be capable enough to understand what a user is looking for. Previously, SERPs would show results only based on the keywords, which improved significantly with the Panda, Penguin, and Hemingway updates.
Hence, as a marketer or business owner, you should consider whether your content is helpful to your audience or not. To check your content’s helpfulness, you can ask a few questions:
Is my content specially made for a targeted audience?
Does the content have a primary focus?
Can I expect positive feedback from the readers?
Who is the author of the content? Does the writer have expertise in the written field?
If you’re getting positive answers to these questions, consider your content is on the right track. Then, you can keep moving forward.
Proper Research On The Topic
What if visitors find your content completely wrong or somewhat misinformative? It will create a disastrous situation for your company and the author’s reputation. Therefore, you must research the topic thoroughly, leaving no points behind.
First, find a topic to write on; however, ensure the title and overall content have a primary focus to satisfy the visitors. Second, never rely on a single source because the more sources you examine, the more ideas and knowledge you’ll get. And finally, put these ideas together to make them presentable. And don’t forget to show your piece to the core team because a write-up always requires editing.
Be Helpful With No Fake Claims.
You’ll find a common mistake in many contents that the company or the author claims some baseless points. The reason behind this is the lack of appropriate research. Often content writers make articles based on a few misinformed published blogs or articles. And since the source itself is wrong, your content also becomes one of the fake claimers.
In addition, Google wants the author or the creator to be an expert on the topic he writes about. Moreover, Google Search can detect if someone claims fake expertise on the subject. So make sure the content you’re writing belongs to your expertise.
Hence before writing something meaningful that can attract a reader’s attention, you should follow high-DA websites. It’s because high domain authority websites have a good reputation among their visitors. And they would never want to waste it providing fake claims through their content.
Go Practical Instead of AI Writing.
Nowadays, there are many automation writing tools such as Grammarly, Jasper, Surfer, CopyAI, Rytr, etc. You can use them to write emails, blogs, and content for a website or other purposes. But the question is, should I use these tools to write helpful content for the audience? Of course, I don’t recommend anyone to rely on these tools entirely, but at the same time, I must agree with their support.
The automation writing technique follows a similar and straightforward method of rephrasing. Which is certainly not applicable to every niche, and the audience may not find it helpful enough. Therefore, you should practically enhance your writing ability by keeping the readers in mind. Always remember, as a human being, you can understand the audience much better than automation software.
Helpful Quality Content
Since the Google Panda Algorithm Update launch, the content-creating plan has changed massively. Instead of the previous keyword stuffing method, contents try to give more value improving the overall quality. But, of course, helpful content also has to be quality content having engaging structure, good readability, and, most importantly, sticking to the point.
If you want to know more in detail about quality content, read our what is quality content blog.
Stay focused on the target.
Helpful content must stay focused on the topic and what it wants to tell the audience. That means you should always convince the reader about what you’re saying through the content.
For example, suppose you have a running-shoe business. So your primary objective would be to reach audiences looking for the best running shoes. Hence, you have to publish blogs related to the topic, such as;
“How to buy running shoes.”
“Is a running shoe worth buying?”
“Best running shoes for morning walks.”
By publishing these articles, you’ll gain targeted visitors to your website and achieve targeted ROI.
If you also want to gain targeted returns on your business investment through Content Marketing, feel free to contact us, Digi marketing Tech, at [email protected].
Final Words
I hope this blog was helpful enough to give you an overall idea of the helpful content update and how you can follow it. Content creation is nothing more than satisfying the viewers; that’s what google says now, though; good creators had this notion from the very beginning of their journey.
Always remember, to get targeted earnings and audience, you must give what people want. And helpful content is the only of achieving a successful business.
