What you need to know about Google's 'helpful content' update
Google's latest algorithm update promotes helpful content, which means content designed for humans, not search engines. The days of marketing companies trying to increase site rankings by trying to game the search algorithms are gone, and this is another algorithm update that will reward creators focused on their audience.
You can be sure you're on the right track to successful marketing through a people-first content strategy coupled with SEO best practices.
Here are some tips directly from Google:
Your content should be helpful to your existing or intended audience
Your content should clearly demonstrate first-hand expertise and a depth of knowledge on the topic
Your site should have a primary purpose and focus
Users should leave feeling they've learned enough about a topic to help achieve their goal
Here are a few things that indicate your current content strategy isn't focused on people-first.
You're producing lots of content on different topics hoping that some of it will perform well
You're relying on automation tools to create content on many different topics
You're recapping what others are saying without providing unique value
You're writing things because they're trendy, not because they provide value to your audience
You're writing blog posts of a certain length because someone told you that's 'what Google wants'
Do A Content Audit
Now is a great time to review the content on your website and evaluate if your existing content is people-first. Websites that are determined to have a relatively high amount of unhelpful content will perform worse even if they have some content considered helpful. Go back through your content and remove or rewrite content that isn't helpful. Aim for quality over quantity.
Are you looking for a marketing partner to help you develop a people-first content strategy? Schedule a call; we'd love to help.