How Does Google’s Helpful Content Update Impact SERP Rankings?

Learn about the Google Helpful Content Update impact and how it’s affecting the SERP rankings.

How Does Google’s Helpful Content Update Impact SERP Rankings_.pptx from Ukti

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Google first announced the Google Helpful Content Update on 18th August 2022 to crack down on low-quality, unhelpful content. This caused huge ripples in the search result rankings, as big websites like HubSpot and Search Engine Journal started experiencing month-over-month drops in total keyword traffic.

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So, what does the update mean for your SEO and rankings? Here are all the important bits you need to know about Google’s Helpful Content Update and its impact on rankings.

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What is Google’s Recent Helpful Content Update?

Google’s Helpful Content Update is a site-wide ranking signal used by Google’s automated ranking systems or algorithms. It aims to ensure a user sees only original, helpful content created by people in search results whenever they run a search query. This is a global signal and works across content in all languages.

According to Google, 

“The helpful content system aims to better reward content where visitors feel they’ve had a satisfying experience, while content that doesn’t meet a visitor’s expectations won’t perform as well.”

This algorithm update also automatically identifies what Google has called “unhelpful” or content that’s written solely for the search engine. 

What Does Unhelpful Content Mean? 

Here’s what Google qualifies as unhelpful content

• Search engine-first content that’s focused on keywords
• Content with little to low-added value 
• Regurgitated content repeating what others have already said 
• Making false promises in content 
• Publishing content on trendy topics only 
• Too much fluff in content to meet a specific word count

However, this is not the first time Google has taken a step to improve the quality of content and search results. 

Here’s a look at Google’s major algorithm updates over the years. 

When Did the Helpful Content Update Happen? 

It took Google nearly 6 months to finish the rollout. Here is a timeline of all the major updates that took place. 

The Immediate Results: How Google Helpful Content Update Impacted SERPs 

When the update was first announced in August 2022, many were excited and eager to learn what it would bring to the content and SEO table. However, when the update was finally finished after a 15-day implementation period, its impact on the rankings was lukewarm at best. 

Have a look at the SERP fluctuations following the rollout. 

The numbers recorded were mostly normal. And the update didn’t seem to be having any real impact on rankings. 

This came as a surprise since Danny Sullivan, Public Liaison for Search – Google had touted the update as “big” but not a “huge shake-up” on Twitter. Nonetheless, not every website was spared. 

Of all the web pages, the categories most impacted by the update included:

• lyrics pages 
• ringtones 
• dictionaries 
• manuals 
• coding 

But it was only a matter of time before the SERPs changed again. Google soon came out with the core update of September 2022.

Impact of Google Core Update, 2022

As soon as the core update was completed on September 26^th, 2022, many people noticed a sudden drop and increase in traffic. While there are no official data, the drop in traffic was said to be between 20% to 60%. However, there were no major changes in rankings. 

As seen below, the SERPS were fiercely volatile a week after the update. 

Nobody knew how to make sense of the update or make a diagnosis of the issues. 

Many were discouraged by the volatile rise and fall in traffic following Google’s updates. Some even went as far as to say, “Google is Killing our Business…” 

Fortunately, it only took a few weeks to get back to some kind of normal. 

The Aftermath: Google Helpful Content Update Impact on Websites & Ranking

#1 Recovery for sites affected poorly will be slow and painful

Since the Helpful Content System, many websites have been impacted poorly. But while some sites lost traffic, there were many that benefitted. Most notably the small brands. For those who lost traffic, however, there might never be a full recovery. 

According to Gary Illyes of Google, you can’t ‘quick fix’ your content and expect to get back to your initial rankings. 

But Google does have a validation period during which it reviews sites. This can be months long, but worth a shot. If you want to win Google’s favour, you will have to prove your commitment to publishing content that’s helpful in the long run. 

#2 Google Discover is now a feature of Search and (probably) affected by the Helpful Content System

Since all features of Google Search are now affected by the Helpful Content System, it is assumed that the system will also impact Google Discover visibility. So, creators who want to get traffic through the Discover feature should focus on bringing unique, value-packed content to their audiences.

It could be in the form of:

• Web Stories on Google
• Blog posts published on your website 
• Blogs republished on Medium publications

#3 And what about AI-generated content? Should you be generating content using AI content bots?

Well, it was presumed Google would be penalizing web pages publishing AI-created content. But that doesn’t seem to be the case. 

Here’s how Google Search views AI-generated content. 

• Their focus is on content quality rather than how the content was produced. However, the content should have the qualities of E-E-AT (experience – expertise – authoritativeness – trustworthiness). These are the factors Google uses to review a particular webpage. 

• Google Search also doesn’t consider AI-generated content as SPAM. Instead, they believe AI can power creativity and help people create useful content. But that is not to say you can publish substandard, 100% AI-created content. Content created by people will still be put first. 

• Google is strictly against the use of AI to create content that can manipulate or game the search engine rankings. Such content will be considered straight-up spam.  

How to Adapt to Google Helpful Content Update Impact?

This is how you can create people-first, original content and stay on top of your SERP game (as recommended by Google). 

• Write for people, not keywords. Instead of using keyword traffic to choose content topics, focus on solving the challenges of your audience. 

• Refresh old content. After the new update, some of your older, high-performing content can be deemed unhelpful by Google. So it’s best to update it with the latest information. 

• Indicate who created your content. Providing proper authorship information will help you align with the E-E-A-T concepts. So, give your pages proper by-lines and provide supporting information on the author’s background. 

• Satisfy the user intent by providing actionable information. Make sure your reader feels satisfied after reading your content.

• Add AI disclosures. If you’re using AI in any capacity, make sure to include AI disclosures, especially where the reader might be interested in learning more about the authorship of the content.  

To Sum Up 

Google’s Helpful Content Update is putting the attention back where it belongs: to good old useful, educational content instead of SEO gimmicks masquerading as valuable content. 

And so, in the end, it’s your content quality, site architecture, and UX that’ll determine how much success your content will reap. 

Get acquainted with the Google Search guidelines below, and you’ll never churn out low-value content again. 

• Google Search’s helpful content system and your website
• Google Search’s guidance about AI-generated content
• How Search Works

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