Google has announced the Helpful Content Update. It is a change to its search algorithm that rewards content that genuinely helps people. Pages written mainly to rank highly, without giving the reader anything of value, may lose visibility as a result.
The rollout starts with English-language search results. It is not yet known whether or when other languages will follow. Even so, it is wise to review your site now. The direction is clear and fits what Google has been saying for years: write for people, not for a search engine.
What is the Helpful Content Update?
It is a new signal in Google’s algorithm. The algorithm is the full set of rules Google uses to decide which page appears at the top. This signal tries to identify which content has been made for readers and which has been made mainly for search engines.
It works automatically. This means a Google employee does not review your site by hand. The system looks at patterns across your website as a whole.
That last point matters. If your site has a lot of low-value pages, this can reduce your visibility across the entire site, including pages that are good in their own right. Google says that recovery can take time, even after you have improved the weak content.
What Google wants to see
Google is fairly clear about what it values. You can boil it down to three points.
- Expertise. The text comes from someone who knows the subject and shows it.
- A real answer. The page answers the question the person searched with, and not just part of it.
- A satisfied reader. After reading, the person does not need to go back to Google to keep searching.
That third point is a good test. For each page, ask yourself: does the reader now have everything they need? If not, something is missing.
How to recognise content written for Google
Content written for search engines often shares the same traits. You may recognise a few of them on your own site. That is not a problem, but it is a signal to take action.
- You write about a topic only because it has search volume, not because it fits your business.
- You have many pages on almost the same topic, with small differences in the title.
- The text is long, but only gets to the point after three paragraphs.
- You repeat the keyword more often than a person naturally would.
- The content mostly summarises what other sites already say, without any original insight.
- You promise an answer in the title, but do not give it in the text.
- You pad out a text to make it look longer, because you think longer content ranks better.
So it is not about the length of a text. A short, clear answer can be better than a fifteen-hundred-word article that circles around the point.
Clear out: fewer pages, but better ones
Many businesses have published a lot of blog posts over the years. Sometimes to put something online every week. Sometimes because someone said that more pages bring more traffic. The result is often a pile of thin articles.
A common scenario: an installation company has twelve blog posts about “saving energy at home”. Each article is three hundred words long. They resemble each other and mostly offer general tips you can find anywhere. No single article is really worth reading. Together, though, they make up a large part of the blog.
The better approach is to merge them. You pick the best points from all twelve and build one strong page from them. Add your own experience, such as what your fitters see in practice and which measures they believe deliver the most. Then redirect the old pages to the new one with a 301 redirect. This is a permanent forwarding rule, so that visitors and Google automatically end up on the right page.
Pages that fit nowhere and help nobody should be removed. That may feel like a loss. For your site as a whole, it is a gain.
Show who wrote it
A text that anyone could have written disappears among a thousand others. A text with a recognisable author and real experience stands out. That applies to readers and to Google alike.
You can show this in a few ways:
- Put the author’s name on the article, with a short description of what they do and know.
- Use examples from your own work. Describe what you have seen or done yourself.
- Share your own figures or insights, if you have them and can back them up.
- Be honest about what does not work or what it depends on. That makes a text credible.
- Make sure your about page and contact details are easy to find.
A word of caution: do not make anything up. An invented experience or a figure without a source damages trust. Only use what is true.
How to get started
You do not need to overhaul your whole site in one go. Work step by step and begin with what makes the most difference.
- Make an overview. List all your blog posts and knowledge pages. For each page, note the title, the topic and the number of visitors over the past year.
- Assess honestly. Would you send this page to a customer? If not, it is a candidate to improve, merge or delete.
- Merge. Combine pages on the same topic into one complete page.
- Enrich. Add experience, examples and a clear author to the pages you keep.
- Plan new content starting from the question. Only write something new when you can answer a genuine customer question.
- Measure and wait. Use Google Search Console to see how your visibility develops. Do not expect results within a few days.
Search Console is Google’s free tool that shows how often your site appears in search results and for which searches.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to do anything now if my site is in Dutch?
There is no need to panic. The rollout starts with English-language search results. Even so, clearing out and improving content is never wasted effort, because better content always helps your readers. If other languages follow later, you will already be prepared.
Is AI-generated text, or text with lots of keywords, automatically bad?
No, what matters is the value to the reader and not the technique. A text that adds nothing will perform poorly, however it was made. A text that genuinely helps does not suffer from this. In any case, always have someone with subject knowledge review and add to the text.
How long does it take before I see an improvement?
It can take weeks to months. Google needs to look at your updated pages again and adjust the signal for your site. It also depends on how much weak content you had. So be patient and keep measuring.
Book a free 30-minute introductory meeting
Not sure whether your site meets what Google wants to see? We would be happy to look at it with you. In a free 30-minute introductory meeting, we will discuss your current content, what you can keep and what could be better. You will receive practical tips you can put to use straight away.
Get in touch with Adventio Marketing in Amersfoort and book your introductory meeting. Together, we will turn your website into a place where visitors find what they are looking for.
