The Helpful Content System update has been rolled out and many sites are being affected. If you are losing rankings and you suspect it could be related to this or another one of Google’s systems, please fill out the form below.
The Helpful Content System Update is Here
And it affects a lot of websites. I speak about what I feel are opportunities for small businesses here on the blog Rich Results.
Small Business owners, if you are hit by the most recent Helpful Content update you are in a great position to turn it around. As a business, you are at the front lines of experience and authoritativeness. You can speak more genuinely than many websites.
What is Google’s Helpful Content System?
Google’s Helpful Content System is an automated ranking mechanism designed to prioritize original, high-quality content in search results. The system aims to provide a satisfying user experience by rewarding content that meets user expectations and demoting content that doesn’t. It uses machine learning to generate a site-wide signal that influences a website’s performance in Google Search, including Google Discover.
The system identifies content that has low value or is not particularly helpful to users. Websites with a high amount of such “unhelpful” content are less likely to perform well in search rankings. The system is not a manual or spam action but one of many signals Google uses to rank content.
If you’re producing high-quality, helpful content, the system is designed to benefit you. However, if you notice a change in traffic that you suspect may be related to this system, I can assess your content to make necessary improvements.
The Road to Recovery
Recovery from Google’s Helpful Content System can be broken down into the following phases:
Phase 1: Immediate Assessment
- 1 on 1 Consultation: Review website strategy, business goals, and current marketing strategy.
- Traffic Analysis: Review Google Analytics for sudden drops in organic traffic.
- Console Review: Check Google Search Console for warnings or issues.
- Initial Audit: Perform a quick audit to identify potentially affected content.
Phase 2: In-Depth Analysis
- Content Audit: Conduct a thorough review of all site content for quality and relevance.
- Backlink Audit: Evaluate the quality of backlinks to your site.
- User Experience: Assess site navigation, load times, and mobile-friendliness.
Phase 3: Action Plan
- Content Removal/Improvement: Identify content to remove or enrich.
- SEO Optimization: Meta alignment descriptions, internal linking, and other on-page SEO elements.
- Backlink Cleanup: Disavow harmful backlinks if necessary.
- Content Strategy: Develop a long-term plan for creating new high-quality, original content, enriching current mid-quality content.
With a decade of experience in Internet Marketing and a focus on B2C local home services, I’m Josh Brown, Founder of Honey SEO. I’ve mastered WordPress and SEO to drive business leads and revenue. I’ve launched over 200 websites and developed technologies that have revolutionized administration times. My expertise extends to troubleshooting drops in traffic and optimizing site structure for search engine visibility. If you’ve been hit by Google’s Helpful Content System, I offer recovery strategies backed by years of experience and a deep understanding of Google’s algorithms.