Google's Helpful Content Update & What to Do About It

What Is the Helpful Content Update?

The helpful content update is a significant change to Google’s algorithm that rewards high-quality, user-focused content in search results and demotes low-quality pages created primarily to rank well in search engines.

Google launched the first helpful content update in August 2022. And has since refined it through several iterations. 

These updates introduced a sitewide ranking factor that evaluates the overall helpfulness of a website's content.

Key features of the helpful content update include:

• Emphasizing expertise and depth of knowledge
• Promoting original, valuable, comprehensive information
• Insisting on a great page experience
• Following SEO best practices
• Penalizing search engine-first content

In March 2024, Google finally integrated the helpful content update system into its core ranking algorithm. 

This means the principles of helpful content are now applied continuously. Not through periodic updates. 

This integration emphasizes Google’s long-term commitment to prioritizing truly useful content for searchers. 

Further reading: Google Algorithm Updates Timeline [2024-2009]

How Google’s Helpful Content Updates Affect SEO

Google’s helpful content updates affect SEO because they changed how Google assesses and ranks pages and websites. 

These updates marked a before and after in SEO. And potentially reshaped the search engine results pages (SERPs) for many queries. 

Not only did old SEO tactics like keyword stuffing and content spinning stop working. They were identified and demoted. 

Content quality matters now more than ever. 

Here's how these updates impact search results:

• Surfacing people-first content: Pages that directly address user intent and provide comprehensive answers will likely rank higher
• Penalizing thin, AI-generated content: While AI is not banned outright, content must be high-quality, edited by humans, and provide unique value to rank well
• Emphasizing expertise: Google favors content created by people with first-hand experience or deep knowledge of the topic
• Effects are sitewide: If Google determines a lot of your content is unhelpful, your entire domain could see reduced visibility in search results

Here’s an example:

A fitness blog post about "best exercises for beginners" written by a certified trainer, with detailed instructions and safety tips, is likely to rank higher than a brief, generic list of exercises with no expert insights.

To adapt to these updates, focus on creating content that truly helps your audience. Prioritize value. 

Ask yourself: “Would I find this information useful if I were searching for this topic?”

If the answer is “yes,” then you’re on the right track. 

How to Identify Whether Your Site Was Affected by a Helpful Content Update

Google's helpful content updates can shake up search rankings. When they hit, you'll feel it.

You may notice significant and sudden drops in traffic, ranking, and overall visibility.

And these changes typically align with Google's announcements. 

Image of Google Search Status Dashboard

For example, Google rolled out a helpful content update in March 2024. If you saw major fluctuations, your site was probably affected.

How can you be sure?

Check your website’s performance.

Here’s how:

Analyze Traffic

Look for sudden drops in performance using Google Search Console (GSC).

Go to the “Performance” report and compare date ranges before and after a known update.

A sharp decline in clicks, impressions, or average positions around the time of an update is a strong indicator you've been affected.

Monitor Keyword Performance

As an SEO best practice, you should always be tracking your keyword rankings. This can help you evaluate performance over time. 

And it can be particularly useful to see if your site was affected by an update.

Do this with the Position Tracking tool. 

• Set up your campaign
• Add your target keywords
• Check the “Overview” tab regularly for significant changes

You can also set up triggers to get notified if your positions change by a significant amount. 

Why Might Your Site Have Been Hit?

While no one can pinpoint exactly why a site gets hit (or doesn’t), these updates generally target unhelpful content. 

Here are three key factors that often play a role:

Low-Quality Content

Google may demote your content if it:

• Lacks depth or original insights
• Summarizes other sources without adding value
• Doesn't thoroughly answer questions

Google wants to reward content that truly helps people. Not filler designed to rank.

Over-Optimization 

You could be over-optimizing your content. 

Look out for these signs:

• Excessively repeating the primary keyword
• Using awkward phrasing to include specific search terms
• Creating pages solely based on keyword research, not user needs

Google's algorithms have become sophisticated enough to detect signs that content prioritizes SEO tactics over user experience.

Lack of Expertise

Sites that lack clear expertise or attempt to cover topics beyond their core competencies may be flagged as less helpful.

Google wants to rank content that showcases topical expertise. It even uses the Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) framework to help its manual reviewers assess the quality of ranking content.

To help on this point, make sure your content includes:

• Author credentials, background, and reputation
• Use of industry-specific terminology and entities
• Breadth, depth, and accuracy of topic coverage
• Consistency in subject matter across your site

How to Recover from a Helpful Content Update

There’s no guarantee you’ll recover from a helpful content update. 

Even if you make improvements, you might not see results until the next major update. 

But these Google-approved suggestions can improve your content's helpfulness:

Perform a Content Audit

A content audit is a thorough review of your site’s pages. In this case, to specifically uncover unhelpful content. 

It’s a really important first step because you can’t fix what you don’t know is broken. 

To do a content audit:

1. List all the important content pages on your site (blog posts, landing pages, white papers, etc.)
2. Analyze current performance metrics like traffic, rankings, and backlinks
3. Flag underperforming content
4. Categorize content as “Keep,” “Update,” or “Remove”

Further reading: The Ultimate Guide on How to Do a Content Audit (+ Template)

Focus on Satisfying Search Intent

Search intent is the reason behind a user’s search in a search engine. It represents what they’re trying to achieve. 

For example, finding an answer to a question, buying a product, or learning more about a topic. 

And satisfying intent is one of Google’s most important goals. It keeps users happy and coming back.

To make sure your content nails search intent:

• Identify your target keyword’s intent (What is the searcher’s immediate goal?)
• Analyze the SERPs to see what’s currently ranking
• Make sure your content matches or exceeds these expectations

Further reading: What Is Search Intent? A Complete Guide

Improve Content Quality

Quality content is content that is helpful, accurate, reliable, and relevant to your audience. It’s well-researched and produced thoughtfully to provide genuine value. 

Here are a few things you can do to improve the quality of your content:

• Thoroughly research the topic
• Address your customers’ needs and solve their problems
• Showcase your expertise
• Write directly and clearly
• Format for easy reading (short paragraphs, headers, bullet points)
• Check for grammar and spelling errors
• Use plenty of examples throughout

Further reading: Quality Content: What It Is + 10 Actionable Tips for Success

Optimize for Engagement

Engagement measures how users interact with your content. It's about creating content so good users stay, read, and take action.

To boost engagement, try these tactics:

• Write engaging headlines that spark curiosity
• Add internal links to relevant content
• Use visual elements (images, videos, infographics)
• Pose questions to encourage comments and discussion
• Craft compelling calls to action (CTAs) 

Focusing on engagement and you’ll naturally create more helpful content and a better user experience.

Further reading:

• Content Performance: 19 Metrics to Track Your Results
• How to Format Blog Posts: 7 Tips to Boost Engagement

Embrace Quality for Long-Term Success

There are no guarantees of success in SEO. 

But striving for quality and helpfulness—and aligning with Google’s guidelines—will help your chances for long-term success. 

Forget about quick wins or gaming the system.

Instead, build a solid foundation:

• Create content that truly helps your audience
• Stay up to date with SEO best practices
• Regularly audit and improve your existing content

Sign up for a free Semrush account to access 55+ tools to help you analyze, optimize, and track your content’s performance over time. 

It’s the smart way to ensure quality and stay ahead of the curve.