Google is cracking down on content creators publishing ‘unsatisfying content’ aimed purely at ranking on the search engine without offering any added value to readers, digital marketing agency Infinity Nation is warning businesses.
The Swindon-based search expert and accredited Google Partner says an update which began rolling out this week will instead prioritize “original, helpful content written by people, for people”.
Web editors copying the work of others, producing clickbait, and posting content written by artificial intelligence will find themselves in Google’s firing line, said the agency.
Infinity Nation said the major change to Google’s algorithm was “one of the most significant updates in the last ten years,” and that many users will have to change their content strategy.
“The helpful content update is being rolled out to better reward and rank content where web users feel they have had a positive experience,” said Infinity Nation’s founder and CEO Al Keck.
“In contrast, content that doesn’t meet these criteria will be penalized – lose rankings and generally not perform as well.”
The firm said ‘unhelpful content’ is:
- Duplicated or Unoriginal
- Keyword stuffed
- Poor/awkward call to actions
- Not solving a problem or question
- Overly promotional
- Fools the experts
- It doesn’t provide credibility
- Lacks purpose
Actions that website owners and managers need to take to ensure their sites are not penalized include:
- Remove any unhelpful content – not just unhelpful pages/URLs
- Create content for people
- Don’t use automation to create content on many topics
- Create original content that adds value
- Don’t create content due to “trends”
- Answer your user’s questions – don’t leave them with more questions or unanswered questions
- Don’t write for a particular word count – Google does not have a preferred word count – longer articles will appear to rank better as they usually provide in-depth answers
- Don’t create bait-click content or content with empty promises
Based in Brinkworth, Infinity Nation has been helping clients improve their visibility on the web since 2007.
Its team of 19 offers a range of services including search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, social media advertising, and email, reinforced by the interrogation of customers’ purchase history and habits.
For more on the rollout of Google’s Helpful Content Update visit https://www.infinitynation.com/blogs/general/google-helpful-content-update-2022/