Google Releases Helpful Content Update To Show Us That: SEO Is About People, Not Bots
Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2025 8:40 am
The update is compared to preview algorithm updates like Panda and Penguin, which caused SEO experts to change the way they design their strategies.
While it sounds pretty good in theory, what does it purchase shareholder database actually change in practice for marketers and SEO professionals? Basically, as Google said, content creators should focus on people first and avoid creating content for search engines. Let's dive in!
What does Google mean by “people first”?
With these guidelines, Google is prioritizing content written by people for people, rather than just publishing pieces for search engines. People-centric content is all about answering questions and satisfying your reader.
Updating useful content also avoids unoriginal pieces that just summarize what other creators say without adding value or anything new.
Some SEO professionals may be familiar with this strategy:
The content creator identifies a keyword that he or she wants to reach the top search positions;
They then take the content from the top three ranked sites and “remix” it into unoriginal text as a sort of rewrite, designed only to catch the attention of Google’s algorithm, often without adding any additional value to the reader.
This is a strategy that Google wants to avoid in order to offer good content to search engines.
So, to create better content for your readers and re-evaluate your content, Google recommends the following questions:
Do you have an existing or anticipated audience for your business or site that would find your content useful if it came directly from you?
Does your content clearly demonstrate first-hand experience and in-depth knowledge (for example, experience that comes from having used a product or service, or having visited a location)?
Does your site have a main purpose or focus?
After reading your content, will someone walk away feeling like they learned enough about a topic to help them achieve their goal?
Will anyone who reads your content leave feeling like they've had a satisfying experience?
Have you considered our guide to major updates and product revisions?
This is also not the first time that Google has launched an update focused on content. If we look at Google's algorithm history , we can find some important examples such as Panda and Penguin.
Source: Yoast SEO
In theory, every website should always be written for its users. So, those who have this in mind even before the Useful Content Update, are in the right place.
Google will also evaluate all your content
An old SEO practice was to publish large volumes of content using the rewriting tactic we explained above and try to rank only some of it. If you still rely on that, you have trouble coming.
In this new update, Google will not only analyze each post to rank each piece of content in isolation. It will analyze all of your content as a whole to give a "signal" related to all of your domains that indicates whether your content is quality or not as a whole.
If most of your content is low quality and made only for search engine tools, you have a high chance of losing some valuable positions in the SERPs, even if some pieces are considered high quality.
How can you get them back? You will need to remove all this low-quality content from your site and wait a few months until Google understands that your domain has changed its tactics – this is another feature of the Google Helpful Content Update: it will run analyses continuously in real time from now on to determine the quality of the content, not just at the launch of the update.
How to create strategies for your content from now on?
Now let's move on to the tactical part. I have some tips to help you improve the quality of your content, always keeping the user as a priority.
Back to the "base"
Every marketing strategy needs a deep analysis of its target audience. That is something that will never change. Researching your personas is a common task in our workflow.
Updating useful content is very helpful if we double check our buyer persona .
So, if you haven't already, review your empathy map and try to understand if your content really matches your buyer persona's needs right now.
Avoid relying too much on AI
Generating content with AI is a new practice to publish a large volume of pieces in less time. However, you need to re-evaluate whether an AI can write the content for you . If they are really useful in optimizing your content, human editing is key to making a difference.
When creating content, rely on other tools, such as current data, your competitors, or social listening. You can also use tools, such as Answer The Public or SERP features that show common queries and needs on any topic.
Add the value that only you could add
As I said before, Google is prioritizing content that is clearly written firsthand and conveys a deep understanding of the creator.
Not just Google. Your readers prioritize this, too. Here’s the mindset: when people visit your site or blog, they want to know what you (or your brand) have to say about a given topic.
There is too much information about the same topic online. How will your website stand out from the rest?
Provide real examples, cases, data, studies, your opinion and your experience. I will leave three examples of content that we produced here, at Rock Content, that followed this premise:
Google Fakes: Website traffic is inflated by spam visitors from Czech Republic and Seychelles. How to deal with this?
The old Google Analytics is being retired. What can you expect from GA4?
I tried the new Instagram feed before launch: it looks and feels like another TikTok
Don't post massive generic content
Focus on publishing better content that satisfies and provides important answers and insights to your reader. This takes time to do and requires planning.
Before you go looking for the keyword positions you'd like to achieve in the SERPs, ask yourself: how can I add value to this topic? This will certainly help you avoid the temptation of producing a large volume of generic, unplanned, low-quality content.
What Google is telling us is: “ Ignore me; please your users .”
Every time we create a post, let’s not forget that there’s another human reading it. The Helpful Content Upgrade aims to teach us to remember our main goal: helping our audience through our content .
While it sounds pretty good in theory, what does it purchase shareholder database actually change in practice for marketers and SEO professionals? Basically, as Google said, content creators should focus on people first and avoid creating content for search engines. Let's dive in!
What does Google mean by “people first”?
With these guidelines, Google is prioritizing content written by people for people, rather than just publishing pieces for search engines. People-centric content is all about answering questions and satisfying your reader.
Updating useful content also avoids unoriginal pieces that just summarize what other creators say without adding value or anything new.
Some SEO professionals may be familiar with this strategy:
The content creator identifies a keyword that he or she wants to reach the top search positions;
They then take the content from the top three ranked sites and “remix” it into unoriginal text as a sort of rewrite, designed only to catch the attention of Google’s algorithm, often without adding any additional value to the reader.
This is a strategy that Google wants to avoid in order to offer good content to search engines.
So, to create better content for your readers and re-evaluate your content, Google recommends the following questions:
Do you have an existing or anticipated audience for your business or site that would find your content useful if it came directly from you?
Does your content clearly demonstrate first-hand experience and in-depth knowledge (for example, experience that comes from having used a product or service, or having visited a location)?
Does your site have a main purpose or focus?
After reading your content, will someone walk away feeling like they learned enough about a topic to help them achieve their goal?
Will anyone who reads your content leave feeling like they've had a satisfying experience?
Have you considered our guide to major updates and product revisions?
This is also not the first time that Google has launched an update focused on content. If we look at Google's algorithm history , we can find some important examples such as Panda and Penguin.
Source: Yoast SEO
In theory, every website should always be written for its users. So, those who have this in mind even before the Useful Content Update, are in the right place.
Google will also evaluate all your content
An old SEO practice was to publish large volumes of content using the rewriting tactic we explained above and try to rank only some of it. If you still rely on that, you have trouble coming.
In this new update, Google will not only analyze each post to rank each piece of content in isolation. It will analyze all of your content as a whole to give a "signal" related to all of your domains that indicates whether your content is quality or not as a whole.
If most of your content is low quality and made only for search engine tools, you have a high chance of losing some valuable positions in the SERPs, even if some pieces are considered high quality.
How can you get them back? You will need to remove all this low-quality content from your site and wait a few months until Google understands that your domain has changed its tactics – this is another feature of the Google Helpful Content Update: it will run analyses continuously in real time from now on to determine the quality of the content, not just at the launch of the update.
How to create strategies for your content from now on?
Now let's move on to the tactical part. I have some tips to help you improve the quality of your content, always keeping the user as a priority.
Back to the "base"
Every marketing strategy needs a deep analysis of its target audience. That is something that will never change. Researching your personas is a common task in our workflow.
Updating useful content is very helpful if we double check our buyer persona .
So, if you haven't already, review your empathy map and try to understand if your content really matches your buyer persona's needs right now.
Avoid relying too much on AI
Generating content with AI is a new practice to publish a large volume of pieces in less time. However, you need to re-evaluate whether an AI can write the content for you . If they are really useful in optimizing your content, human editing is key to making a difference.
When creating content, rely on other tools, such as current data, your competitors, or social listening. You can also use tools, such as Answer The Public or SERP features that show common queries and needs on any topic.
Add the value that only you could add
As I said before, Google is prioritizing content that is clearly written firsthand and conveys a deep understanding of the creator.
Not just Google. Your readers prioritize this, too. Here’s the mindset: when people visit your site or blog, they want to know what you (or your brand) have to say about a given topic.
There is too much information about the same topic online. How will your website stand out from the rest?
Provide real examples, cases, data, studies, your opinion and your experience. I will leave three examples of content that we produced here, at Rock Content, that followed this premise:
Google Fakes: Website traffic is inflated by spam visitors from Czech Republic and Seychelles. How to deal with this?
The old Google Analytics is being retired. What can you expect from GA4?
I tried the new Instagram feed before launch: it looks and feels like another TikTok
Don't post massive generic content
Focus on publishing better content that satisfies and provides important answers and insights to your reader. This takes time to do and requires planning.
Before you go looking for the keyword positions you'd like to achieve in the SERPs, ask yourself: how can I add value to this topic? This will certainly help you avoid the temptation of producing a large volume of generic, unplanned, low-quality content.
What Google is telling us is: “ Ignore me; please your users .”
Every time we create a post, let’s not forget that there’s another human reading it. The Helpful Content Upgrade aims to teach us to remember our main goal: helping our audience through our content .