Back in 2022, Google launched the Helpful Content Update in order to remove “content that seems to have been primarily created for ranking well in search engines rather than to help or inform people.” It was, in part, aimed at reducing user frustration that occurred from bouncing between sites to find the information they needed.
But what exactly is helpful content? And how can you make sure you create it on your site?
Google sets out a number of questions to ask yourself to help determine whether your content is deemed useful. However, this doesn’t necessarily paint the whole picture and it’s important to look at helpful content from a broader SEO perspective too.
We’re going to examine both Google’s recommendations and some additional considerations to help you make your website content as helpful as it can be.
What is helpful content?
Helpful content is content written to aid the human reading it. If you’re writing with the primary aim of ranking on search engines, then your content may be unhelpful and your rankings won’t improve.
Real people use search engines to help them answer questions: how do I create this recipe? What’s the best car on the market? Does the iPhone have face recognition? What are some ideas for birthday gifts? Where can I buy this product? Helpful content addresses these questions and answers them fully and accurately, even anticipating follow-up questions.
Websites with helpful content leave the user feeling satisfied because they’ve had an easy time finding the information they needed.
How to Create Helpful Content
Consider Audience Needs and Desires
The first step to providing helpful content on your website is to know who you’re providing it for. Who is your audience? What do they want? How does your product or service help them?
It’s worth noting that this content doesn’t have to come in the form of a blog or a guide. Knowing your audience means – in part – knowing what they’re looking for. If they want an in-depth, 3,000–word essay, then that’s what you provide. But if they’re just looking for a product to help them solve an issue, then helpful content is the product details, some reviews, and an easy way to buy them.
Learn how to get to know your audience.
Choose Format
What is the best, most helpful content for your users to consume? Do they like text? Would video be more appropriate? Perhaps lots of graphics and imagery is the way to go, or do you need to pare it back? Again, knowing your audience is key here, and while one person might find a step-by-step written guide helpful, another may prefer a “show don’t tell” method.
Get the Length Right
The length of your content will very much depend on the subject and, again, your audience. A guide to a complex topic isn’t going to be very helpful if it’s only a couple of hundred words long. On the flip side, creating a 50-minute video describing the candle you sell also isn’t helpful.
Remember: your content is created to answer questions that a user has, and to provide information that they find useful. Content that’s too long is boring and repetitive, and may be hard to extract relevant details from. Content that’s too short may not have enough information to be valuable.
Learn how to write good website copy.
Think About Language
What kind of language resonates with your audience? What kind of words and phrasing would help them best understand your content?
The type of language you use will come down to both your audience and your brand. A peppy brand aimed at teenagers will be very different to that of a company that runs yoga retreats, or from a business that specialises in antiques.
If you use wording that’s too complex for your audience, or too simple, they’ll find the content less helpful (or be less willing to consume it), so picking your words carefully is important .
Consider your Layout
Think about how you read a webpage or watch a video. Do you watch every minute or read every word? Do you skip through the content to find a specific nugget of information?
Chances are, you do both, depending on what you’re looking for. That’s why it’s important – in order to make your content as helpful as possible – to cater for skimmers as well as those who are going to fully consume it. Think about how you could break content into sections for easy navigation, or highlight particularly pertinent information that can be picked out at a glance.
Demonstrate Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T)
Google is very keen to provide information that is accurate, unique, and backed up by genuine knowledge and understanding. It specifically advises against using duplicate content, or content that provides the same old information in the same old way.
In such a crowded space, your personal expertise and experience is invaluable here, because no one can have exactly the same experience as you. Google uses a measure called E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness) to identify – in part – how helpful content is.
Consider how you can bring your own unique perspective to your content. Have you tried out the products you’re selling? Can you share tips and recommendations as a result? Do you know your subject in-depth enough that you can impart plenty of useful information?
Trustworthiness comes from proving your knowledge and experience. It also comes from being honest. Don’t promise to answer questions where an answer doesn’t exist. Drawing users in with false promises is heavily frowned upon by Google and you should absolutely avoid misleading site visitors or outright lying to them.
Stay Focused
What is your site’s primary focus or aim? Does all your content relate to that?
You may have heard about a keyword that gets lots of traffic, so have written a page to target that keyword in search. But if that keyword has nothing to do with your site, Google is going to look unfavourably on it. Don’t write about multiple unrelated topics in the hopes that some of them will rank well.
Similarly, avoid writing about topics that are trending just to try and get traffic. Only cover them if they’re genuinely relevant to your product or service.
For example, a site selling garden supplies doesn’t need to write about the best local wedding venues. Even if the content is informative, it’s not relevant to the site.
Always be Human-First
Ultimately, good Search Engine Optimisation is all about putting the human user first. Remember that you’re creating content to help a person – your customer – and not a robot like Google.
If you’re not sure about how helpful your content is, then get feedback. Find a friend who would be similar to your ideal customer. Or contact your past and current customers and ask for their feedback. Getting real-life responses will really help you create successful, helpful content.
Conclusion
Google wants your content to be helpful to potential customers and consumers, so it will push your website up the search rankings when you achieve this. In order to create such content, consider your audience first of all: who are they, what are their pain points, what questions are they asking, what is the key information they need? Answering these will help you create informative and useful content that will encourage sales and boost SEO.
