The Helpful Content Update (HCU) algorithm was rolled out by google in December 2022. It aims at providing ‘Helpful Content’ to the users. As the name suggests, it targets only content that is precisely created with the intent to help readers to get exact answers of their queries.
With this update, Google wants to ensure that the users are getting more relevant and original information i.e. ‘Written by people, for people’.
In any case, if Google detects your blog or website for violating the ‘HCU’ guidelines, it will send a sitewide signal. So, the negativity goes for the entire portal, not just the one article. In simpler words, If 70% of the pages were found to be affected by the update, then it will have an impact on the rest of the 30% as well.
You won’t get hit by a manual penalty, but the organic visibility and traffic will get down. If you think you have been affected by the update, then firstly you have to do an extensive audit of your website. Delete the content that is adding little or no value to the user’s life.
It can be tricky for large-scale website designing companies that have developed thousands of business websites and provide their services to other organizations. In this article, we have penned some critical points that can certainly help you from a Google ‘Helpful Content Update’ Hit.
Let’s check them one by one.
1. Delete low quality pages
Writing content from the SEO point-of-view won’t keep you happy for a long time. One day or the other, Google’s HCU will take the website down. If such is the case for you, then eradicate all the affected pages/content asap.
Always practice writing the content that serves the user, not the crawler. Well-written, informative, and engaging content can certainly match the audience’s requirements. Other option is to update old pages with fresh contents. Adding facts and figures from high authority websites are also a good tactic to weight your content.
2. Focus on providing better user experience
Try to make it easier for people to access your website and web pages. A website with complex architecture gets hard for users to understand and access the specific information they need on the website. Be sure for easy navigation. Avoid adding multiple hashtags. Images must be web optimized.
In addition to this, focus on the vitals that google has been recommending for years such as Optimizing the website speed, Reducing the loading times, and keeping a note on the latest update of Google core web vitals. In simple terms, don’t clutter your website or blog with too many widgets and ads.
3. Remove the AI generated content
Some companies are trying hard to expand the usage of their AI writing tool. But Google’s policy is very strict against AI tools. It violates the fundamental policy of helpful content update, So, Get rid of the AI-powered tools for creating the content for your website with immediate effect. Such content will always hamper ranking of your website.
Recently, Google has wiped out 2 types of AI Tools i.e. Glorified and AI Functional Article Spinners. We always recommend hiring professional SEO content writer for blog writing services. With the invention of ChatGPT, people are writing fast contents. But, in long run, it will all go negative.
4. Throw out recycled content
Some websites tend to recycle the content that is published somewhere else. What they actually do is, copy the content from some other website, then revise the content with certain modifications, and publish that piece of content on their website. Such copy-alter-paste is a thing of past. Google will surely catch you and stop sending traffic to your site.
Such content is of no no real value for the users. One fine day, HCU will come and punish the website eventually. Always practice covering the latest trends or topics that are unique and haven’t been published anywhere else. You need to strive hard for your unique content.
5. Keep down the ads
Some websites provide terrible experiences to the coming users. They incorporate tons of ads that send an invite to Google to take the website down. As mentioned earlier, always aim for smooth UI and UX. It will lure the readers to come again and again to your blog. It will improve the ratio of returning user.
It has been said that The ‘Helpful Content Update’ is very keen on user experience. These ads work as an obstruction when a user is looking for some piece of information on the internet. Try to show only 3-4 ads on a page.
6. Emphasize on search query & user’s search intent
This is one of the most important thing in the series of do’s and don’ts of helpful content update by Google. What most people do, they focus on the wrong end. This is where they encounter a mistake. You need to understand the user’s intent behind a search query.
Pay attention to the user’s needs, and try to create valuable content catering to those needs. Just running in a mad race isn’t going to benefit anyways. You should use Google Keyword Planner to understand what users are searching and according write content to reach them. Such reverse engineering will help to write usable content, which is actually in demand from the readers.
7. Remove thin content
Google certainly believes that a webpage that contains 5 to 6 sentences won’t benefit the user anyhow. Helpful Content Updates cover this aspect as well. Either you should remove all those pages, or update them with unique & compelling content.
Such text can’t give a wholesome knowledge to any user and can’t fulfil their need. Try to write at least 1000+ words meaningful and relevant content. It will also help for SEO boosting. You should also use paid or free SEO tools to understand the technical details of your content.
8. Be patient
It takes time to recover from the effects of Google’s update. There is no fixed time period mentioned for that anywhere. As soon as you have realized that you have encountered an update, you need to put your whole focus on doing the right things constantly.
It’s a long process and no one can you give you guarantee. There is no fixed window of time for it. So, the best part is to not to get affected by such hit at the very first place. Once you are in blacklist, it needs a mammoth work to come back in ranking again.
Conclusion
So, we have shared top-most 8 tips and methods to overcome the hit of Helpful Content Update of Google. We wish it will help you to get back on track again. But, as mentioned earlier, you need to continuously strive hard for quality contents.