Since the Helpful Content update, questions around how page evaluation standards are changing have been looming. While there’s still a lot to be determined about how this update will truly impact websites and content, there are a few things we do know about what will make a page bad – and good! One of these things is that the biggest change introduced from the helpful content update is a site-wide signal that’s now being generated based on how helpful your website’s content is. In short, one bad page really can impact the performance of the rest of your website. Here’s what you need to know about that, and what you can do to make sure your content is performing to the best of its ability.
What makes content “helpful?”
It seems like a simple answer: write your content for humans and not robots, and you’re writing helpful content. But putting that into practice has truly never been more difficult. We do know several things for sure that can earn pages penalties, however, so if you notice some pages on your website aren’t performing particularly well, these might be good places to look.
What types of pages and content could earn penalties?
Can one page impact my entire website? 3 Things to know in a post-Helpful Content world.As you assess your website, keep one thing in mind: if something is annoying to you, it’s probably earning you a penalty from Google too. With that being said, here are some more specific examples.
Content for the sake of content.
Don’t write just to write! Google has explicitly said that there is no minimum word count that will make any page rank higher, so adding fluff to your articles, blogs, or web pages won’t do anything for you. That includes things like keyword stuffing, or adding a ton of extra articles around topics that are similar yet slightly different. Keep your content clear, concise, helpful, and if you can, stick to topics you have first-hand knowledge and experience with.
Poor user experience.
Do you love to play whack-a-mole with moving ads? Does it thrill you to try and figure out which little box on your screen is playing the loud music? We’re guessing it doesn’t. Unfortunately, lots of ad companies pay top dollar to place their ads in spots like these, which explains why we now see them on websites that need the ad revenue. Understand that the tradeoff of making money through these ads is frustrated users and penalties from Google – so if you’re trying to build lasting relationships with a client base, it’s best to avoid services like this. However, it’s still possible to inadvertently frustrate your users with pop ups or boxes on your website that aren’t placed correctly or take up too much space on your website. People generally do not like these things, which means Google does not like them either. If you have something like a chatbot that activates when a user first accesses your website, keep it unobtrusive and off to the side of the screen. Or, If you’re utilizing a pop up to collect information, make sure you’re keeping it within the guidelines set forth by Google.
Back up any claims you make.
If you publish YMYL content regularly, this is absolutely the most important tip for you. Regardless of what you publish, however, you must back up any health claims you make. Health websites were hit especially hard in this update, so establishing your authority and expertise if you want to make health claims is incredibly important if you want to avoid penalties. For example, if you run an aesthetics practice and you want to write about how your new device or procedure helps people lose weight, you need to include the science behind how exactly it does that.
We Can Help
Has your website taken a hit since the Helpful Content update? MyAdvice has been helping practices like yours navigate Google updates for more than 20 years. Contact one of our digital marketing experts for a complimentary analysis.
