Anyone who understands the value of content will agree that its core purpose is to build bridges, educate and create stronger connections between people and vital information.
Google has always championed these core principles and is now launching what they call the “Helpful Content Update”, which is music to many content creators’ ears.
This launch is all part of a greater effort to make sure that people have the opportunity to improve their services and the user experience by seeing original, magnetic and helpful content in search results, and the exciting part is that it is content written by people, for people — hooray!
So, why should you care about this?
In the end, the quality of your content will determine how valuable people think it is. The more organic traffic the content gets, the more Google notices. Quality content that resonates will heavily dictate the amount of visibility you get.
The helpful content update aims to better reward content where visitors feel they’ve had a satisfying experience, while content that doesn’t meet a visitor’s expectations won’t perform as well.
How can you ensure you’re creating content that will be successful with Google’s new update?
The concept seems simple; create content for people, not search engines. But we understand that for many business owners, this is not always as easy as it sounds. Content must also work alongside SEO (search engine optimisation) efforts to ensure that any content produced ranks well and hits the terms, keywords and topics your audience cares about. Determining this will come off the back of detailed and data-driven research.
People-first content creators focus on creating satisfying content while utilising SEO best practices to bring searchers additional value. Answering yes to the questions below means you’re probably on the right track with a people-first approach.
What should you be asking yourself?
When determining any successful content strategy, you must challenge yourself and ask the following questions;
- Does your content clearly demonstrate first-hand expertise and a depth of knowledge?
- Does your site have a primary purpose or focus?
- After reading your content, will the user leave feeling enriched, like they’ve learned enough about a topic to help achieve their objective?
- Will someone reading your content leave feeling like they’ve had a happy user journey/experience?
- Are you keeping up to date with any of Google’s core updates?
Avoid creating content for SEO benefit alone
We advise keeping content fresh and compelling. Think of content as a way to stand apart from competitors and tell people why you are the best at what you do, regardless of your business size. Create content you know your users want to see, not the content you think may rank well. Content created primarily for search engine traffic runs the risk of being bland and uninteresting, leaving the user unengaged and looking elsewhere.
If you want to learn more about the inner workings of Google’s Helpful Content Update, you can, and in doing so, discover more about why people-focused content is crucial to the success of your business.
How Candidsky can help
At Candidsky, we offer an array of Content Marketing Services and always prioritise a people-first approach, but we also understand the fundamental importance of ensuring that content works in tandem with SEO best practices, which is a helpful activity when it’s applied to people-first content.
If you feel your content is not performing how you want, creating quality conversions or getting you the visibility you deserve, we want to help. By working closely to establish your needs and the inner workings of your target market, we can launch a full-scale discovery and content plan, ensuring that all boxes are ticked when it comes to giving your clients the type of content they want to see.
So, contact us now to discuss how we can help elevate your content to the next level and keep up with Google’s requirements. Our Manchester SEO agency will be here with you every step of the way.