The (Helpful) Content Marketing: Check Google Latest Updates

Due to recent Google updates in August 2024, the ranking of major companies declined severely on search engines, although they adhere to SEO content marketing standards. Why? Only because the content is low quality. So, what are the updates Google made to content marketing standards? And how can you enhance the content quality? Let’s explore further.

Since the introduction of Google’s Helpful Content update in December 2022, the focus has been on encouraging content that is genuinely helpful and informative. Google emphasizes meeting user needs, delivering real value, and rewarding high-quality content.

At the same time, Google has been cracking down on low-quality content by penalizing practices like keyword stuffing, cloaking, and other manipulative tactics. Pages with shallow content that focus solely on ranking rather than user benefit have been ranked lower.

In September 2023, Google rolled out another major update to its Helpful Content standards. This update reinforced the priority for ranking high-quality content, regardless of its origin. It also flagged misleading practices like “renting” subdomains or subdirectories and updating content dates without making significant changes, both of which are now considered deceptive.

Finally, in August 2024, Google introduced a significant core update that reshaped website rankings across multiple sectors. In their announcement, Google stated:
“Today, we launched our August 2024 core update to Google Search. This update is designed to continue our work to improve the quality of our search results by showing more content that people find genuinely useful and less content that feels like it was made just to perform well on Search.”

These updates highlight Google’s commitment to ensuring search results prioritize valuable, user-focused content marketing strategies over manipulative tactics.

One notable website impacted by these changes is FindThisBest.com, renowned for its product recommendations. The site experienced a substantial decline in traffic that exceeded 60%.

Why Are These Updates Important?
Imagine walking into a shopping mall to buy a new T-shirt, aiming to complete that mission in less than 30 minutes. The first shop, which appears to be selling T-shirts, only to find it sells cleaning supplies. Frustrated, you move to the second shop, confident this time that it sells men’s T-shirts, only to discover they sell home decorations. Finally, you try a third store, its signage clearly indicating men’s shirts—but once you’re in, you find it’s actually a perfume shop.

This is exactly what happens when marketing content tactics are used solely to attract large numbers of visitors without offering real value. Users leave frustrated, feeling their time was wasted, and gain nothing from the experience. Google’s updates aim to prevent these practices by ensuring that users find trustworthy, relevant, and high-quality content that meets their expectations.

Google also faces competition from alternative search engines that aim to capture a share of the browsing audience. These competitors strive to outperform Google by delivering more user-focused results, providing the information users are seeking in the shortest possible time.

How to Develop Successful Content Marketing That Also (Helps) Users?

If you want your content marketing efforts to align with Google new standards, follow these best practices:

1. Deliver Purposeful and Relevant Content

Avoid stuffing keywords, and craft a marketing content strategy that is highly relevant to your industry and addresses specific problems faced by your audience. For example, consider what a potential smartphone buyer wants to know. Topics could include:
- “The Top 10 Camera Modes for Social Media Photos.”
- “Which Smartphones Currently Support NFC?”
- “The Best Charging Duration for Huawei Device Batteries.”

Also avoid providing superficial content that merely praises a product’s design without answering users’ questions. If users don’t find answers and leave the page within seconds, your website’s ranking on Google will have a hard time reviving.

Stay focused on your niche, write content marketing campaigns that align with your business’s field and audience. For example, if you run an online marketplace targeting entrepreneurs, you could:

Offer a premium, luxurious coffee brand specifically tailored to their preferences.
Create content that explains“Why Entrepreneurs Prefer This Coffee.”

But don’t design rice packaging shaped like a businessman’s briefcase or publish content on “The Benefits of Eating Rice During Leisure Time.”

2. Enhance User Experience

Focus on user-friendly writing:
- Make your content easy to understand, with clear communication of information.
- Structure your content to help readers follow along effortlessly, using headings, bullet points, or numbered lists to keep ideas organized and improve focus.
Use keywords naturally, targeting search terms related to your niche, products, and services.

Regularly review and update your content to ensure it remains accurate and relevant.
Outdated or irrelevant content can harm your website’s ranking.
Provide a seamless browsing experience by:
- Ensuring fast and easy navigation.
- Making it simple for users to move between pages and reach the payment page.
- Offering all common payment methods available in your region.

3. Focus on the Added Value in Your Content Marketing

While it’s fine to stay updated on trends, focus only on those that align with your business field and genuinely serve your audience. Choose trends that match your tone of voice, and don’t undermine your company’s reputation or professionalism—especially if you are a B2B company speaking to business professionals.
The value of content can change depending on timing. For example, writing about “How to Save Your Tablet from Overheating” offers practical value during summer but is less relevant during winter. Always align your topics with the current needs and priorities of your audience.
Prioritize the greater benefit. If you have two valid topics to publish, choose the one that offers the most immediate and meaningful benefit to your audience.
Avoid overloading information. Audiences can absorb a specific amount of information in a single blog. Focus on concise, actionable, and easily digestible content to keep users engaged, and avoid overloading your content with excessive details or overly long lists, as this can overwhelm readers and lead them to leave your webpage also.

Dos and Don’ts in Developing Content Marketing Strategies

Dos

Create Valuable, In-Depth Content:
- Avoid superficial content marketing crafted only to attract search engines. With Google’s recent updates, such content is likely to experience decreased visibility.
Ensure a Satisfying User Experience:
- Meet users’ expectations, and give full information in your content marketing. That includes ads, blogs, static pages, product pages, and service descriptions. Highlight that as your ultimate content marketing concept.
Combine Creativity with Utility:
- Content marketing now doesn’t depend on creativity alone, but also on practicality, to leave a lasting impression on users.
Build Credibility with Accurate Information:
- Avoid all forms of misleading. Position your website as a reliable source of information in your business field. This trust can make users prefer your website—even if it ranks in the below results. Building credibility is a key step toward generating leads and conversions.
It’s OK to Use AI:
- Google now focuses on content quality rather than who’s created. Whether written by AI or humans, the priority now is for marketing useful high-quality content.
Maintain Humor Whenever Appropriate:
- A sense of humor often performs well, especially on social media platforms. Even in business communication, humor can enhance engagement—as long as it aligns with your brand and is appropriate for your audience.

Don’ts

Avoid Misleading Updates to Blog Dates:
- Do not update a blog publishing or updating dates unless you’ve made significant changes to the content. Editing dates without substantial updates is now considered a misleading practice that ranks lower.
Don’t Rely on Outdated or Superficial Content:
- Google’s latest updates penalize outdated content. Regularly update your content information to keep it fresh and useful.
Don’t Overlook the Importance of Relevance:
- Even when using humor, it must always be balanced with professionalism. Avoid content that doesn’t fit your brand or tone, this can also harm your credibility, especially in B2B settings.

Summary:

In the near future, websites are expected to undergo significant reorganization on search engines. Pages that develop their content marketing based on prioritizing high quality, user needs, and avoiding misleading tactics will see improved rankings. This means attracting a more relevant target audience, higher traffic, increased clicks, more conversions, and better engagement on your website and social media platforms.

Request Professional Content Marketing Services

If your website is exposed to negative impacts by recent updates, it may take months to recover and improve its ranking. Act now by collaborating with a professional content marketing agency to craft effective campaigns. Focus on delivering value and building trust with your target audience, establishing credibility for your website, and boosting its search engine rankings.

Request Rosella team’s services today!

Sources