Helpful content update and the future of link building

Looking to understand how March 2024’s helpful content update has impacted the general search landscape, and what it means for the future of link building?

In this blog, we’ll cover what the HCU specifically targets and where it stands in the history of Google updates, as well as how your website can benefit from the most recent algorithm refinement.

We’ve also created a downloadable ‘Helpful Content Checklist‘ to make sure your content is helpful, because, you know, that’s a helpful thing to provide. Right?

What is the helpful content update?

Well, firstly… it’s not new.

Although March 2024’s update is being described as the most impactful since 2012’s Panda update, the helpful content update was originally deployed in August 2022.

“This update sounds a lot like the past Panda update. I suspect, like with Panda, SEOs will look back at Google’s helpful content update and say it caused a fundamental shift in SEO content strategy.” – Barry Schwartz, Search Engine Land

Click the image below to see a history of Google updates on Ahrefs.

Google’s helpful content core update, along with multiple spam updates to core components of the algorithm, by its very name and nature, is designed to deliver the best results for searchers.

This is to combat the issue of websites and web pages that are written specifically to rank in search engines, outranking those that are instead designed to provide value to the reader.

This type of content, which you might call SEO content will be downgraded in search results, Google says.

“We expect that the combination of this update and our previous efforts will collectively reduce low-quality, unoriginal content in search results by 40%.” – Elizabeth Tucker, Director of Product Search, Google

Ultimately, this update is to provide high quality results for a given search term. And, unlike many previous updates – this change to the algorithm will be applied site wide.

So, if your website has high volumes of unhelpful or SEO driven content, you’re likely to see a drop in rankings, even for the content that might otherwise be deemed helpful.

“Removing unhelpful content could help the rankings of your other content” – Google.

OK, but why now?

In short, Ai.

The abuse of AI and the utilisation of other spam tactics to manipulate search results.

“Our long-standing spam policy has been that use of automation, including generative AI, is spam if the primary purpose is manipulating ranking in Search results” – Google

As with everything (literally ever) where there is something to be gained, there is something to gamed.

Although Google has battled and combatted many black hat tactics since the first results were manipulated, the introduction of AI has given marketers with unscrupulous intentions a turbocharged ability to spin up the aforementioned SEO content quicker than ever before.

Producing content at scale to boost search rankings, whether automated, manual or a combination of both is against Google guidelines.

Chris Nelson from the Search Quality team at Google said that March 2024’s helpful content update is:

“More complex than our usual core updates. […] It has refined how it understands which webpages are unhelpful, have a poor user experience or feel like they were created for search engines instead of people. This could include sites created primarily to match very specific search queries,”

Flipping domains

Or, to use the official term: expired domains (and the abuse of) is the practice of purchasing a domain that expired, and reinstating it to resurrect its authority and get a head start.

At the white hat end, this makes sense. You find your perfect domain is available, it fits your brand like a glove – and you set it up with your company in place.

This, in theory and practice, seems fine. Like setting up a new shop on a high street in a prominent position, where another retailer had previously enjoyed success.

At the black hat end of the scale – this is open to abuse.

Maliciously using the good brand of a previously upstanding company to con users, especially in high volumes should the website have held strong ranking positions.

Using the same analogy as above, think of reopening the old shop with seemingly everything the same, except providing customers with counterfeit goods, or worse.

“A third party might publish payday loan reviews on a trusted educational website to gain ranking benefit from the site. Such content ranking highly in Search can confuse or mislead visitors who may have vastly different expectations for the content on a given website” – Google

Perhaps a more common use for flipped domains, is simply draining every last drop of link juice and equity – selling to marketers willing to pay for a quick fix. A domain rating (DR) 75 website, publishing endless unhelpful content and linking out to anyone who will pay.

See, for that reason, I’ve always been very wary of flipped domains. A simple Wayback Machine search on any domain is always worth it, along with any spikes in traffic.

What does it mean for my website?

If you didn’t know it existed, and always try to provide your audience with the best possible content and experience on your website, then not a lot. In fact, scratch that. It might mean that you enjoy better rankings.

However, if you’ve been putting content out purely to rank – you might need to rethink that strategy.

The first thing I ever learned about Google is that it is always evolving, always improving… and that first lesson has remained one of the only constants with search marketing.

Techniques and hacks to game the system are fewer and farther between, and the only winner in the short, medium and long term is quality. It’s always been about the quality.

Simply put, Google’s search engine exists to deliver the best results for a search term. That’s it. Of course, that involves a huge amount of context, nuance and understanding of intent, but ultimately; it wants to show you the best answers to your questions.

So, for your website, and your content marketing strategy – the best approach, has, and always will be: give your users the best possible experience you can.

Apply E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) to everything, and don’t take shortcuts.

That’s great, but how do I actually know my content is helpful?

The four pillars of helpful content are:

• Specific audience targeting
• Written with experience & expertise
• Trustworthy and credible
• Serving the needs of the searcher

Remember in the intro I promised a downloadable guide for proofing your website content? Well, it’s here – inspired by advice directly from Google:

What does that mean for link building?

Google simply can’t move away from links. It loves them. Well, it doesn’t like it when spammers abuse them, but good ones – it can’t get enough.

It can refine how it values them (and it has, many times), but backlinks are the vehicle it uses to traverse the web.

With the March 2024 helpful content update, Google is attempting to value links that are deemed helpful, and downgrade links that have been built purely to achieve false ranking positions.

High quality content on your website being referenced by a high quality, relevant website to the betterment of users, will never be a bad thing.

What makes a website helpful is subjective, to a degree, though one thing that should be clear is that it isn’t the metrics or authority alone.

Domain Authority (DA) and Domain Rating (DR) may be a simple way to assess at scale, but in practice it is much less useful than relevance. Industry, country and keyword rankings are a much more targeted way of assessing value, especially combined with traffic.

So, with a keen focus to stress quality once more, link building at the higher end is more vital than ever before.

Building topical relevance within your industry to appeal to your audience, and improve rankings is no different from a note on the newsagents advert board, or a feature in the enthusiasts monthly magazine.

A form of advertising that serves the audience well, and as a bi-product is factored into the algorithm of the search engine attempting to deliver the best results.

It requires a lot of faith, and likely some trial and error. Whilst working harder is of course encouraged, that’s not to say one shouldn’t work smarter, too.

To give your content and link building efforts the best possible chance of success, make sure you are providing:

• Information that is first hand, from your own personal experience and not regurgitated from other sources.
• Messages are that of the company or brand, and supports your overall goals.
• Advice that is both informative and educational, with actionable outputs.
• Helpful information that isn’t trying to sell at every opportunity.

Be honest, open and transparent about what you are doing – and don’t try to trick robots into believing something that isn’t true. Remember, a people-first approach is going to be the winner.

Actionable takeaway:

Target the featured snippets in Google’s search results for some of your most valuable search terms. That is a surefire example of Google valuing your content, and deeming it helpful.

Final thoughts

Like previous core updates, the next few weeks and months are going to see fluctuations in rankings as it settles in. However, regardless of how your website has fared up against the HCU, your approach to content and the information you give to your users likely needs attention.

In the best case scenario, you can gain competitive advantage over your organic competitors by redoubling efforts to provide the best information available. In the worst case scenario, however, your competitors are redoubling their efforts and may usurp your positions.

The world of search is changing (as it always has), only this time the focus on quality has never been greater or more important. To succeed in organic search today you need to be the best, or on the journey to becoming so – and that is no bad thing. Use the data at your disposal, and always think of the person on the other side of the screen who is consuming your content. Write for them, and just as you would in a showroom or shop – be as helpful as you possibly can.