Does anyone know what Google means by "Helpful Content"?

How does a computer know and determine if a piece of content helpful or not? Can they do that using AI and ML? I know that Google takes into account your site authority and backlinks profile but I am sure they use AI to determine how much content is relevant.

Can Google really return the most helpful content? Or are they trying?

I have seen many bloggers with top notch content fail to rank at the top 10 after the HCU.

 

User-generated content is original and adds high value. It is not generated by AI or translations.

Even spinning can be effective for keywords with low competition.

Co-founder of Seokaos.com

 

Here are some ways an alogrithm can determine if a piece of content is helpful:
1. CTR- click through rate
2. Session duration
3. Last/final click
4. Social media links, likes, shares, good content normally finds it's way to one or two social platforms
5. Backlinks to the article- over time a good piece of content should get a couple backlinks
6. Readability- properly structured content, 9th grade reading level, shorter paragraphs, avoid passive voice and sentence fragments.
7. Uniqueness- aim for 100% unique text
8. Overall Site Quality score- thin content, errors, low ctr, high bounce rate, poor readability, high amount of non-indexed posts in GSC that google determined wasn't good enough to index, etc can lower the overall score.

Google can use these metrics mentioned above to score pages against each other in the SERP's and move them up or down in position accordingly.

 

Thank you for this helpful reply.

What is the reason behind "Final Click"? I haven't heard of this before

 

I would say who knows? Let's just see what's still ranking highly once the update is finished.

My guess would be it's the same as always, just post useful stuff.

I disagree with the AI thing. I blog with AI and have seen growth. I think human written content can be just as trash. UX is UX.

 

AI content is not always evil ):
Google is reportedly paying publishers thousands of dollars to use its AI to write stories

 

It's important to note that while search engines aim to return the most helpful content, the algorithms are not perfect, and rankings can be influenced by various factors. The introduction of updates, such as the Human-Centric Understanding (HCU) you mentioned, can impact rankings, sometimes leading to fluctuations and changes in search results.

 

Well i think the most important thing for google was always the value ofered to people ,so in cincluzion the content needs to be great for people .Lets not forget that sites ,blogs etc are build for people and not for search engines

 

I Thinks, Its something that really meet the need of answer of What They Intent to search

 

Google's "Helpful Content" prioritizes content that genuinely helps users. It focuses on content written by experts, directly addressing user needs, and avoiding fluff.
While Google uses AI and analyzes backlinks, ranking highly depends on competition and SEO factors too. Focus on creating truly helpful content for your audience!

 

It means that you want your article/serp result to be the last or final click for that specific searh query. This tells the search engine that the searcher must have found a satisfactory answer to their query/question within your article.

If a searcher clicks your result then clicks back to the same search results to click on another result, that tells the search engine that the searcher didn't find a satisfactory answer and had to keep searching. Hope this makes sense.

 

Helpful content refers to information that is relevant, informative, and addresses the needs of the user. It may include articles, videos, or how-to guides that provide value and answers to user queries. Creating helpful content can improve website rankings and increase user engagement.

 

Well, this is a bit tricky area. Navigating Google's search ranking criteria can be quite intricate. Google emphasizes the importance of content that meets the searcher’s needs, but it also considers additional "engagement" factors such as how long a user stays on your page and how many different pages they visit. For instance, humorously written content might captivate users longer, leading them to read the entire page even if it doesn’t directly address their initial question. Conversely, if a user quickly finds their answer in the first few sentences and leaves the site, this rapid departure, despite resolving their query, may not be viewed favorably by Google’s ranking algorithms.

It’s important to understand that users generally do not stay on a page once their questions are answered unless further engaged. Therefore, developing "engaging" content that not only fulfills the immediate needs of the user but also encourages them to delve deeper into your website through internal links can greatly boost user engagement and subsequently improve your search rankings.

Moreover, the level of engagement can also vary depending on the subject matter; niche topics may naturally hold a user’s interest longer due to their personal interest in that topic, whereas more general topics might struggle to maintain attention for extended periods once their query is answered.

 

In my opinion, if you evoked by your content interest, liking and respect, then you are already visible behind 95% of all information noise.
Your content should make a proposition, make a question, share a thought, respond to a question, creat novelty.... keep your customers on your website. Give more specific information about your service or product. At the same time, try to avoid excessive sweetness. Everything is clear, understandable, useful and necessary information for the client (without empty talk about anything). It guides the reader in the right direction and Google sees helpful content.