{"id":1549358,"date":"2025-02-10T11:11:35","date_gmt":"2025-02-10T16:11:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/?p=1549358"},"modified":"2025-02-10T16:49:49","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T21:49:49","slug":"helpful-content-per-googles-latest-guidelines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/helpful-content-per-googles-latest-guidelines","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Helpful Content&#8217; per Google&#8217;s Latest Guidelines"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last month I <a href=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/your-money-or-your-life-defined-by-google\">addressed<\/a> Google&#8217;s updated guidelines for its quality raters, the thousands of people who manually review websites.<\/p>\n<p>I explained Google&#8217;s emphasis on EEAT \u2014 the author&#8217;s Expertise and Experience and the site&#8217;s Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness.<\/p>\n<p>Yet the guidelines (<a href=\"https:\/\/static.googleusercontent.com\/media\/guidelines.raterhub.com\/en\/\/searchqualityevaluatorguidelines.pdf\">PDF<\/a>) go beyond EEAT with instructions to determine a page&#8217;s quality. Google&#8217;s definition of &#8220;quality&#8221; is critical for search optimizers because its core search algorithm now includes a &#8220;helpful content&#8221; component.<\/p>\n<p>The updated guidelines provide insights.<\/p>\n<div style=\"max-width: 570px; \"><div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\"  style=\"max-width: 570px; padding-bottom:56.25%;\" ><div class=\"container-lazyload preview-lazyload container-youtube js-lazyload--not-loaded\"><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/WbSouimbtjU?si=iJiKxuQ4sYO2sMrH\" class=\"lazy-load-youtube preview-lazyload preview-youtube\" data-video-title=\"How real people make Google Search better\" title=\"Play video &quot;How real people make Google Search better&quot;\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/WbSouimbtjU?si=iJiKxuQ4sYO2sMrH<\/a><noscript>Video can't be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/WbSouimbtjU?si=iJiKxuQ4sYO2sMrH\" title=\"How real people make Google Search better\">How real people make Google Search better (https:\/\/youtu.be\/WbSouimbtjU?si=iJiKxuQ4sYO2sMrH)<\/a><\/noscript><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<h3>Helpful Content<\/h3>\n<h4>Effort and originality<\/h4>\n<p>Google&#8217;s guidelines state a page&#8217;s main content depends on the goal and industry. The raters should determine the page&#8217;s goal and then evaluate whether the content achieves it. Financial institutions, the guidelines add as an example, differ from hobbyists&#8217; sites.<\/p>\n<p>Pages with vague or no goals deserve the lowest rating.<\/p>\n<p>Raters should assign a quality rating of the main content based on effort and originality.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Effort&#8221; reflects whether a page provides positive user experiences, such as translating a German poem into English.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Originality&#8221; means adding new content instead of repurposing others&#8217;. The guidelines encourage raters to open more articles on top Google search results and check their similarity. The most unique and original should rank higher, per the guidelines, which state:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>MC [main content] should add value compared to similar pages on the web.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>An example of low-effort content is &#8220;best&#8221; lists based on existing reviews and lists with little added value.<\/p>\n<h4>Placement<\/h4>\n<p>According to Google&#8217;s guidelines, owners and creators should display the most helpful and essential content prominently \u2014 near the top of the page \u2014 so visitors can immediately access it.<\/p>\n<p>Content that supports the page&#8217;s purpose without directly contributing to the goal can be valuable but placed in a lower, less prominent position. For example,<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>on recipe pages, the recipe itself and important supporting content directly related to the recipe should be prominently displayed near the top of the webpage.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The guidelines included an example of what not to do, citing a butterbeer recipe page that starts with a story of a family going to Universal Studios to try the beer that inspired the recipe \u2014 instead of leading with the recipe itself.<\/p>\n<h4>Accuracy<\/h4>\n<p>The guidelines repeatedly focus on what Google calls &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/your-money-or-your-life-defined-by-google\">Your Money or Your Life<\/a>&#8221; topics, those that affect a person&#8217;s health, safety, financial stability, and well-being. The raters are to review YMYL pages more closely, checking factual accuracy as well as consistency with experts.<\/p>\n<p>I advise clients to confirm YMYL claims with reputable sources and, when possible, quote them in the piece.<\/p>\n<h4>Filler<\/h4>\n<p>Google asks raters to assign pages as low-quality if there&#8217;s excessive content that prevents readers from quickly finding the information they came for. An example filler page, according to the guidelines, offers:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>tutorial instructions on how to make a basic craft and lots of unhelpful &#8220;filler&#8221; at the top, such as commonly known facts about the supplies needed or other non-crafting information.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>Filler can result in a poor experience for people who visit the page, especially if placed prominently ahead of helpful content for the purpose of the page.<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Misleading titles<\/h4>\n<p>Google considers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/seo-how-to-optimize-title-tags-for-ecommerce\">title tags<\/a>\u00a0as main content since they often appear in search results.<\/p>\n<p>The guidelines instruct raters to label exaggerated or shocking titles as low quality, and misleading titles as the very lowest, offering this example of &#8220;exaggerated&#8221;:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>A page titled &#8220;Eat the Healthiest Foods in the WORLD to Extend Your Life!!!!&#8221; for a list of tips on how to add more fruits and vegetables to meals.<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Intrusive ads<\/h4>\n<p>Despite rumors and assumptions, Google doesn&#8217;t consider ads on a page as a red flag, stating:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>The presence or absence of Ads alone is not a consideration for page quality rating.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>However, ads send unhelpful signals when they prevent visitors from interacting with the main content.<\/p>\n<p>Per the guidelines, this page should receive the lowest rating:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>The MC [main content] is deliberately obstructed or obscured due to Ads, SC, interstitial pages, download links, or other content that is beneficial to the website owner but not necessarily the website visitor.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>And this page should receive a low rating:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>The Ads or SC [Supplementary Content, such as navigation links or content behind tabs] significantly distract from or interrupt the use of the MC.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Google also instructs raters to assign the lowest ratings to pages that deceptively hide ads or disguise them as main content, navigation links, or contextual links.<\/p>\n        <div class=\"backlist-wrapper\">\n            <h3 class=\"recommended\"><div class=\"icon\"><\/div> Recommended<\/h3>\n            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/yes-clicks-and-engagement-impact-seo?utm_source=back\" >\n                <div class=\"backlist-content\" >\n                    <div href=\"\" class=\"thumb-link\">\n                                                    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Yes-Clicks-and-Engagement-Impact-SEO.jpg\" alt=\"Yes, Clicks and Engagement Impact SEO\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\n                                            <\/div>\n                    <div class=\"backlist-detail\">\n                                                <h4>Yes, Clicks and Engagement Impact SEO<\/h4>\n                                                    <p class=\"backlist-date\">June 3, 2024<\/p>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/a>\n        <\/div>\n        \n<h3>How to Help<\/h3>\n<p>It&#8217;s possible none of these rating guidelines directly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/helpful-content-recovery-per-studies\">impact rankings,<\/a>\u00a0but they inform us of Google&#8217;s priorities.<\/p>\n<p>In short:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Make sure a page&#8217;s purpose is clear.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Display the critical info prominently, typically at the top of the page. Avoid filler content that doesn&#8217;t serve the page&#8217;s goal or purpose.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Add unique value. Product pages, for example, could include sizing charts, comparisons, and Q&amp;As. Pages with vendor lists should include the author&#8217;s experiences with those products.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Solve the searcher&#8217;s intent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/yes-clicks-and-engagement-impact-seo\">fast and efficiently<\/a>. Include additional value cautiously and less prominently.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Avoid pop-ups or other elements that make pages hard to use<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>For YMYL topics, cite trusted sources and include quotes from experts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Google&#8217;s core search algorithm includes a &#8220;helpful content&#8221; component, making its definition of the term critical.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2425,"featured_media":1549389,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[58324],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1549358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-on-page-seo",""],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.2 (Yoast SEO v25.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>&#039;Helpful Content&#039; 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