The SEO space faces ongoing challenges and shifts, due to evolving algorithmic updates and increasingly large-scale contents. Google aims to counter the proliferation of AI-generated content while striving to deliver the highest value content to users.
The Battle Against Spams vs Quality Content
This ongoing battle between spam and quality content began with Google's inception. The company at its core is a search engine that delivers best content to the user. A task that is growing more challenging. There were growing concerns that people were going to switch from Google to ChatGPT for various reasons.
Yet, Google remains a go-to for in-depth and specific queries that generative AI cannot answer. The human-generated content still remains as the expert voice of the internet.
Here's some core Google updates from the past to have more context:
| Update | Focus | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Google Panda (2011) | Quality of content | Penalized low-quality sites |
| Google Penguin (2012) | Link quality | Targeted bad links and keyword stuffing |
| Google Hummingbird (2013) | Understanding user intent | Improved query context interpretation |
| Mobilegeddon (2015) | Mobile-friendliness | Boosted mobile-friendly sites |
| RankBrain (2015) | Machine learning-based search engine algorithm | Enhanced query relevance |
| HTTPS as a Ranking Signal (2014) | Web security | Promoted HTTPS adoption |
| BERT (2019) | Natural language processing | Improved search query understanding |
| Core Web Vitals (2021) | User experience metrics | Focused on site usability |
| Product Reviews Update (2021) | Quality of product reviews | Favored detailed reviews |
| Helpful Content Update (2022) - Ongoing | People-first content | Rewards user-focused content |
Google's historically have made significant algorithm updates, and coincided with the technological tailwinds during the time. And we can only imagine why there would be a clear future focus on combating "AI spammers and SEO-first writers" in today's world.
At its core, Google's mission remains: to deliver the highest quality answers to the user query.
AI spammers creates large-scale AI generated content that provides no value to the users looking for their answers online. And SEO writers creates articles based on the ability to rank in specific keywords without providing real value to their target users. These two seems to be at the top of google's mind for the current updates.
Let's Dive Deeper into the Specificity of the Algorithm Changes
From Google's search central blog, we can learn their commitment to prioritize of people-first content, EEAT (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) in their Helpful Content Update (HCU).
Here is the most up-to-date from Google on "Scaled content abuse" from March 2024.
Google clearly communicates that one should not create content at scale in order to manipulate search ranking results.
Ok, that sounds like what spam is. And it makes sense that Google will do their best to make sure these don't work.
The Helpful Content Update (HCU)
The HCU is a core algorithm update by Google aimed at promoting original, helpful, and purposeful website content in search results. It penalizes content that fails to meet a visitor's search intent or expectations, encouraging content creators to focus on quality over quantity and generate people-first content aimed at providing value for people visiting their site.
Got it, What is People-First Content?
People-first content emphasizes creating material that addresses the needs, questions, and concerns of the audience, rather than content made primarily to gain search engine rankings. (Developers Google, 2023).
This implies addressing our audience's initial queries directly. If a reader seeks insight into SEO's impact on AI-generated content, that's what they should gain from this article. If we can add in something valuable they didn't expect, even better.
And we can learn from google to ask ourselves some questions to make sure we aren't creating SEO-first content:
- Are we targeting multiple topics to boost search traffic at the expense of depth?
- Do we rely on automation tools for mass-producing content, often sacrificing relevance?
- Is our content merely summarizing information without offering new insights, thereby contributing little to existing discussions?
- Are we chasing trends without considering audience relevance or our expertise?
- Does our content fail to fully address user queries, necessitating further searches?
- Are we misleadingly updating article dates to feign content freshness?
These questions could guide us to creating more people-first content.
Now to wrap the google's communications all together; what do they actually look for? What is EEAT?
EEAT: The Cornerstone of SEO
EEAT stands for Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. It is a framework introduced by Google to assess the quality of content on the web. Websites that demonstrate high levels of EEAT are more likely to rank higher in search results, as they are perceived to offer valuable, authoritative content.
This means that the overall, perceived expertise of your website makes your website rank higher than others given the same content quality. Here's the summary on individual points:
- Expertise: The creator's deep knowledge or skill in a topic.
- Example: A certified financial advisor writing about investment strategies
- Experience: Practical knowledge from direct involvement.
- Example: A traveler sharing guides and detailed stories from their trips with their own voice
- Authoritativeness: Recognition as a reliable information source in a field.
- Example: A medical website frequently cited by healthcare institutions
- Trustworthiness: Credibility and reliability of the site and its content.
- Example: A news outlet known for accurate reporting and ethical journalism
Google cites that trust is the most important factor here, and how sites can establish trust by showing their experience and expertise inside their content. The characteristics are intertwined.
So we learn that one should tell your side of the story, and continue telling it to rank higher on Google.
The Best Strategy for SEO Success
These initiatives have profound implications for SEO and necessitate a strategic assessment of content creation process. It seems more important than ever how one should prioritize the production of high-quality, valuable, and original content that resonates with people, delivering value and addressing their needs.
As for those who are just getting started, or in the early stages of content creation practice, it is important to learn about the best ways to set ourselves up for success.
1. Prioritize EEAT in Content Creation
Focus on demonstrating expertise and authority in our field, ensuring that the content is trustworthy and backed by experience.
This involves conducting extensive research, providing accurate information, and presenting it in an engaging format (EMB Global, 2024).
Also, cite other people's work, find ways to write for someone else's website, and have other people write about your website as well. Linking, although not as pronounced as before, still is an important factor when determining trust and authority.
Posting on social media is one way to create more authority as well, as long as we do it to try to add value. That reddit post with zero engagement? Probably not adding any value. You have 300 more of those with no engagement? Probably is more spam than anything in google's eye.
2. Embrace the Principles of the HCU
Find ways to engage people with your value add. Write about your value add for your niche. It's a commitment to producing content that is genuinely helpful and satisfies user's search intent. Let's write while to answer someone's questions, not to target SEO.
3. Adopt a People-First Content Approach
Address user intent and tailor content to directly address user needs and questions. Engage readers with diverse content formats like videos, podcasts, and interactive elements can enhance user experience and SEO performance.
Who is in your niche, and what are they looking for when they are coming to this site?
Does This Mean We Shouldn't be Using Generative AI?
It depends on how we intend to use it. Do we want to use it to write most of our articles without supervision? This probably won't work. Especially done at large scale with no value add.
What if I want to create a list of 25 huts in the trail that I went hiking in the Dolomites last June? And I fact-check all the huts and make sure they are correct? This will work.
You are providing value to your visitors. You are doing a thorough research on your topic, while combining them with a personal experience.
Words are words and there's no algorithm that can tell apart the words that were created by AI.
What is the difference between these two sentences?
What is the difference between these two sentences?
There is none. To us and to Google. But there's a difference between people-first approach vs SEO-first approach; targeted content for humans vs large-scale content for SEO. And this is what google is clamping down on the hardest.
It all sounds nice. Do we then need a strategy for SEO? Are strategic thinking around keywords even necessary?
The more we strategize whhile following guidelines, the better the outcome will be.
As we progress through 2024, and with the emergence of generative AI tools, it seems only likely that google will continue to double down on quality over quantity. However, we also need to remember that the best quality only comes from producing a lot.
There's a parable about how students were divided in a ceramics class: one group was judged on the number of pots made, the other on a single pot's quality. Over time, the quantity group, learning from continuous practice, outperformed the quality group, producing better pots despite their focus on volume.
This does not mean we should spam. And spamming only comes from trying to overcompensate for the missing parts. Be ok with the quality of content you provide. Think more specifically around the problem you are trying to solve. Put those out there for people to see, and revise them later when you can.
We all start from somewhere, and starting is always the hardest. We'll pick up the strategies as we progress. Strategic thinking around keywords and topics are still necessary, because that's what creates quality and niche content.
Start from having the human in mind. Start from what your potential visitors will have in mind, not what SEO seems to be looking for. If you can meet the two by unearthing some targettable keywords, that is probably the best value for your investment.
Good luck!
As always here's more articles for further reading:
Understanding & Demonstrating Google E-E-A-T: A Complete Guide