3 WAYS TO CREATE HELPFUL CONTENT THAT GOOGLE REWARDS
DO'S AND DON'TS FOR BUILDING A PEOPLE-FIRST CONTENT STRATEGY
With its new “helpful content update,” Google has officially drawn a line in the sand: If your brand prioritizes search results over supporting people, that approach is doomed to fail. But it’s a relatively small percentage of bad actors guilty of this. What does the new update mean for the vast majority of brands whose intentions are aligned with Google’s? Well, now there’s even more opportunity to stand out from the crowd with purposeful, customer-centric content rooted in strategy.
Here are some tips to help you seize the moment.
Let customer pains point the way
DO:
Voice of the customer research to get laser-focused on the pain points of your core personas. This evidence-based discovery takes the guesswork out of content creation and helps ensure you’re addressing what your audience cares most about.
DON'T:
Rely on “intelligence” from the content of others or anecdotal customer “insights” from your sales team. These can help support a more holistic research process, but in a vacuum they’re likely to result in the kind of shallow, copycat content that the algorithm now dings.
Unite everything with purpose
DO:
Be methodical about establishing your brand architecture, starting with a super clear vision (destination), mission (road map) and purpose (feeling that everyone, from the CEO to the summer intern, gets when you reach it). Google rewards a singular focus and consistent messaging, so let these statements serve as your North Star guiding all content creation.
DON'T:
Pursue ad hoc content outside your core area of expertise to capitalize on trending topics. While a one-off article might be helpful to some, if those people come to your website expecting more similar content as a result, that’s not helpful.
Embrace the audit
DO:
Regularly conduct holistic website audits that incorporate Google’s most up-to-date methodologies. If your site contains content deemed “unhelpful,” that will negatively impact the performance of all other content — even a “helpful” piece.
DON'T:
Allow content that’s out-of-date or irrelevant to your audience on any page of your website. It’s OK to have HR share responsibility for the “Careers” section, but ultimate oversight of all web content should be clearly delegated and actively enforced.
At Summer Friday, we’ve got the content strategy chops to help your brand boost conversions and connect with more customers.
Contact us at say@heysummerfriday.com if you’d like to have a no-strings-attached conversation to discuss how.
