Google’s Helpful Content Update Simplified

Who is Going to Get Hit?

The genre’s that will likely be impacted the most are sites with educational content, entertainment coverage, product reviews and technology focused content. Additionally, and this a point of sharp debate, there is talk of this update going after sites that rely heavily on AI — artifical intelligence — to create content.

The AI Issue

If you incorporate AI into your content-building process without extensive editing, fact-checking and scrutiny, your site is highly likely to be targeted by this update and the results will not be pretty. This is not to imply you should avoid AI altogether, just use it as a place to begin your content creation, not end it.

FAST FACT : The term “machine learning” originates in a piece from writer Arthur Samuel in 1959 about the future of computer programming, which ultimately “will learn to play a better game of checkers than can be played by the person who wrote the program.”

Who Should Be Able to Sleep at Night?

The websites that have been built with white-hat disciplines, who have optimized their content for “search query intent” (more on this in upcoming posts), and have invested the time and effort to create unique, personalized content that really connects with the intended audience.

What Happens if I Get Hit?

Your page rank will drop, and the first task is accessing the damage. An audit can be ran to determine which pages have been hammered, and why. Then the process of repair begins — either fixing content worth saving, or completely abandoning content that does not help the mission of your site. Once corrected, your pages should rebound to their previous ranking, and in most cases actually improve within a reasonable time once the website is revisited by Google spiders.

A Look Back Into Google Panda (2011)

Back when Google still named their major algorithm updates for animals, Panda was one for the books in SEO lore. Its goal was to reward quality sites and kick “thin”, low quality sites to the curb. Among other targets, the update went hard after backlinks that appeared to manipulate their best practices guidelines.

Remember ‘Caffiene’?

For a quick background, in August of 2009 Google announced a significant change in their ranking process called ‘Caffeinie’. It was the first and last time the company invited SEO industry types to give it a test run and help identify any possible glitches. It fundamentally altered the way they indexed pages, as their original process, which worked well in 1998, was now unable to handle the growing addition of new types of media — video, interactive maps, and other content. Plus there were a bazillion more websites and even more coming online every day.

Skipping over the technicalities of Caffiene, the result was an indexing system that was blazing fast and one that ranked sites better than its predecessor. But it had its vulnerabilities, and Panda, in so many words, was unleashed to correct them.

Other Google / SEO News Droppings

• Google Business Profiles (formerly Google My Business) has added a function that allows owners to create automated replies to common questions from potential customers. To set this up, log into your profile and hit Customers > Messages > Manage Frequently Asked Questions, then follow the prompts.

WordPress Updates

WordPress 6.0.2 set for August 30th release

A minor WordPress core release with a few bug fixes, nothing crazy. If you have your WP install set to auto update, there’s nothing to more to think about on this one.

The next major core update — WordPress 6.1 — is set for October 25th, with focuses on improvements in the block editor and Global Styling elements — which speed up the overall user experience of a WordPress site, something the development team has been intensely focused on of late.

WooCommerce Updates

WooCommerce v6.9 Beta 2 Now Available!

Download this bad boy and start testing it! This install includes WooCommerce Blocks updated to 8.3.1 (and includes 8.1.0, 8.2.0, 8.2.1, and 8.3.0.) With the latest version of WooCommerce Blocks, the beta versions of the Cart & Checkout blocks are now available for use within WooCommerce Core.

Random Tidbits

• ADVERTISING ON THE DASHBOARD PAGE : Tired of those offers, promotions and messaging from plugin developers on your admin Dashboard page? Good news! Developers are working on a solution and a demo plugin is now available at Github for any users who wish to give it a test run and provide feedback to the development team.
• SVG UPLOAD FUNCTIONALITY ON THE WAY : Developers are *finally* working on the ability to directly upload SVG files to the WordPress core. Its possible now, but not without either a plugin installation or a code snippet added to your functions.php file. Background: SVG is short for Scalable Vector Graphics, and the format is unlike any other. While most graphic element formats are built on pixels, SVG’s rely on an XML file to render the final result. While the process was first introduced in 2001, its taken a while to be fully integrated into web development. As the the name implies, it allows for super crisp visual rendering of typography and line art elements in the low-resolution environment of web and multimedia mediums.
• END OF LIFE FOR PHP 7.4 is set for November 28, 2022. Most if not all of the major WordPress plugins are already compatible with PHP 8, but webmasters are urged to do their due diligence prior to upgrading. If you’re hosting with us, no action is required, we’ve got your website covered.
• WORDCAMP 2022 SAN DIEGO : This year’s WordCamp US will take place in San Diego on September 9th and 10th at the 500 Hotel Circle North. Tickets are sold out. WordCamp is a community event for everyone in the WordPress ecosystem, from casual users to participating developers of the WordPress core itself.