Lower Visibility due to August Helpful Content Update 2022?

[floppydiskotecka]

Hi all,

It seems that my company's search visibility has taken quite a beating since August 2022. The Helpful Content update is the only thing that I think coincides with the drop.

The web content is keyword dense, but performed well.

To what extent do you think Google has been punishing websites that it doesn't deem helpful?

[edited by: not2easy at 3:59 pm (utc) on Feb 9, 2023]
[edit reason] Please see TOS [webmasterworld.com] [/edit]

[aristotle]

You didn't say how old the site is and how long it had previously been receiving good traffic from google before the drop off. You also didn't indicate how the content was originally created and your judgement of its quality.

In any case, the obvious thing to do is to try to improve the site's content and make it more helpful. But this is something that you should always be doing anyway.

I doubt that keyword density is the main problem.

[floppydiskotecka]

Thanks for replying Aristotle.

The website had been receiving good traffic/visibility for about 14 months. I'm the person who actually manages the SEO, but it's fallen onto my desk. I'd say the content is good; above average compared to competitors. At the very least, I don't think the content is bad enough to warrant this sort of drop in performance.

Thanks for clarifying about keyword density. I think a new website with a more user-content focused approach is an avenue to explore.

[aristotle]

You still haven't said how the content was originally created or how old it is.

As for SEO, because of the complexity and obscurity of google's modern algorithm, SEO isn't as straightforward or effective as it once was. For this reason, I believe that a webmaster's time should mostly be spent simply working on the content.

Also I'm not sure what you mean by "more user-content focused."

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

Your pages no longer rank for a lot of keywords they previously ranked poorly for. It's why your avg position in search console got better while impressions fell.

Solution, create new content for the lost keywords. Google already showed you they belong to your site.

[tangor]

@floppydiskotecka ... Welcome to Webmasterworld!

Helpful content can also relate to content offered. If you are in a highly competitive niche and run with canned content/images from suppliers (as in ecommerce), or info with high content similarity, things might have changed. Also, keyword "values/meanings" change month on month/year on year. These are arbitrary things on g's side and there is nothing you can predict or plan for.