Writing Website Content Google Calls Helpful

People-first, not search-engine-first

Google's guide to creating helpful, reliable, people-first content says its automated ranking systems are designed to prioritise "helpful, reliable information that's created to benefit people, and not content that's created to manipulate search engine rankings". It offers questions to assess your own pages. Among those that point to people-first content:

• "Do you have an existing or intended audience for your business or site that would find the content useful if they came directly to you?"
• "Does your content clearly demonstrate first-hand expertise and a depth of knowledge?"
• "After reading your content, will someone leave feeling they've learned enough about a topic to help achieve their goal?"

And among the warning signs of search-engine-first content:

• "Is the content primarily made to attract visits from search engines?"
• "Are you producing lots of content on many different topics in hopes that some of it might perform well in search results?"
• "Did you decide to enter some niche topic area without any real expertise, but instead mainly because you thought you'd get search traffic?"

The same page answers a common question directly: Google does not have a preferred word count. Writing to a target length is listed as a warning sign, not a tactic.

This is no longer a separate system. In its 5 March 2024 announcement of that month's core update, Google said it had enhanced its core ranking systems to show more helpful results using a variety of signals, and that there is no longer one signal or system used to do this.

E-E-A-T and the quality rater guidelines

E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. Google's helpful content guide says trust is the most important of the four, and that its systems look for signals that align with E-E-A-T, especially on topics that could affect people's health, finances or safety.

What E-E-A-T is not: a single score or a setting. Google uses search quality raters, people who assess search results, to check whether its systems are working, and their guidelines describe how to judge E-E-A-T. But Google states that "search raters have no control over how pages rank" and "rater data is not used directly in our ranking algorithms". Reading the rater guidelines helps you understand what Google means by quality; it is not a checklist that ranks a page.

For a business site, E-E-A-T mostly comes from things you already have: who wrote the page and why they know the subject, real projects and photos, a clear address and contact details, and accurate, up-to-date information. Google's "Who, How and Why" advice says to make it clear who created the content, with a byline and background where readers would expect one.

The spam policies to know

On 5 March 2024 Google announced three new spam policies, and sites that break them can rank lower or not appear at all:

• Scaled content abuse: "when many pages are generated for the primary purpose of manipulating search rankings and not helping users". Google says this applies no matter how the content is created, by people, automation or both. Hundreds of near-identical "service in [town]" pages are the classic example on business sites.
• Site reputation abuse: third-party content published on a host site mainly to benefit from that site's ranking signals, such as unrelated sponsored or partner pages. It took effect from 5 May 2024, and on 19 November 2024 Google clarified that no amount of first-party involvement alters the third-party nature of such content.
• Expired domain abuse: buying an expired domain and reusing it mainly to manipulate rankings with low-value content.

The older policies still apply too, including doorway pages, keyword stuffing, hidden text and links, and link spam. If you buy content or links from a supplier, these are the rules your site is judged by.

AI-written content

Google set out its position in a Search Central blog post on 8 February 2023: it focuses on the quality of content rather than how it is produced, and using AI or automation to generate content mainly to manipulate rankings breaks its spam policies. Its documentation on using generative AI content adds practical points:

• generative AI can produce inaccurate output, so check facts before publishing;
• generating many pages without adding value for users may violate the scaled content abuse policy;
• check generated titles, meta descriptions, structured data and image alt text, because they can appear in search results;
• consider telling readers how content was made where they would want to know; for ecommerce, Google requires AI-generated images to carry IPTC metadata that marks them as AI-generated.

In practice: AI can help draft, but the facts, examples and judgement should be yours. A page about your service that any competitor could publish word for word gives Google, and customers, no reason to choose it.

Page experience still counts

Google's page on page experience says its core ranking systems look to reward content that provides a good page experience, that there is no single page experience signal, and that Core Web Vitals are used by its ranking systems. Helpful content on a slow, cluttered page still loses visitors. Our guide to Core Web Vitals explains the measures.

A checklist for service pages

1. One page per real service, written for the customer's question: what it is, who it suits, how it works, what it takes and what happens next.
2. Show first-hand experience: your process, real project examples and photos, named people, and the questions customers actually ask you.
3. Make it easy to trust: who you are, where you are, how to contact you, and accurate, dated facts with sources where you cite them.
4. No location or keyword clones. Create a page for a town only if you serve it and have something specific to say about it.
5. Edit AI drafts properly: check every fact, add your own examples and remove generic filler.
6. Write titles and descriptions for people, describing the page honestly. Our SEO basics guide covers titles, Search Console and Google Business Profile.
7. Keep good pages when you redesign, with redirects for any that move. See redesigning without losing search traffic.
8. Review once a year and update or merge pages that are thin, outdated or overlapping.

Frequently asked questions

Does Google penalise AI-written content?

Not for being AI-written. Google says it rewards high-quality content however it is produced, but using automation to generate pages mainly to manipulate rankings breaks its spam policies. Check facts and add your own expertise before publishing.

Is E-E-A-T a ranking factor?

Not as a single score. Google's systems look for a mix of signals that align with experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trust, and trust matters most. Quality raters use E-E-A-T in their guidelines, but their ratings are not used directly in rankings.

How long should a service page be?

As long as it needs to be to answer the customer's questions. Google says it does not have a preferred word count, and writing to a target length is one of its warning signs.

Can I create a page for every town I serve?

Only where you really serve the area and have something specific to say. Many pages that just swap the town name can fall under Google's doorway and scaled content abuse policies.

Is the helpful content update still a separate system?

No. Since the March 2024 core update, Google says helpfulness is assessed by its core ranking systems using a variety of signals, not one separate system.

Want service pages that answer your customers' questions and hold up in search? We plan and build content-led websites as part of our website development work. See all our services, or email info@creahive.com.