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The first thing you need to know is that every Google update has had similar goals:

#1: Punish Cheaters

#2: Punish Lazy People

#3: Improve Outcomes for People Performing Internet Searches on Google

#4: Give Users the Best Response from the Best Sources

Once you understand that this as an overarching theme has been present in every Google Update, you can begin to adapt your SEO Strategy accordingly. 

But one thing that should stand out to you straight away is that Google rewards people and businesses who produce high quality content whether that is in written form, video, or audio recording. Good SEO should always focus on high quality content that is original, useful, actionable, and relevant. 

Why Is This Update Happening? 

Well, we can’t speak for Google directly, but we can tell you as an SEO Company and provider of SEO Services that the way a lot of people are producing their content is basically by copying other people’s work. They go out on the internet, find a high ranking article, blog post, or video, reproduce their own version of it (which amounts to slightly less than a re-write of someone else’s content), and then publish it to see if they can “skim” some of the traffic off of top of content that already ranks well. 

Their content isn’t “new.” It doesn’t add any value to the conversation. It doesn’t further the industry they are writing about. It is just regurgitated stuff that someone else wrote. 

We know this happens a lot. In fact, some pretty well known SEO Guru’s have been advocating for this approach for a long time. They say, “just go out and find a piece of content that ranks well, and re-write it, just make yours slightly better.” 

What is the result of all of this copying and adding little to it? 

Well, for one thing, it “junks up” the internet. When individuals, SEO Services, and Businesses just keep copying one another’s content, and adding a little more to it, you basically get a pile of stuff that has been piled high, but not deep. No new insights are added. No “new angles” are added. It’s just a big pile of repetitive fluff. 

But that’s not all. When people go on the internet and use search engines like Google, if they keep seeing the same themes repeated over and over again, they can start thinking there isn’t anything more to know. But this isn’t true – it’s just that people have repeated the same stuff over and over again just to appease search engines rather than trying to add value to the conversation and help “people first” as Google calls it.  

So as people are conducting research online, if they keep seeing the same repetitive themes, they might start thinking there isn’t much else to know about the topic. This can create a downward spiral impact on knowledge and learning. 

If you REALLY want content that is going to rank well, conduct some original research of your own, then publish that research. Make sure the research is domain specific – meaning, make sure if you sell insurance, that you aren’t writing articles about politics just because it is a trending topic. Produce content other sources within your domain can cite as their source material. This will create backlinks and additional traffic to your website, both of which make Google see you as a trusted source of information. 

What does this August 2022 Google Update mean to us at Stay Wild Digital Marketing? 

It means what we have been saying for years is true-  that Google punishes cheaters, gimmick users, hacks, and lazy people.  

What do we mean by lazy people? Just what we mentioned above – people who go out on the internet, find the top four ranking articles, copy them onto a document, change some of the wording, add a few paragraphs and citations, and then publish that work as their own. 

Also – when we say lazy, we mean the tens of thousands of people who are using A.I. writing software to generate articles for them without checking the articles, without educating themselves on the topic, without checking sources, without linking to other high quality content, and without adding their own insights.

And believe us, there is a lot of this going on. People subscribe to an A.I. writing tool that spits out 5,000 words on a topic, and people just publish it as is. Very little value is added. Just a machine generated regurgitated articles with no new insights or value add. Lazy. 

What does the Best Answer From The Best Source mean when talking about SEO? 

People worry so much about what we call “the expert” factor. They tend to focus on how they can “fake being an expert” rather than becoming an expert on a topic. And if you search articles and videos, you will find TONS of information on precisely how to try and fake being the best source to answer a question. Basically, how to be lazy at marketing and get rewarded by search engines. 

If you want to become the best source – focus on providing people with the best answer. Simple as that. 

How are you going to provide the BEST possible answer to a query on search engines? 

You become can become a true expert at something by doing some original research.

• By providing some original insights about the topic
• By sharing your own personal and/or professional experiences on a topic
• By adding something unique to the conversation
• By showing a “different angle” or “way of looking” at a problem or answer
• By improving upon the “old answers” and providing a new one
• By providing the most current, or up to date answer

Find something within your domain you know really well and provide solutions to people. This is what Google is asking you to do if you want to be rewarded with search traffic to your content.

And the truth is, this is what Google has ALWAYS WANTED. They have always said the same thing about how to rank well on their search engine. They want to provide great answers and/or content to the people who are performing internet searches on the Google Search Engine.

And how have people responded? By trying to game the system. By trying to exploit patterns they see in the A.i. By trying to collaborate to cheat (like backlink scammers). By trying to put out the LEAST amount of work, and get the maximum reward from Google. Rather than trying to put out good work – they try to do the least amount of work they can and get rewarded for it. 

So what is changing? What is changing is that Google is getting better at spotting cheaters, spotting lazy people. spotting A.i. written content, spotting content that no human cares to read, spotting copied information that has been re-written.

As we mentioned before – this is what every Google Update has been about: Punishing cheaters, punishing lazy people, and rewarding people who work hard to put high quality, up to date, relevant content on the internet.

And we should all be glad. If Google didn’t pay attention to the ways people “game the system” the internet would be a massive steaming pile of useless information that has been piled high by repetitive commentary and no original content or thinking.

So as we see it, Google is continuing to clean up the internet. How – by pushing content off of the first page of Search Engine Results.

Google knows our habits – 85% of all clicks go to only the top six spots, and the top spot gets over 70% of them. So if your content is off the front page – it basically doesn’t exist. Be warned. Your mediocre content is about to get bumped from the first page – or removed from the Google Index all together. 

Summary – Google August 2022 Update – What You Need to Know

Google’s August 2022 Update is a welcome update. For too long individuals and companies have benefitted from copying high ranking content, adding a few paragraphs of little value, and moving up in Search Engine Results. 

People who rely too heavily on A.i. written SEO content are in for a rude awakening. Google is going to be able to spot this low quality content and push it down where nobody is ever going to see it. 

Google wants “people centered content,” not SEO centered content. If people come to your content, and don’t read it, Google is going to see that pattern, and push your content down. So remember – if people aren’t reading it, it is going to disappear forever from Google. And good riddance! 

Good writing still matters – and Google is going to reward writers and content producers who work hard and punish lazy people who regurgitate content without adding value. 

Be the BEST ANSWER to a topic or subject. Do some original research. Provide your own personal expertise. Offer some new insights. Give us a new angle on something old. Give people the most up to date answer. This is what Google wants to provide to people who use its search engine to find answers and information. So give it to them, and Google will reward you for your effort. 

At Stay Wild Digital Marketing we have been saying for years that Google punishes cheaters and lazy people. Every Google update has been about that in one way or another. The August 2022 Google Update will be no exception. 

Here is Some Information taken directly from the August 2022 Google Update

The Following Section comes directly from the Google Website. Source: https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2022/08/helpful-content-update

Focus on people-first content

The helpful content update aims to better reward content where visitors feel they’ve had a satisfying experience, while content that doesn’t meet a visitor’s expectations won’t perform as well.

How can you ensure you’re creating content that will be successful with our new update? By following our long-standing advice and guidelines to create content for people, not for search engines. People-first content creators focus first on creating satisfying content, while also utilizing SEO best practices to bring searchers additional value. Answering yes to the questions below means you’re probably on the right track with a people-first approach:

• 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 (for example, expertise that comes from having actually used a product or service, or visiting a place)?
• Does your site have a primary purpose or focus?
• After reading your content, will someone leave feeling they’ve learned enough about a topic to help achieve their goal?
• Will someone reading your content leave feeling like they’ve had a satisfying experience?
• Are you keeping in mind our guidance for core updates and for product reviews?

Avoid creating content for search engines first

Our advice about having a people-first approach does not invalidate following SEO best practices, such as those covered in Google’s own SEO guide. SEO is a helpful activity when it’s applied to people-first content. However, content created primarily for search engine traffic is strongly correlated with content that searchers find unsatisfying.

How do you avoid taking a search engine-first approach? Answering yes to some or all of the questions is a warning sign that you should reevaluate how you’re creating content across your site:

• Is the content primarily to attract people from search engines, rather than made for humans?
• Are you producing lots of content on different topics in hopes that some of it might perform well in search results?
• Are you using extensive automation to produce content on many topics?
• Are you mainly summarizing what others have to say without adding much value?
• Are you writing about things simply because they seem trending and not because you’d write about them otherwise for your existing audience?
• Does your content leave readers feeling like they need to search again to get better information from other sources?
• Are you writing to a particular word count because you’ve heard or read that Google has a preferred word count? (No, we don’t).
• Did you decide to enter some niche topic area without any real expertise, but instead mainly because you thought you’d get search traffic?
• Does your content promise to answer a question that actually has no answer, such as suggesting there’s a release date for a product, movie, or TV show when one isn’t confirmed?

End of Material Taken Directly from the Google Development Website. Source: https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2022/08/helpful-content-update

About Stay Wild Digital Marketing: We are an SEO Company located in Salt Lake City serving clients throughout the United States and Canada. Our SEO Services is award winning. We focus on the core principles discussed in this very article – producing great content that is people centered. 

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