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The Rise of Useful Content: How Google is Changing SEO
If you’ve noticed shifts in your website’s traffic recently, you’re not alone. Google has made it clear: useful content is now a priority. In recent months, Google has launched multiple updates that reward sites featuring valuable, user-centred content and penalize those focused solely on SEO tactics. This shift has caused a significant drop in SEO-driven traffic for many websites. In some cases, site owners reported traffic drops of up to 80%. It’s evident: that useful content is now a fundamental pillar of SEO.
With the June 2024 spam update and the August 2024 core algorithm update, Google has continued to refine its focus on promoting high-quality content. The August update, in particular, aimed to address issues that negatively impacted small and independent content creators, who often struggled to compete with large platforms like Reddit, Quora, and Forbes. Google emphasized its commitment to showcasing a diverse range of high-quality sites, including smaller or independent ones, when relevant to user searches. However, feedback from site owners has been mixed — while some reported improvements, others experienced continued challenges. This highlights the importance of adapting to Google’s evolving priorities.
But what exactly is useful content, and how does it differ from the traditional SEO content we’re used to creating? More importantly, how can you justify the investment in this new approach?
