Content marketing
STRATEGY
Content marketing is a strategic approach to creating, publishing, and sharing valuable, relevant, and consistent content aimed at attracting and engaging a target audience.
The main goals of content marketing are to:
Attract and Retain Customers – By offering information that meets the needs or interests of an audience, content marketing pulls potential customers to your brand organically.
Build Brand Authority and Trust – Regular, well-researched content helps position a business as an authority in its field, leading to increased credibility and trust.
Encourage Engagement and Loyalty – When customers find value in the content, they’re more likely to interact, share, and return to the brand over time.
Drive Conversions – While content marketing is more indirect than traditional advertising, a steady stream of valuable content nurtures leads along their buyer’s journey, ultimately encouraging conversions.
Marketing formats
Common content marketing formats include blog posts, videos, podcasts, social media posts, infographics, eBooks, white papers, and webinars. These are often distributed through channels like websites, email newsletters, and social media to reach the target audience effectively.
By focusing on long-term value rather than quick sales, content marketing helps businesses grow customer loyalty and achieve sustainable growth. These ‘engaging’ formats are usually associated with intent that is classed as informational, commercial or navigational. I would suggest that you try and use this ‘intent’ alongside a marketing strategy to build – desire, application and presentation.
is content marketing addressing 'helpful content' ?
The HCU updates aim to ensure that Google serves the most helpful, relevant, and trustworthy content to users. This shift has made Google’s algorithm more discerning in how it evaluates content, focusing on both the content’s quality and the site’s overall technical performance.
No – Content Marketing is not HCU, although if structured correctly a Content Marketing strategy should serve to help create or strengthen some of the aspects of helpful content.
Here are some of the key factors now prioritised in Google’s indexing and ranking:
User-Centric Content Focus
Google’s HCU updates prioritise content that meets users’ specific needs. Sites that demonstrate a deep understanding of user intent, providing actionable insights, clear answers, or educational resources, are now favoured. This update goes beyond simply using keywords—it requires content to serve real user interests and offer unique value.Technical and Structural Health
The latest updates give equal weight to a site’s technical health. Fast loading times, responsive design, clean site structure, and proper internal linking are now essential. Google’s algorithm has grown more sophisticated at detecting slow or poorly structured websites, and this can directly impact rankings regardless of content quality.Enhanced E-A-T Criteria
E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) has become more central, especially for websites covering YMYL (Your Money, Your Life) topics like health, finance, and legal matters. Sites that establish authority through high-quality content, reputable backlinks, and trust markers like security certificates and transparent author bios are now more likely to rank well.Relevance and Freshness of Content
Google is giving preference to regularly updated content that stays current with trends, seasonal interests, and real-world events. Websites that periodically refresh or add to their content, keeping it relevant and accurate, have an advantage in search rankings.
Impact of the HCU Updates on SERPs?
These updates have reshaped the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), altering visibility for many websites. Notable changes include:
Increased Competition for Long-Tail Keywords:
Content that is highly specific to user queries, often targeting long-tail keywords, is seeing higher rankings. This focus has made SERPs more relevant to niche audiences, benefiting sites that provide detailed, specific answers.Prioritisation of Well-Structured Sites with Fast Load Times:
Sites with slow load times or outdated structures have seen a decline in rankings, while technically optimized sites have risen. Users now experience faster-loading, better-organized results, in line with Google’s emphasis on user experience.Greater Emphasis on Authoritative Sources:
Websites with demonstrated expertise—often with verified credentials or affiliations in their industry—now rank more favorably, especially for YMYL content. This shift has led to some sites losing rankings if they lack clear authority signals.
How to Identify if the 23-24 HCU updates have affected your site?
If your site’s traffic or visibility has declined, it may have been impacted by these updates. Here are ways to determine if HCU changes are affecting your site:
Analyse Traffic Patterns
Use analytics tools (like Google Analytics or Search Console) to identify significant drops in organic traffic, particularly following known update rollouts. Compare traffic across key pages to see if declines align with high-ranking pages or previously strong keywords.Check for Keyword Ranking Drops
Track changes in rankings for your main keywords and related terms. If you’ve lost rank on specific queries where your content previously performed well, it could signal a mismatch with Google’s new content quality or technical standards.Review Time on Page and Engagement rates
High bounce rates or low dwell time can signal issues with content relevance or site usability. If users leave quickly or fail to engage, it may be time to refine content, improve loading speed, or enhance site structure to meet user expectations.Audit Site Structure and Technical Health
Tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and SEMrush’s Site Audit can help identify technical issues. If your site has outdated structure, poor mobile responsiveness, or slow page load speeds, these factors may be affecting your visibility. The SEO colour wheel is one of the best audits for addressing the HCU criteria in context to your site and industry.Evaluate E-A-T and Content Quality
Assess whether your content and site structure demonstrate authority. Look at author bios, backlink quality, and user-facing trust indicators like HTTPS security. If you’re lacking in these areas, enhancing credibility could improve rankings. Try build-links.CLUB to identify link opportunities with real businesses instead of sinking £1000s into paid directories or outreach specialists.
How AVF can help?
Our SEO packages are designed to align with the latest updates, improving not only your content quality but also addressing the technical and structural changes Google now favors. From creating impactful, user-focused content to optimizing for speed and E-A-T, our services ensure your site stays resilient to algorithm changes and competitive in SERPs. Whether you are looking for a retained SEO freelancer or bespoke audit I can provide the strategy, content and delivery to combat these seismic SERPs changes.