Consumers often hear claims from SEO (search engine optimization) and ORM (online reputation management) providers about what the latest technological tricks they can employ to “guarantee” a clean reputational slate online. They often peddle new bells and whistles and give misleading promises that you can just magically “wipe away” Google results for your name and digitally clean up inaccuracies about you and your brand.
You’ll hear promises that your Google search results can be rearranged with little effort or strategy.
Recently, Google released a new update that focuses on a people-first approach to generating content.
It reveals the disingenuous nature of many of these common, yet ineffective promises you might hear about managing your reputation on the popular search engine.
Pushing back against false promises
We’ve seen it all from competing reputation management firms, some that our past clients have turned to after working with us, and on industry blogs that gloss over the kinds of dedication, precision, and tailored strategies that our firm employs to ensure your reputation is properly managed online.
The promises these other firms make work until they don’t.
When Google updates its algorithms to remove fake news, excise old and broken links, and clear out misinformation, those “quick fixes” result in big headaches. They end up reversing any reputational gains that have been made and ultimately can cost the client thousands of dollars.
Prioritizing ‘helpful content’
In its new “helpful content update,” Google underscores why our own people-first approach works best.
In their announcement, the tech giant writes that the new content update is “part of a broader effort to ensure people see more original, helpful content written by people, for people, in search results.”
Google states they are now rewarding content “where visitors feel they’ve had a satisfying experience.”
This means content that doesn’t elicit this response won’t perform well. To that end, they are encouraging online creators to make content that isn’t engineered around search engines. This philosophy still uses “SEO best practices” but it has a voice, it’s meaningful to the individual, it features a voice and story that resonates with your audience.
Some questions Google asks: Do you have an intended audience in mind for your content? Does it display a depth of knowledge or first-hand expertise? Does it have a primary focus? Does it leave the reader with a “satisfying experience”?
Content that exists solely to hit SEO-friendly buzzwords and nothing more doesn’t resonate at all. If it feels like the audience is a search engine rather than a human being, it will no longer be favored by Google’s algorithm. If you are relying on “extensive automation to produce content on many topics,” Google warns you won’t succeed. If you are hitting trending topics without producing content that makes sense for your audience, you’re doing something wrong.
“Our systems automatically identify content that seems to have little value, low-added value or is otherwise not particularly helpful to those doing searches,” Google states.
They suggest that you begin removing “unhelpful” content from your company site or personal blog in order for it to perform better in search results.
An approach for guaranteed results
Google reveals that it is continuously monitoring both existing and newly launched sites.
If the unhelpful content has been determined to no longer be present on the site for the long term, then the “classification will no longer apply” and your site and Web presence will no longer be punished by the search engine.
Quality content on high-ranking platforms — which we specialize in — is the safest and longest-lasting reputation management strategy. We have to reiterate that there are no shortcuts for this.
Like most quality results, there is no instant solution to building, amplifying, or restoring a reputation online.
This disciplined, clear-eyed, dedicated approach is the gold standard. Google’s new initiative agrees.