Google’s Helpful Content Update (HCU) is designed to improve user experience by prioritizing valuable content in search results. If a site provides high-quality content, it will be more visible in search rankings. This update aims to enhance user experience by prioritizing content that is not only relevant but truly valuable to users, thus reshaping the strategies publishers must employ to stay competitive.
But what exactly goes into that ranking? Here’s a breakdown:
Key Ranking Factors:
- Quality and Depth of Content – Is the content informative and useful?
- Page Experience – How well does the page perform, including load speed and ads?
- E-A-T Principle (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) – Does the site show expertise and trustworthiness?
Let’s dive deeper into what these mean for publishers, especially in relation to ads.
Page Experience and Ads: Striking the Right Balance
While content quality is a big factor, Google also looks at the overall page experience, including how ads impact user experience. Publishers need to balance revenue generation with maintaining a smooth user experience, as ads can affect page load times and overall site performance.
According to studies by the Coalition for Better Ads:
- Users find sticky ads at the bottom of the page more annoying than at the top.
- Ad refreshes are surprisingly not as disruptive as you might think.
Although these insights are based on smaller studies, they open up opportunities for A/B testing to optimize ad placements.
The Importance of Core Web Vitals
Google’s Core Web Vitals are a set of metrics used to evaluate page experience. For ads, publishers should focus on Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) to ensure ads don’t disrupt the page’s layout as it loads. Other metrics like load time are more dependent on the site’s overall speed.
For more guidance, Google offers a helpful article on optimizing page speed while loading ads. The key takeaway? Balance is critical. Heavy ads can slow down a site, but prioritizing important ad slots and optimizing placement can improve both revenue and user experience.
Read more on balancing ads and page speed here.
Best Practices for Ad Implementation
Google provides several best practices for publishers to follow when implementing ads. Many of these are managed through ad wrappers, which handle key optimizations automatically. But it’s still essential to be aware of potential issues.
Some useful resources include:
These tools can help publishers stay on top of ad performance and ensure compliance with Google’s page experience standards.
Key Takeaways
- The Helpful Content Update encourages publishers to focus on high-quality, user-centered content.
- Ad placement and experience are crucial for maintaining a good page experience and improving SEO.
- Following best practices for ad implementation ensures better performance, a smoother user experience, and potentially higher rankings in Google’s search results.
By staying mindful of these factors, publishers can navigate the evolving SEO landscape and maximize both traffic and revenue.
