Seems like for a lot of service providers and businesses Google’s recent Helpful Content Update (HCU) hasn’t been so helpful. Web traffic from organic search took a hit leaving many content creators and marketers wondering how to respond.
Could content repurposing be a key strategy for bringing audiences back? Let’s take a look.
HCU’s Impact on Search
Google, as it does from time to time, is in the midst of updating its search algorithm. The Helpful Content Update is its latest. Introduced in August 2022, HCU rolled out in September 2023. Soon after people started reporting dramatic drop offs in their web traffic and found that their content was no longer ranking in keyword search results.
Google says HCU is aimed at highlighting more original, authoritative, and trustworthy content in its search results. It’s also meant to deprioritize what Google considers low-quality content. This includes the proliferation of artificially generated content like some of that created by generative AI or by hosting third-party content.
The underlying direction of HCU is in line with Google’s long stated ratings guidance. Google looks for E-E-A-T. That is: content that reflects its creator’s Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness. Grounding search results in these characteristics is meant to foster a people-first approach that serves up pages of high quality content that meets the visitor’s purpose.
Addressing HCU’s Impact
Ignoring HCU is not an option. It can make sites essentially disappear from search results – making it that much more difficult for your audience to find you and undermining your livelihoods. What to do then?
As I see it, the most obvious tactics are:
- Make shifts in your content creation practices so that what you publish better aligns with E-E-A-T, and
- Tap into strategies other than organic search that drive traffic to your websites.
Content repurposing can be an effective strategy for both of these approaches.
Improve E-E-A-T with Content Repurposing
With content repurposing you have an opportunity to improve the content you already have.
Rather than starting from scratch, add to, re-mix, and/or extract from your published content. Update information. Add new perspectives. Present new takes and deeper dives. These tactics can demonstrate that your practices, products, and services align with current best practices and (when appropriate) regulations.
The most obvious place to start is with updating cornerstone content. Make it more than just a quick update, take this opportunity to reconsider your interpretation or advice given. In this way you can draw on your more recent experiences and demonstrate expertise, building authority in the eyes of your audience (and by extension, with the search algorithm).
Drive Traffic with Content Repurposing
Content repurposing gives you an opportunity to leverage your existing content in new formats and on different platforms.
It’s not enough to grab some pull quotes or screen captures and post them on social media. Again, repurposing content presents the opportunity to reconsider your message and reframe it for new audiences and channels. Create carousels. Present snippets. Forge an additional path to your site by inviting the reader to find out more by following the link provided.
Future-Ready with Content Repurposing
If history has shown us anything it’s that algorithm updates and their impacts are inevitable. Content repurposing equips you with a tool for adapting and thriving in the face of these changes.
Embrace content repurposing as a powerful tool for keeping your content fresh and relevant.
Experiment with reaching out on more platforms to expand your reach and engage new audiences. Track and analyze your results. And refine your efforts based on what you find.
Most importantly embrace the power content repurposing gives you to produce the original, authoritative, and trustworthy content that drives web traffic and ultimately business results.