SEO specialists have noticed that this update has brought about some notable changes<\/a>. For example, Google stated that unhelpful content on subdomains could negatively affect the ranking of the entire site. There were also changes in Google\u2019s wording. For example, \u201cwritten for people\u201d was replaced by \u201ccreated for people\u201d, which seems to signal more openness to AI-generated content<\/a>, as long as it is high quality. One of the most critical changes observed so far is the modification of Google\u2019s helpfulness model to better reward first-hand experience, similar to the early days of Google\u2019s Penguin update<\/a>. This recent update demonstrates Google\u2019s continued commitment to prioritizing high-quality, user-focused content in its search rankings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While not everyone was affected by the update, more than half of bloggers saw an increase in traffic. Meanwhile, the other half saw a sharp decline as many articles were removed from the top of the search results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even long-standing blogs that had been SEO\u2019d according to all of Google\u2019s rules and recommendations were affected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n SEO specialist Dan Taylor analyzed several travel blogs<\/a> and drew some conclusions as to why certain users saw a drop in traffic while others saw an increase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Google has incorporated an additional paragraph into its guidelines for helpful content concerning the hosting of third-party content on one\u2019s website: <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you host third-party content on your main site or in your subdomains, understand that such content may be included in site-wide signals we generate, such as the helpfulness of content. For this reason, if that content is largely independent of the main site\u2019s purpose or produced without close supervision or the involvement of the primary site, we recommend that it should be blocked from being indexed by Google.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A few key points that can be extracted from this paragraph are as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Imagine you\u2019re a blogger, perhaps working alone or with a partner, regularly producing a wide variety of content covering different countries and aspects of travel. This diverse content is published every week. It may seem unlikely that just one or two people can demonstrate expertise in all areas, potentially raising doubts in Google\u2019s algorithms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Design your content strategy to highlight your expertise, rather than simply publishing topics in a random order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Significantly, when evaluating expertise as part of their SEO E-E-A-T signals, Google used to look at whether or not content was \u201cauthored by an expert\u201d. The updated September guidelines now state that high-quality, expert content can be \u201cauthored or reviewed by an expert\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The key point here is that having an expert review and validate your content can be sufficient to indicate expertise on a topic, even if the expert is not the original author.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Consistent with each algorithm update, Google\u2019s overarching advice to content creators remains the same: prioritize the publication of genuinely beneficial content that adds value to human users. Avoid trying to manipulate or outsmart the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Content creators should concentrate on generating truly helpful, high-quality content rather than attempting to decipher Google\u2019s algorithms. Aim to provide tangible value that focuses on human users and follows best practices. As Google persistently updates their systems, this approach will position your content for sustained search success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I started searching for river cruises in Budapest, I noticed that many big and authoritative websites had posted thin content that seemed like it was put together hastily, often by freelancers who hadn’t even visited the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I wondered what would be truly helpful and unique for this search term. The answer was simple: try out the most popular tours from all the major cruise companies or the top five most popular options.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n This way, I would have a basis for comparison and provide real value to readers. I documented my experiences in detail and published articles that were incredibly thorough. As a result, my article still ranks number one for multiple search terms, beating out big players like TripAdvisor, Viator, and GetYourGuide. HCU didn’t affect me at all. I attribute it simply to adhering to the helpful content guidelines to a tee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reflect on whether the articles you publish contribute value to the discussion or merely echo what a lot of online voices already have to say about the topic. This is why Google values unique perspectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ensure that you\u2019re consistently incorporating perspective-driven content that delivers personal value and isn\u2019t merely targeting keywords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Share in the comments, did you feel the impact of the September 2023 update?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cWhat the hell is going on, my traffic dropped 80% overnight!\u201d Frustrated bloggers flooded Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook with similar messages last week. The explanation for the recent drop in traffic is very simple: Google rolled out another helpful content update. As a result of this update, many travel bloggers noticed a sharp drop in organic traffic as articles fell from the top of the search results. Let\u2019s take a quick look at what happened and what you can do about it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":22313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[621,7,620],"tags":[11,671],"class_list":["post-22311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-seo","category-advices","category-traffic","tag-google","tag-google-updates"],"acf":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22311"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22715,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22311\/revisions\/22715"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How Travel Bloggers Have Been Affected by the September 2023 Helpful Content Update<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What Should Affected Bloggers Be Doing at the Moment?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What Should Travel Bloggers Look for When Trying to Regain Traffic?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Make Sure All Subdomains Follow Helpful Content Principles<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Make Sure Your Content Looks Expert<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Continue Producing Helpful and People-Focused Content<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nAdam Dimitrov, the owner of budapestadventures.com<\/a>, is a travel blogger who offers the following advice on how he maintained stable traffic during the HCU:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/adamdimitrov.png\")
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