Helpful content, as a checklist

How to use the list

Pick one page that matters to the business. Read it as a stranger would, then go down the questions. The first three groups are ones where yes is the answer you want. The fourth group is the opposite: Google says answering yes to some or all of them is a warning sign that you should reevaluate how you create content.

Google also suggests asking people you trust, who aren’t affiliated with your site, for an honest assessment, and looking closely at the pages hit hardest by any drop you’ve had.

Content and quality

Yes is good

• Does the content provide original information, reporting, research or analysis?
• Does it give a substantial, complete or comprehensive description of the topic?
• Does it offer insightful analysis or interesting information beyond the obvious?
• If it draws on other sources, does it add substantial value and originality, rather than copying or rewriting them?
• Does the main heading or page title give a descriptive, helpful summary, without exaggerating or shocking?
• Is this a page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend or recommend?
• Is it free of spelling and stylistic issues, and produced with care rather than in a hurry?

Expertise

Yes is good

• Does the page make you want to trust it, through clear sourcing, evidence of the expertise involved, and background about the author or the site, such as an author page or an About page?
• Did someone who plainly knows the subject, an expert or a keen enthusiast, write it or check it?
• Is it free of easily verified factual errors?

People first

Yes is good

• Do you have an existing or intended audience who would find this useful if they came to you directly?
• Does it show real depth, and knowledge earned first-hand, from really using the product or service or going to the place?
• Is the site clearly built around one main purpose or focus?
• After reading, will someone feel they’ve learned enough about the topic to help achieve their goal, and leave satisfied?

Search engine first

Yes is a warning

• Was the page made mainly to pull in visitors from search engines?
• Are you turning out many pages across a wide spread of subjects, hoping a few will do well in search?
• Is heavy automation writing pages for you across many subjects?
• Do your pages mostly restate what others have said, with little of your own added?
• Are you writing about something only because it seems to be trending, not because your audience would want it?
• Does the page leave readers needing to search again for better information?
• Are you writing to a word count because you heard Google prefers one?
• Are you changing page dates to look fresh when the content hasn’t substantially changed?

Who, how and why

Google suggests asking three questions of any page.

• Who made it: is it self-evident to visitors, with a byline where one might be expected, leading to more about the author? Google warns that made-up names, AI-generated headshots and false credentials are deception.
• How was it made: if automation or AI substantially generated it, is that clear to visitors, and do you explain how and why it was used?
• Why does it exist: Google calls this perhaps the most important question, and says the answer should be to help people who come to your site directly.

This guide answers the “how” in its footer, in one plain line, for the same reason.

Four plain answers from Google

Is there a preferred word count?

“No, we don’t.”

Does adding or removing lots of content make a site seem fresh?

Google’s answer to whether it helps rankings: “No, it won’t.”

Is E-E-A-T a ranking factor?

E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. Google says it isn’t itself a specific ranking factor, but its systems use a mix of factors that can identify content showing it, and trust matters most of the four.

Do Google’s quality raters decide rankings?

No. Google says raters have no control over how pages rank, and their data isn’t used directly in its ranking algorithms.

If you use AI to write

Google says using generative AI to make many pages without adding value for users may break its spam policy on scaled content abuse. It notes that generative models predict likely words rather than retrieve facts, and calls it critical to fact-check and review all AI-generated content by hand before publishing, including titles, meta descriptions, structured data and image alt text.