Google Simplifies Search Console Reports, Offers Enhanced Guidelines for Helpful Content

Google has recently updated its guidance on creating helpful content, with a new focus on page experience. This update aims at helping site owners prioritize page experience during the content creation process.

What’s New?

Google has revamped its help page on creating helpful content, introducing a new section that emphasizes providing excellent page experience.

This change underlines the significance of page experience for those looking to succeed in Google Search.

No major new aspects have been introduced. However, the update streamlines and consolidates existing guidance, reminding publishers that Core Web Vitals remain crucial for page experience success.

Upcoming Changes To Search Console Reports

In the coming months, Search Console’s Page Experience report will be transformed to link to general guidance on page experience, while providing a dashboard view of the individual Core Web Vitals and HTTPS reports that will remain in Search Console.

Google will retire the “Mobile Usability” report, the Mobile-Friendly Test tool, and the Mobile-Friendly Test API starting December 1, 2023. However, mobile usability remains essential to page experience guidance, and site owners should continue to prioritize it.

FAQ Highlights

Google addresses several frequently asked questions about the updated guidance, emphasizing that no single “page experience signal” is used for ranking in Google Search, and Core Web Vitals remain significant for search success and great user experience.

Additionally, page experience is generally evaluated on a page-specific basis, although some site-wide assessments do exist.

Additional Considerations

Google’s automated ranking systems prioritize content intended for people, rather than for search engine rankings. Therefore, it is crucial to self-assess your content and have it evaluated by trusted and unaffiliated individuals to ensure it aligns with these principles.

Adopt a people-first approach when creating content, targeting an audience, demonstrating expertise, and ensuring that the content is valuable and satisfying. Avoid producing content solely to attract search engine visits or manipulate rankings.

Finally, familiarize yourself with the concepts of E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) and utilize the quality rater guidelines to improve your content.

By following these guidelines, your content will better align with Google’s core ranking systems and have a greater chance of success.

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Source: Google

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