How To Manage SEO After The Helpful Content Update (HCU)

It’s pretty much impossible to have a successful business these days and not use SEO (search engine optimization) to bring traffic to your website. However, SEO is becoming increasingly complex with each passing day. The problem is due to the frequent updates and changes made by Google to its search algorithm. The most significant update is the Helpful Content Update (HCU).

This update was released because Google wants websites to focus more on making content that is useful for people. Keeping up with these changes is tough, but it’s necessary if you want your website to do well. The main idea now is to make sure your content is really helpful and valuable. In this article, we will go over several ways to manage your SEO after the HCU update.

Predictive Engagement is the New Standard for Marketers in 2026

April 9, 2026

485

How AFFCatalog Boosts Media Buying Efficiency

AFFCatalog Simplifies Affiliate Offer Discovery for Media Buyers

March 20, 2026

Audit your website

If you don’t have an in-house SEO team, it might be a smart move to consider working with an outside agency, like a Manchester SEO agency. They can help you with adjusting to Google’s latest updates and evaluating your current content.

The first thing they’ll do is conduct a content audit. This means they’ll go through your website’s content to check if it’s high quality, relevant to your audience, and focused on what users need. They know exactly what to look for and can use their expertise to spot areas that might need improvement.

Sometimes, it’s hard to see how you can improve your content when you’ve been looking at it for a long time. An agency brings a fresh perspective and can suggest changes you might not have thought of.

You also need to make sure your content is easy to read, your website is easy to navigate, and everything is accessible to all users.

Creating the right content

Content has always been king when it comes to writing for a blog or website but it has taken on more importance since the HCU. This means you should try to write articles, blog posts, and other content that gives readers something of value. Your writing should cover topics well, giving readers information they can’t just find anywhere else. Make sure everything you say is right and comes from sources you can trust as this makes your readers trust you more.

Create topic clusters

To improve your website’s authority on certain topics and boost both user engagement and SEO, organizing your content into topic clusters and creating content hubs is a smart strategy. This approach involves grouping related articles, blog posts, and other materials around a central theme or topic. The idea is that by covering a topic from various angles, you establish yourself as an authority in that area.
Authority is one of the main factors in the latest update since Google wants to make sure that readers can trust a site. A topic cluster starts with a main “pillar” page that gives a broad overview of a topic. Then, you create a series of related but more detailed pages that link back to this pillar page.

David Prior

David Prior is the editor of Today News, responsible for the overall editorial strategy. He is an NCTJ-qualified journalist with over 20 years’ experience, and is also editor of the award-winning hyperlocal news title Altrincham Today. His LinkedIn profile is here.