Maintaining search visibility and traffic after a major Google algorithm update can be a tough task.
Using advanced content solutions allows you to stay ahead of Google’s algorithms like the Helpful Content Update, making sure your site meets the search engine’s standards while offering high-quality, relevant content that connects with your audience.
This case study shows how we achieved great results for our client after the update.
See how my team The Search Initiative grew our client’s organic traffic from 11,063 to 53,913 sessions per month.
In this case study, you’ll learn how to:
Build custom GPTs to refine your SEO workflows, enabling you to audit thousands of pages at scale and spot opportunities for improvement in less time.
- Prompt engineer for SEO, a technique that will reshape how you approach content creation, optimization, and strategy.
- Create content that thrives in Google’s environment, aligning with E-E-A-T and Helpful Content guidelines while providing exceptional value to your audience and driving more traffic and conversions.
If you’d prefer to watch rather than read, I cover some of the key insights in this video.
To start, here’s some context about the site and the challenges we successfully overcame.
Table Of Contents
The Challenge
The client is a global investment platform.
The client’s performance was stagnant before joining my agency, with limited visibility for VC (venture capital) and investment-related keywords.
The main goal was to revamp their content and improve key pages with valuable material to increase search visibility and drive meaningful growth in organic performance.
As a large site with hundreds of pages, it was impossible to manually audit and analyze the content on every single page. We needed to create a way that would allow us to prioritize optimizing low quality pages and enhance the content to make them more helpful for the end user.
Learn how you can tackle similar challenges on your site by following the steps outlined below.
AI-Powered Content Auditing to Check for Helpfulness & E-E-A-T
Analyzing and improving a website can be a challenging task when done manually. However, with recent advancements in AI, this process is no longer as time-consuming, and you can take advantage of tools like ChatGPT to accelerate the workflow.
Before I go into the process of auditing your content, it’s important to understand exactly how helpful content and E-E-A-T are and why they’re important for SEO.
The Context
What is Helpful Content?
In August 2022, Google introduced the Helpful Content update. After several revisions in December 2022 and September 2023, the update was integrated into Google’s core algorithm update in March 2024.
Helpful content refers to website content specifically created to address the needs and interests of users, providing genuine value by answering questions, solving problems, or providing insights.
Under Google’s Helpful Content Update, this means focusing on content that prioritizes human readers over search engines, aiming to serve the audience’s needs first and foremost.
For your content to be truly helpful, it must be well-researched, relevant to the intended audience, and reflect your expertise on the subject.
Why is Helpful Content Important?
Helpful content is essential because it directly affects both user experience and search engine rankings. Here’s why it matters:
Improved Search Rankings – Google favors people-first, high-value content, making helpful content more likely to perform better in search results.
- Increased User Engagement – When users find content that addresses their needs or answers their questions, they are more likely to engage, explore, and convert.
- Establishing Trust and Credibility – Helpful content shows your expertise and reliability, building trust with your audience and encouraging return visits.
- Algorithm Stability – Websites with helpful, user-centered content are less impacted by Google’s algorithm updates aimed at low-quality or keyword-heavy pages.
- Competitive Edge – Providing genuinely helpful content can differentiate your site, especially in competitive sectors, by offering unique value that meets user needs.
Focusing on helpful content helps your website remain aligned with Google’s guidelines while building long-term audience loyalty and achieving sustainable growth.
What is E-E-A-T?
E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness, a concept introduced by Google in its Search Quality Rater Guidelines, a set of instructions provided by Google to human evaluators, known as Search Quality Raters who assess the quality of search results to help Google improve its algorithms.
E-E-A-T represents the key criteria that Google’s algorithms and these human evaluators use to assess the quality and credibility of a webpage or website.
- Experience – Refers to the firsthand or direct experience demonstrated by the content creator. For example, if someone shares personal insights on a travel blog about destinations they have visited, it showcases experience.
- Expertise – Shows the depth of understanding the content creator has on a specific topic. Content from someone with demonstrated skills, qualifications, or specialized knowledge in their field is seen as more valuable.
- Authoritativeness – Evaluates how respected and recognized the content creator or website is in its niche. Authority often stems from industry recognition, strong backlinks, or endorsements by credible sources.
- Trustworthiness – Refers to reliability. Websites that deal with sensitive information, such as health advice or financial services, must offer accurate, honest, and clear content to build and maintain user trust.
E-E-A-T is especially critical for Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) content, which includes topics impacting health, safety, finances, and the overall well-being of the target audience. Ensuring high E-E-A-T can help a website gain better visibility and credibility in search engine results.
Check Your Content is Compliant with Google’s Helpful Content & E-E-A-T Guidelines
Read on to find out how you can create a custom GPT agent to automatically check whether your content is compliant with Google’s Helpful Content and E-E-A-T guidelines.
Create Your Custom GPT Agent
Note that creating a GPT is only available to paid OpenAI users, so if you have a free account, skip this step, as you can use a general one that we’ve already created for you!
To achieve the best results, create your own, as this will enable you to make adjustments and refine the process for more relevant recommendations suited to your content.
- Head to the GPTs Editor (or select your name and then “My GPTs”)
- Select “Create a GPT”
- Switch to Configure mode. This is where you’ll select the actions that you want the GPT to take.
- Give your GPT a name i.e. Helpful Content Audit Checker. Description is optional.
- The Instructions section is where to detail what your GPT should do when you interact with it.
Based on the type of content you’re creating, you can create a GPT agent with specific Instructions.
So for example, if you want to audit your blog posts, then only paste in the Instructions for Blog Posts.
Read on to learn how you can also converse with ChatGPT to create the Instructions for you too.
Blog Posts
I. Introduction
Situation Overview
Blog posts are a critical tool for building authority, engaging readers, and driving organic traffic.
Goal
Enhance blog posts to rank well, retain reader interest, and align with Google’s helpful content guidelines.
II. Blog Post Analysis
Step 1: Provide the Blog Content
- Paste the blog post or provide a URL.
Step 2: Scoring the Blog Post
Analyze the blog on the following criteria:
- Relevance: Does the post meet user intent for its target keywords?
- Content Quality: Is it detailed, well-structured, and free of fluff?
- Engagement: Does it use engaging language, headings, and multimedia?
- SEO: Are headings, internal links, and keywords optimized?
- Call to Action (CTA): Is there a clear next step for readers?
Step 3: Improvement Suggestions
- Improvements to structure or flow.
- Adding more depth or examples.
- Optimizing for target keywords.
- Adding multimedia or visual elements.
Homepages
I. Introduction
Situation Overview
Homepages serve as the gateway to your website, showcasing your brand and guiding users to key sections.
Goal
Optimize the homepage to improve user experience, build trust, and drive navigation to priority pages.
II. Homepage Analysis
Step 1: Provide the Page Content
- Paste the homepage text or provide the URL.
Step 2: Scoring the Homepage
Evaluate the homepage on:
- First Impression: Is the value proposition clear in 3 seconds?
- User Navigation: Are key sections (e.g., services, products, blog) easily accessible?
- Brand Trust: Are there trust signals (e.g., awards, testimonials, stats)?
- SEO: Are keywords, meta descriptions, and headings optimized?
- CTAs: Are there clear paths for users to take action?
Step 3: Improvement Suggestions
- Improvements to the headline or value proposition.
- Recommendations for better navigation.
- Suggestions for trust-building elements.
- SEO optimizations.
Enhancements to CTAs.
Service Pages
I. Introduction
Situation Overview
Service pages should clearly communicate offerings, address client pain points, and drive conversions.
Goal
Refine service pages to improve clarity, SEO, and lead generation.
II. Service Page Analysis
Step 1: Provide the Page Content
- Include the text of the page or a URL.
Step 2: Scoring the Page
Evaluate the service page on:
- Clarity of Offer: Is the service clearly explained with benefits highlighted?
- User Intent: Does the page address client needs and pain points?
- Credibility: Are trust signals (e.g., testimonials, case studies) included?
- SEO: Are keywords and headings optimized?
- CTA: Is there a clear, actionable CTA?
Step 3: Improvement Suggestions
- Strengthening the explanation of services.
- Adding testimonials or case studies.
- Optimizing keywords and structure.
- Creating more compelling CTAs.
Product Pages
I. Introduction
Situation Overview
Product pages must provide detailed, engaging, and conversion-focused content while meeting search intent and answering key buyer questions.
Goal
Improve product pages to increase conversions, enhance SEO rankings, and provide a seamless user experience.
II. Product Page Analysis
Step 1: Provide the Page Content
- Paste the existing product page content directly or provide a link to the page.
Step 2: Scoring the Page
Evaluate the product page on the following criteria:
Product Descriptions: Are they clear, detailed, and persuasive?
Unique Selling Points (USPs): Are the key benefits and differentiators highlighted?
SEO Optimization: Does the page use relevant keywords, including product name and features?
Visual and Multimedia Elements: Are there quality images, videos, or interactive elements?
Call to Action (CTA): Is there a strong, clear, and compelling CTA?
Step 3: Improvement Suggestions
- Adding or improving descriptions, including specifications and features.
- Highlighting USPs or unique benefits.
- Adding or optimizing keywords.
- Enhancing CTAs or addressing barriers to conversion.
As mentioned earlier, you can also use ChatGPT itself to help write a prompt to create your custom agent.
Here’s an example prompt:
I’m creating an agent that will be responsible for checking the content on my web pages based on Google’s Helpful Content guidelines and Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines from a knowledge-base. I want to input URLs, and the agent should analyze key elements of the content on the pages with a score out of 10 and in the end, give me recommendations on fixing critical issues based on the analysis, with examples where appropriate.
Prepare a prompt that I can use to instruct this agent.
And here’s an example of its response:
The great thing about using ChatGPT to create the Instructions, is that you can fine-tune them to exactly what you need.
For example, we want the output to be as helpful as possible in suggesting recommendations for improving the content.
Let’s get GPT to tweak it a bit.
Please adjust the output format so that it highlights:
- Exactly what’s wrong with the content
- Provides actionable recommendations that I can implement
- Provides examples for each of the following categories. For example, if a particular section requires content expansion, tell me which section and what information should be added.
Content Quality & Relevance (Add Detailed Explanations, Demonstrate Your First-hand Experience, Include Subtopics and Related Questions)
Building Credibility and Authority (Reference Authoritative Sources, Include Expert Quotes, Display Author Credentials)
Increasing Audience Engagement (Incorporate Visual Elements, Encourage Interaction Through CTAs, Add Interactive Elements)
Delivering Originality and Value (Offer Unique Insights or Perspectives, Solve Problems Not Addressed Elsewhere)
Improving the Structure and Readability (Use Clear Headings, Format Content Using Lists, Highlight Key Information)
Building Trust with Transparency (Explain Methodologies and Processes, Clearly Disclose Sponsorships or Partnerships)
Metadata Optimization (Write Clear and Descriptive Titles, Write Compelling Meta Descriptions, Optimize URL Structure)
I also want to be able to download the analysis in the form of a spreadsheet, in the following format:
A tab should be for a single URL, the name of the tab can be the Page title.- Each tab should have the following columns: Category, Score (out of 10), Priority (High, Medium, Low), Recommendations (Actionable recommendations that are specific to the URL, give examples where appropriate i.e. if the page title is not engaging enough, provide an example of an engaging page title that is SEO optimized. Or, if a part of the content needs expanding, tell me which section and what content I need to add).
Here’s an excerpt updated Output instruction:
You can continue to tweak the Instructions so that they reflect the content that you’re auditing.
After these tweaks, I settled on the following Instructions which I then copied into the Instructions section of the custom GPT.
Analyze the content on the following web pages using the Google Helpful Content and E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) guidelines. For each URL provided, evaluate the following categories with detailed explanations and provide actionable, specific recommendations that include examples:
Identify sections where the content lacks detail or relevance to user queries.
Highlight areas where first-hand experience or depth of knowledge could be demonstrated.
Recommend additional subtopics or related questions to make the content more detailed.
Example: If a section on “Benefits of Remote Work” lacks depth, suggest adding “How to Set Up a Home Office for Productivity.”
Point out any missing authoritative sources, expert quotes, or supporting evidence.
Evaluate whether author credentials or site trust indicators are prominently displayed.
Recommend specific ways to establish authority, such as citing high-quality references or adding an author bio.
Example: If there are no references for a statistic, suggest linking to a credible study like one from Pew Research.
Analyze the use of visuals, calls-to-action (CTAs), and interactive elements.
Recommend engaging content such as videos, infographics, or quizzes.
Example: For a travel blog, suggest adding an interactive map showing key destinations.
Identify content areas where unique perspectives or original insights could add value.
Highlight opportunities to solve user problems that competitors fail to address.
Example: If competitors focus on “Common Plant Diseases,” recommend adding a section on “Natural Remedies for Plant Diseases.”
Assess the use of headings, bullet points, and formatting for ease of reading.
Recommend specific structural improvements to highlight key information.
Example: If a section is a dense block of text, suggest breaking it into bullet points with subheadings like “Top 5 Benefits of Meditation.”
Check if methodologies or processes are explained clearly and transparently.
Ensure disclosures about sponsorships or partnerships are included where necessary.
Example: If a product review lacks a disclosure, recommend adding a statement like, “This review is sponsored by [Brand].”
Evaluate the effectiveness of the page title, meta description, and URL structure.
Provide SEO-optimized examples for any underperforming metadata.
Example: If the page title is “Best Office Chairs,” recommend a more engaging title like “Top 10 Ergonomic Office Chairs for Ultimate Comfort in 2024.”
Detailed Analysis and Recommendations:
What’s Wrong: Clearly identify specific issues in the content or structure of the page.
Actionable Recommendations: Provide clear, actionable steps to address these issues, tailored to the content.
Examples: Offer concrete examples, such as revised meta descriptions or suggestions for additional subtopics.
Assign a Score (1-10) for each category with justifications.
Prioritize recommendations as High, Medium, or Low urgency.
Create a spreadsheet with the following specifications:
Each URL analyzed is represented by a separate tab named after the Page Title.
Columns in each tab include:
Category
Score (out of 10)
Priority (High, Medium, Low)
Detailed and specific recommendations (with actionable advice and examples specific to the URL)
Output the results as both a detailed written report and a downloadable spreadsheet file.
Under the Knowledge section, upload the following two documents as PDFs.
- Google Helpful Content Guidelines – the GPT will take Google’s Helpful Content guidelines into consideration when analyzing your content.
- Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines – the GPT will take Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines into consideration when analyzing your content.
The remaining settings can be kept as they are.
Click Create on the top right hand corner of the page and set the privacy settings to your liking.
Audit Your Content
You’re now ready to audit your content using the GPT agent.
Copy and paste the content or simply enter the URL(s) of the page(s) you want to audit.
The GPT will then provide you with actionable insights on how to improve the content based on the Instructions and Knowledge you’ve provided before.
At the bottom of the analysis, it’ll ask you whether you want it as a spreadsheet,
Remember to ask for a “Downloadable link”.
Here’s what it looks like:
Now that you’ve got the analysis, it’s time to implement the changes!
Implement Recommended Changes
The GPT agent will provide actionable recommendations that you can implement to enhance your existing content so that it aligns with Google’s Helpful Content and E-E-A-T guidelines.
This includes changes like:
- Enhancing Content Depth – Deepening the content helps readers find detailed and satisfying answers without needing to look elsewhere.
- Add Detailed Explanations – where necessary, go beyond surface-level explanations by diving into the reasons behind a concept and the steps to achieve it.
For example, in an article on time management, explain why prioritization increases productivity and outline how to use tools like time-blocking.
For a product page, this could mean expanding the product description with more information about its:
-
- Benefits – how will buying the product solve the user’s problems?
- Specifications – highlight any technical specifications that users may need to know i.e. the dimensions of a table or the technical aspects of a smartphone
- FAQs – answer common questions users may have about using, cleaning or maintaining the product
- Demonstrate Your First-hand Experience – Illustrate your first-hand experience with real-world examples, case studies, research and testimonials that demonstrate your depth of knowledge on the topic.
For example, if you’re a personal trainer, you include results from a survey about popular workout routines and their effectiveness for your clients within an article about the best workout routines for beginners.
- Include Subtopics and Related Questions – Expand the scope of the content to include frequently searched subtopics or related questions. A great place to start is the People Also Ask section in Google Search. Just type in your main keyword and topic and scroll to the People Also Ask section.
- Building Credibility and Authority – Establishing credibility helps readers trust your content and consider it a reliable source.
- Reference Authoritative Sources – Incorporate references to trusted, well-established sources to back up your claims.
Cite studies, statistics, or reports from credible organizations to enhance the content’s trustworthiness.
- Include Expert Quotes – Enhance your content with quotes or insights from industry experts or specialists in the field.
These quotes can help reinforce key points, demonstrating that your content is informed by recognized authorities.
- Display Author Credentials – Provide a clear byline with information about the author’s expertise and qualifications. Add a link to an author bio or profile page that further outlines the author’s professional background, certifications, and experience.
- Increasing Audience Engagement – Engaging content captures attention, holds reader interest, and encourages users to interact with or share your material. It is essential for creating a positive user experience and build loyalty.
- Incorporate Visual Elements: Break up your content with relevant, unique visual elements such as images, infographics, videos, or charts to supplement your text.
For example, the screenshot below is taken from an article about ab workouts. How helpful would the article be without any images or visual aids? Not very helpful. In cases like this, no amount of text describing how to perform the workouts will be as helpful or impactful as a visual demonstration.
- Encourage Interaction Through CTAs – Add clear calls-to-action (CTAs) to prompt readers to engage further, such as commenting, subscribing, or sharing the content.
For landing pages like service pages this may be as a contact form asking users to enquire about a consultation or within your blog sidebar, encouraging them to sign up to your newsletter.
Find out more about how to do this via another of our case studies.
- Add Interactive Elements – Increase engagement with your audience by including polls, quizzes, calculators, or other tools to encourage active participation.
Here’s an example of an eCommerce store embedding a “Hair Test” within one of their articles about hair masks.
This test recommends products based on the user’s answers – very useful!
- Delivering Originality and Value – Original content differentiates your site from competitors and provides a reason for users to bookmark or share.
- Offer Unique Insights or Perspectives – Share your own experiences, opinions, or data rather than simply summarizing widely available information that users can find elsewhere.
For instance, the Hair products eCommerce store mentioned before, could use the answers from the “Hair Test” to understand their audience better and provide more original, valuable content or products on their website.
Providing original content also improves sharability and attracts organic backlinks as users are more likely to share content that they haven’t found anywhere else.
- Solve Problems Not Addressed Elsewhere – As an expert within your industry, you’ll be able to identify gaps in your existing content and create resources to fill them.
For example, if you have a travel blog, you could write about little-known destinations for sustainable tourism, instead of covering overexposed hotspots that everybody else is already talking about.
- Improving the Structure and Readability – Making content easy to follow helps readers find what they’re looking for quickly and enjoy the experience.
- Use Clear Headings – Break the content into sections with meaningful headings and subheadings that reflect key points or important questions that users may have.
Incorporate keywords naturally within your headings to improve visibility for additional terms.
- Format Content Using Lists – Present lists, steps, or grouped ideas in bullet points or numbered formats to allow readers to digest information more quickly and easily.
- Highlight Key Information – Use bold or italic text to emphasize important terms, phrases, or points to help your readers quickly identify critical takeaways within a larger body of text.
- Building Trust with Transparency – Transparency gives users confidence in the accuracy and authenticity of the content.
- Explain Methodologies and Processes – For product reviews or comparisons, explain how the products were tested and include unique imagery (photos and videos) showing them in use.
- Clearly Disclose Sponsorships or Partnerships – Be transparent about sponsorships or partnerships to inform readers when content is influenced by external factors, building trust.
Add disclaimers like: “This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you purchase through these links, at no additional cost to you.”
Place them prominently at the beginning or end of the content.
- Optimizing Metadata – Metadata (page title, meta description, URL) is crucial for helping search engines understand your content and encouraging users to click through to your site. Well-written metadata improves visibility and engagement.
- Write Clear and Descriptive Titles – Write concise, descriptive titles that include your target keyword and summarizes the page’s content.
- Write Compelling Meta Descriptions – Create meta descriptions that summarize your content while encouraging users to click.
- Optimize URL Structure – Create short, readable URLs that include relevant keywords and describe the page content.
Good Example: example.com/best-wireless-earbuds/
Bad Example: example.com//12345-category-bestwirelessearbuds2024-reviews/
The Bad Example URL is cluttered with unnecessary numbers, words, and characters, making it less readable and less likely to be trusted by users.
Implementing these recommendations helps improve the overall quality, usability and helpfulness of your content.
The Results
When compared year-on-year, the organic traffic increased by 387.33% from 11,063 to 53,913 sessions per month.
The number of keywords that the site ranks for in the top 10 positions of Google has reached an all time high of 7,913 since the start of the campaign.
Likewise, the number of keywords within the top 100 positions of Google has reached a record high of 128,534 keywords.
Conclusion
In this case study, I’ve shown you how to create your very own custom GPT for SEO content auditing:
- Audit your content by creating a fantastic, custom GPT agent that aligns with Google’s E-E-A-T and Helpful Content guidelines.
- Implement page-specific recommendations to improve content quality and provide more value to the end user
If you’re looking for help with your site’s SEO, get in touch with my team at The Search Initiative.
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