Google Search continues to be tumultuous as we dive into the second quarter of 2024. While the algorithm updates haven’t come quite as fast—or quite as furious—as the end of 2023, Google’s March core update led to greater penalties for low-quality content, and a number of websites appeared to be completely delisted. 

It’s more important than ever to focus on high-quality content. Even if you use AI for first drafts, Google has made it clear that it expects thorough fact-checking and unique insights.

Expanding E-E-A-T to H-E-E-A-T

While Google hasn’t made H-E-E-A-T a formal recommendation, it’s a great guideline for creating helpful content. But what is H-E-E-A-T? 

Let’s take a step back. Currently, Google recommends that content creators focus on E-E-A-T—or experience, expertise, authority, and trust. Search algorithms use these pillars to assess each page, and proving your credibility can lead to huge boosts in organic visibility. 

With the March core update and last year’s back-to-back series of algorithm updates, it’s clear that Google has another expectation of helpful content: that it feels human. No, this doesn’t mean that it has to be created by a human. But even if you use AI to generate the first draft, your final published copy should feel human. Hence, H-E-E-A-T: human, experience, expertise, authority, and trust. 

In order to understand what makes the content feel “human,” it might be good to think about actual humans—not Google’s algorithms. Next time you’re surfing the web, ask yourself these three questions:

1. What shows up on the search engine result page (SERP)?

2. Why do you feel compelled to click onto a specific website—or was your question already answered on the SERP? 

3. If you clicked, did the content successfully answer your question, or did it leave you even more confused?

Today, more and more content lacks that essential humanity. Maybe you are looking for a substitute for hoisin sauce in a chicken marinade… but all of the results are identical, AI-generated lists, and none address your specific problem: What should I put in my marinade? They’re missing that essential “human” element—you might as well have typed your query into ChatGPT.

What were you hoping to find? Probably some human insight into your situation. Content that follows H-E-E-A-T will include a uniquely human quality that makes the searcher feel like their query has been thoroughly answered by a human’s perspective—and may inspire a deeper dive into other content on the site.​​

Using Content to Dive Deeper

At Masthead, we’re big advocates for long-tail keywords—or keywords with lower monthly search volume but a higher likelihood of conversion. When we look at the intersection between H-E-E-A-T and long-tail queries, we find what Ahrefs calls “deep content.”

Part of creating deep content is finding great long-tail keywords that are uniquely suited to your brand’s expertise. For instance, if you develop and sell hair care, you might want to hone in on articles about hair science or the best methodology for shampooing and conditioning, based on hair type. And there are a ton of fantastic long-tail keywords on those topics that will be worth targeting. 

To identify deep content, you want to find queries where the top articles and ChatGPT (or your favorite LLM) produce a surface-level answer that doesn’t really get into the “why” or the “how.” For most searchers, this basic information will be fine, but there are a lot of people who want to dig deeper—and your deeper content should be the ideal next click for these searchers. 

For instance, here is what ChatGPT has to say when asked about shampooing 

This is a fine overview. But there’s a lot of opportunity for further elaboration and details. For example: 

• There are still a lot of shampoos to choose from! Are there better guidelines than simply sulfate-free?

• If my hair is “normal,” how should I know if I should follow the instructions for “normal to oily” or “normal to dry”? 

• What if I love hot showers? Do I have to give them up forever?

There’s a lot of opportunity here for an expert to write a thorough article that goes beyond the basics—it’s deep content. 

But how can you identify which long-tail queries are best suited for deep content? All you need is Google Search and an AI like ChatGPT or Claude. Once you’ve identified a few long-tail contenders, search them and run them through your favorite AI—and check the answers with your brand’s subject-matter experts. The best keywords for deep content will make your experts say:

• Well, that’s not quite right…

• Sure, but you could also…

• You shouldn’t do that unless you…

Once you’ve chosen a keyword, you can go on to write or optimize your article—making sure to address all the questions your subject-matter expert identified. 

Prioritizing Information Gain

There are other ways to target long-tail keywords, too. (In fact, this method can be used for long- and medium-tail keywords!) When planning content, Masthead always recommends brands consider information gain. 

Information gain refers to new knowledge added to the search landscape. Does your company have unique data? Do your subject matter experts have unique experience or knowledge that others don’t? Look for opportunities to add this data or insight into new or optimized articles. 

In fact, Google may actually consider information gain when evaluating organic rankings. A June 2022 patent provided a mechanism to assess each page’s “information gain score.” In other words: How different is your content? Does it say something unique that other ranking pages do not? 

Naturally, Google remains silent about the exact way organic rankings are calculated, so there’s no way to know if they currently assess pages for information gain. However, this patent does indicate that Google cares about promoting pages that offer novel information, and don’t just regurgitate the same information every other ranking page does. 

Keep an eagle eye out for opportunities to add something new to the search results for industry-relevant queries. Whether you’re adding new information or creating deep content, Google often rewards brands that provide something interesting and unique—and searchers appreciate that the content feels human, too.