When it comes to ranking a website in Google, most people agree that high-quality content is essential. But, what exactly is quality content?
For a number of reasons, most online marketers agreed that Google defined high-quality content as something very specific: text-based content which clearly and engagingly communicated valuable information to readers.
Recently, though, Google’s John Mueller shot down that assumption during a video chat.
While he still emphasizes that great content should inform or entertain viewers, Mueller explained that the search engine actually has a much broader view of “content quality” than most thought.
What Google Means When They Say “Quality Content”
In response to a question about whether SEO content creators should prioritize technical improvements to content or expand the scope of content, Mueller took a moment to talk about what content quality means to Google.
“When it comes to the quality of the content, we don’t mean like just the text of your articles. It’s really the quality of your overall website, and that includes everything from the layout to the design.
This is especially notable, as Mueller specifically highlights two factors that many continue to ignore – images and page speed.
“How you have things presented on your pages? How you integrate images? How you work with speed? All of those factors, they kind of come into play there.”
Ultimately, Mueller’s response emphasizes taking a much more holistic view of your content and focusing on providing an all-around great experience for users on your website.
There is an unspoken aspect to what Mueller says which should be mentioned. Mueller subtly shows that Google still prefers text-based content rather than videos or audio-only formats. While the company wants to integrate even more types of content, the simple fact is that the search engine still struggles to parse these formats without additional information.
Still, Mueller’s statement broadens the concept of “quality content” from what is often understood.
“So it’s not the case that we would look at just purely the text of the article and ignore everything else around it and say, oh this is high-quality text. We really want to look at the website overall.”
