The websites that we build and manage are engineered to be easier to find in search engines, but what happens when Google changes the rules of the game?
We don’t own Google or have a key to its backend. Enabling your site ranking higher in browse results isn’t as easy as opening up a back panel and banging around with a monkey wrench until we get the outcomes we would like. In this article, we would like to cover why Google updates its algorithm.
Technological Checks & Balances in the Information Age
Lucky for the integrity of the information that we depend on for daily inquiries, no one manages the systems in a position to precisely determine what shows up for “best taco restaurant in Richmond, VA.” If one person or one entity were effective at changing the total results so quickly, they would likely desire their favorites. This would often skew public opinion in favor of personal preference, as people take Google at its word, or skew public opinion of Google as their results reveal clear bias.
Instead, there is undoubtedly a sophisticated algorithm that is at the center of what gets ranked on Google. For example, if the query is “what is the best taco restaurant in Richmond VA?” we would expect Google to weigh each for the tiniest bits of information it has about that particular business and calculate whether it genuinely is the best. Weighing out the complexity of factors that encompass the” that is“best of anything is a complicated equation.
If perhaps you were to brainstorm a set of most of the information you could find online to evaluate a restaurant’s quality, it could include lots of information. Some of it might be more appropriate than others. Does a food critic’s critiques that are negative dozens of satisfied locals? While you can imagine, Google has its work cut away for it. With over 200 ranking factors to weigh out in a fraction of an additional, a simple search query requires a complicated algorithm.
Naturally, this algorithm needs maintenance from time to time. Testers comment on whether Google’s cold, robotic evaluations spit out trustworthy answers for humans. Otherwise, Google would be users that are telling horses that have six legs and carrots cure cancer. It’s easy to see how this could get dangerous.
An error in the algorithm shows how Google may confuse popularity with sometimes credibility. It could also confuse coverage that is thorough of a subject with expert knowledge on the subject. Long-windedness doesn’t automatically make you, right in the world that is real, how Google can tell the difference?
According to Google’s announcement on their Webmaster Central Blog on August 1st, the core algorithm update was designed to improve the credibility of search outcomes. The article continues to explain that sites with quality content have nothing to keep in check.
How Does Google Determine Quality Content?
We have some assurance in even the most significant algorithm updates because we know that Google’s primary goal is to curate trustworthy information from around the web relevant to user queries. There is undoubtedly set up a baseline goal that provides a compass for every SEO to consistently rank well no matter what styles or updates sway his vessel.
Does the information on this website contribute worthwhile, trustworthy insight to search users?
Every time an SEO-minded company creates a new website, they must think of this singular goal of contributing something to the World Wide Web that is will be shared on social media and possibly even framed on the walls of their most ardent fans.
For different kinds of websites, conveying both uniqueness and quality appears differently. For informational sites, contributing something uniquely valuable can look like a research paper, a new insight centered on statistics, or the expert advice from a published author in the field.
When it comes to company sites, the business proprietor is already a certified authority of his topic matter in the world that is real. We have actually to convey this within the digital world. This can be accomplished with testimonials verifying your trustworthiness or your list of certifications and experience. Your marketing strategy can figure out your unique strengths and what makes your business a go-to place for your most loyal customers. Ask the right questions; your business should generate content for your internet site that is uniquely valuable to your web visitors.
Evaluating Your Site’s Content that is current quality
In Google’s blog post, they highlight some helpful questions to determine what they consider to be quality content. I’ve reproduced some of those questions here for you, getting a general concept of the high standards that Google would prefer to see in the web sites it ranks.
If you have a web site currently, it would be a big help to read a number of the questions and get yourself if the website satisfies these requirements.
Google Content Quality Guidelines
- Does this content provide insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious?
- If the content draws on other sources, does it avoid simply copying or rewriting those sources and instead provide substantial extra value and originality?
- If you researched the site producing the information, would you come away with the impression that it is well-trusted or widely-recognized as an authority on its subject?
- Is the material free from easily-verified factual errors?
- Would you feel comfortable trusting this content for issues relating to your cash or your life?
- Is the content free of spelling or stylistic issues?
- Was the information produced well, or does it seem sloppy or hastily constructed?
- Does the content provide substantial value whenever compared to other sites in the final results?
- Does the content seem to be serving the genuine interests of visitors to the web site, or does it seem to exist solely by someone attempting to guess what might rank well in search engines?
(You can browse the full listing of assessment questions on the Google blog post or read the 166-page search quality rater guidelines.)
What We Do For Google’s Quality Standards
As shared, SEO is an industry rife with simple tricks to outsmart search engines into ranking results at the very top. Some of the SEO businesses providing these services are somehow able to give better results for a cheaper charge than we could compete with ever. Some of their secrets to keeping prices down include:
- Automation
- Outsourcing
- Copy and paste
- Fluff writing
At worst, a few of these companies are cutting corners with hiring non-native English authors from international and copy that is using paste types of duplicating websites for multiple clients. At most readily useful, they recognize the benefit of unique content, but their rates are too low to cover writing well-researched articles.
The problem is you spend little but still get what you want. To keep costs down, they don’t budget time that is enough to produce quality work. With maybe time committed to analyzing rankings and looking at mistakes throughout your site, only a small portion of that is used to create a blog post. While the blog post counts as new, fresh content regarding the website Google to crawl, it makes precisely the same common sense points that anyone off the street with merely a shared knowledge of the topic could make. The fluff doesn’t last and establish the site’s recognition in Google as a trusted source.
Optimizing Your Website for Uniqueness & Quality
Before ever placing pen to paper or drawing up outlines of your website’s structure, we meet with our clients and make a point of discussing their business’s unique strengths, their marketing strategy as a whole, and how their digital online strategy fits into all of this.
Our goal would be to consider precisely what it is that the internet site can say that will be most valuable towards the users who visit it. For most of our clients, we recommend a UX Strategy Session to create customer profiles that aid in the consumer experience of your website.
We additionally start from scratch with custom WordPress web development and create homepage and subpage designs that are unlike any other out-of-the-box template. This enables us to begin with a canvas that is blank to get creative with your site.
What’s your thought on this update? Email us at sales@nolimitsmedia.com. Maybe, we can even work together.
