By Laura Betterly

In February, Google updated its algorithm, which is the set of rules that Google uses to determine how websites move up the search engine.  These changes are important to be aware of because they affect anyone who has a website online. Google has explained that this change is to create a better user experience. They would like for every search to serve up exactly what the searcher is looking for.  Its updates have always favored high quality content that creates a great user experience.

However, the one negative side to this change is that it has penalized sites for using certain blog networks to help move them higher up in the search engines.  In fact, several networks have been de-indexed, which means the sites in question can’t be found on Google at all. What Google has done here (including sending out over 700,000 notices to webmasters who appear to have some unusual links to their sites) has hurt a lot of innocent people who have good sites.  These are sites with good content and are now forced to either pay for their traffic or go out of business.

My research has found that Google is also favoring content that has been shared on Google+ over that on Facebook.  Google+ is a great platform BUT it isn’t gaining the popularity that I originally thought it would have.  Although many people have Google+ profiles and share something on there occasionally, it seems to be a bit of a ghost town.  Is Google forcing us to use its social networking platform in order to help our rankings on Google proper?  In my opinion, I believe that they are and it’s not fair.
Google’s owner Matt Cutts stated at South by South West, that Google will be penalizing sites for “over-optimization.”  What is over-optimization?  Well, it’s a general term.  And, there are no steadfast rules.  If you do any type of link building there is a point at which Google considers it to be overdone.  None of us in the search engine community know exactly what they look for – although badly spun articles and blog networks are what they are looking for right now.  All we can do is try one thing or another and see how it affects the search engines.  You can overdo it by linking internally to pages within your site, but it is unknown as to which point Google will consider it to be overdone.

Google is saying that they are doing this to level the playing field and that the search engine will find the most relevant content for the user. I however tend to disagree. If you are optimizing your site and creating what people want to read, you shouldn’t be penalized for being smarter than your competitor.

Another important point to be aware of with this recent algorithm change is that it has also opened up a huge hole for the unethical and nefarious.  It is now possible to effectively knock out your competition by sending links to their site.  This practice, called “negative SEO,” is where you take garbage links (from comments or x-rated sites) and send them to a competitor’s site.  This has been tested by a few and I’ve seen the case studies. Unfortunately, negative SEO works and it’s totally unethical.  This is a gaping hole in the new Google algorithm and I hope they fix this sooner rather than later.

So, what can we do?  Well, many people in the search engine optimization community have also correctly pointed out that we could be giving too much information about who we are and what we do to Google. Many sites that are not affected by these changes are not using Google’s free analytics products, and instead are using other software to measure their stats.  I haven’t taken the plunge to moving all our sites to another platform, but we are researching alternatives.
It is also important to be pro-active and continue to make sure you are continuially adding good, quality content to your site.  This content should be well written and easy to navigate.  You should also watch your analytics on the site.  If your traffic suddenly drops, you will know there is a problem.
This game of cat and mouse can be frustrating.  But, it is important to pay attention to these changes when updating your site.  I would love for our efforts and those of our clients to generate a great user experience that will in turn bring in more business.  A lofty goal?  Maybe.  But, if we keep up-to-date with the ever-changing Google algorithm, we can do our best to continue to supply good content and relevant information to our readers.

About the Author

Laura is the President and CEO of Yada Yada Markeing, Inc. She is an early entrant in the online marketing field, having established online music company named Visiosonic also known as PCDJ.COM. She forged relationships with other tech companies such as MP3.com and Live365.com and worked with celebrities such as Ice T, Nile Rodgers, Jam Master Jay and Chaka Kahn. Laura grew up in a hi-tech environment as her father, the inventor of instant-replay, instilled a sound background in business and technology in her at an early age. She has been a featured speaker at such diverse functions as CES (The Consumer Electronics Show), Winter Music Conference, NARAS, the Grammy’s organization as well as the Federal Trade Commission. Laura has been interviewed extensively and featured in such newspapers as The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and Newsday as well as on CNN, CNNfN and NPR to name just a few; In fact, she has been interviewed in and been on over 200 newspaper, TV, and radio shows.