Google Algo Update Comes Out Fighting
Published: Thu, 04/26/12
Hi, everyone! It's Erica Stone and I want to share
my thoughts and guidance around the recent Google
algorithm change.
Webspam Update
On April 24th, Google put through the initial phases
of an algorithm change they call the Webspam Update.
The objective of this change is to lower the rankings
of low quality sites and boost high quality sites to the
surface. The result should be a better user experience
for Google search customers.
You can read Google's official announcement here:
At the end of Google's post, you can read through
400+ comments from those who have something
to say about this change and most of those people
are not happy at all.
Internet marketing forums are filled with examples
of garbage content that is now ranking on the first
page of Google for very competitive terms. I've found
the following examples myself (the bread machine
one has been spread around several forums now
after I posted it on WarriorForum):
Google "bread machine reviews" in the US rightnow and there is both a Weebly and a Tripod pagein the first 10 results - both of which are one page,poorly spun articles of complete (and entertaining)gibberish.
Google "vacuum cleaner reviews" in the US rightnow and there's a site in the #3 spot that has justa handful of reviews, minimal content, poor sitestructure and was just created March 16, 2012.(That keyword gets 40,500 exact searches a month.That site owner must be thinking he's hit themother-lode!)
Google "coffee maker reviews" in the US rightnow and there's a Blogspot site on the first page withhorribly written (spun?) content and worthlessreviews.
Yes, I'm picking out the worst of the worst and there
are review related phrases where quality seems to be
fine. However, to me, these bad examples are a
signal that Google isn't done. (And this article suggests
the same thing: SearchEngineLand: Did Google's Search
Certainly, other algorithm updates have taken days to
roll through and we'll all need to be patient the next
week to determine the final results.
My Own Results
If you've seen rankings for your sites drop in the past
two days, you are not alone. All of my sites have moved
around. Some have moved up and some have moved
down. (I sound like Dr. Seuss!)
Fortunately (?), my largest site moved down only a
couple of spots for my main keyword but it's still not
the most pleasant experience. Traffic was down about
30% yesterday. (Oddly, though, sales were about par
for the course.)
The demo site that I use in The Reviewer's Edge to
show you what my sites tend to look like moved up a
spot or two on the 1st page of Google even though I
never really backlinked it and haven't touched it in months.
Some inner pages of my sites also moved up or down.
I'm getting traffic for phrases that I really don't think
I should rank for at all - phrases that aren't on my site
in full but only if you string together a few words
throughout the page. In fact, I've had some searches
for reviews of a product I mention only once in a
comment on one of my posts but haven't actually
reviewed.
Again, more signals that this change can't be quite done yet.
Now, for some good news and things you can
do today to get through this week.
First, those of you following the Squidoo Niche Blaster strategy
should be pleased to hear that Squidoo fared very well
throughout the Webspam Update. My lenses either
held their rank or improved. Traffic to my own set
of lenses was up 200 visitors yesterday. Other lenses
I monitor to keep track of Squidoo's stability also
did just fine.
In one instance, the lens I had built as a backlink for
one of my older sites moved up to the #1 spot for
the main keyword and pushed my own site to #2. Go figure!
But at least I still get the traffic, thanks to that lens.
Now, for what you should be doing today whether you
saw your site move up or down - FOCUS ON CONTENT.
Update your older posts and publish new ones. Write
the best product reviews you can write, if you have
a review site. To update your existing reviews, read
through user comments on Amazon, Walmart, or
Target and see if you can find an interesting tidbit
of information to add to your existing review.
Don't copy the comment onto your site. See if it
sparks an idea for discussing one of the features of
your product, highlights a new way to use the product,
or brings to light an issue with the product that you
didn't know about before.
Add new informational posts using the
Amazon Niche Master strategies, especially those
Top 3/5/10 posts. Analysis of my own sites shows
that one, single Top 3/5/10 post is responsible for 40%
of the sales on one site. It's not because the post
brings in a ton of traffic on its own, but because it
seems to be one of the most popular posts people
jump to after landing on my home page and it converts
extremely well.
If you're following the Squidoo strategy, update
your existing lenses and put up more!
Ease off of any backlinking. Maybe a few social
bookmarks to help you get indexed, if necessary,
but put content first right now.
Finally, just hold on tight. Be aware of what's going
on with Google but don't let it distract you from
continuing your journey forward.
Sincerely,
Erica Stone
erica@extremereviewer.com