The only thing certain is change. This old adage certainly applies to internet marketing and undoubtedly to search engine giant Google and the algorithms used to determine web page ranking.
In fact, keeping up with Google algorithm changes and its almost constant adjustments could be considered a full time job. Few of us have the time, inclination, and resources to stay abreast of them. But there are ways that you can minimise the impact.
Possible Sign Of Google Algorithm Changes – Drop In Ranking
Oftentimes the very first indication of Google algorithm changes is a sudden drop in a web page’s search engine ranking. One day your site is on top and the next you’ve dropped off the first page altogether. What happened? Why?
Instead of panicking, do a bit of research. Visit your favourite internet marketing blog and read through the most recent posts. Google does not loudly and publicly announce proposed changes, but there are some industry professionals who make a point of knowing what’s going to happen before it occurs. Listen and learn.
Obviously the next step is to correct any problems Google is finding on your site due to the new rules. Keywords are always a point of contention so you may have to rewrite the content on your pages in order to gain back your pages search engine optimisation. Know the rules and then play by them.
Proactive Steps
When you find a good blog, forum, or site that is headed by an industry insider, bookmark it and go back to visit it often. An RSS feed helps you keep up with new posts, too. The best defence is a good offence as the old sports saying goes. You must remain informed in order to deal with change.
When you’ve gotten wind of proposed changes, do further research by visiting Google’s blog. They often use beta testing and limited releases before launching full-scale changes and post an overview on their blog site.
Tried And True Best Practices
Remember that if you use time-tested, valid SEO techniques, you will always be one step ahead of the game. More than relying on things you should do, these best practices focus more on what you should avoid. These include:
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Stay away from black hat techniques like misleading cloaking tactics, deceptive meta descriptions, poor or duplicate content, etc.
• Don’t look like a spam site. Develop good pages with informative content that provide a value to the visitor.
• Take care when link building. Don’t use link farms or leave a link on an obvious spam site.
• Don’t allow spammers to leave comments on your blog.
• Take care when choosing affiliate marketing programs. You are known by the company you keep, even in a virtual sense.
• Stay abreast of SEO techniques for search engines other than Google (and take comfort that just because your ranking dropped in Google’s eyes doesn’t mean you’ll fall off the face of the Internet).
If there is one thing that is certain not to change, it’s that Google algorithm changes will continue in an effort to rid its search results of spam and scam websites. Keep your web pages honest and above board and you are certain to dodge any lasting ill effects from future changes.
About Sean Rasmussen
Hi Sean,
I guess that trying to predict when Google algorithm changes are going to occur is pretty futile. There is no way that Google is going to give us a heads up but I think that if you’ve been doing this for a while you may be able to see some indication that change is coming.
This is where it will definitely pay off to watch closely what the industry insiders are saying. I think it’s always important to do the right thing and only using valid SEO techniques will help us when Google algorithm changes occur.
I think if we just accept that it is going to happen at some stage, then it will be easier to deal with when it is here. Also, I think diversity is important so we don’t just rely on one thing as our sole source of income. Hopefully, then we’ll be able to minimize the effects that these changes have on our income.
Google have recently updated their page rank and I am inclinced to think that that also tweaked around with the algorithm. I have seen many of my high ranking pages be blasted down.
When we play in Google’s space, we need to play by Google’s rules. I like to think that changes to the Google algorithm make it easier for quality sites to rank higher. If that’s the case, that’s a good thing.
I agree David, I think the algorithm changes are a good thing. For one, it keeps us SEO’s on the ball, and hopefully weeds out some of those sites that are ranking due to black hat techniques etc.
Change is almost always a good thing, welcome it.
As I assume the goal of Google is to have high quality pages ranking highly the best strategy always seems to be to have a high quality site with good, relevant content. Making sure all your captions, tags and keywords are in line with what you are saying and products are of good quality and relevant – I guess changes of the Google Algorytm will have a minimal impact on your ranking.
Exactly Renee. White hat strategies, quality content, good SEO and taking action on any changes you hear of from reputable sources should lower the impact of any changes.
So you haven’t noticed that the quality of search results has dropped? And you don’t suspect that their algorithm tweaking isn’t really about getting more form Adwords revenue?
Well why do I have to wade through pages of close proximity nothingness when I can use Yahoo to get first page results?
You can certainly focus on Yahoo for high rankings if you choose William. I have many page one rankings on Yahoo and the traffic this generates is extremely minimal compared to the same rankings in Google