Last week Google announced it made changes to its search algorithms that resulted in the engine placing more emphasis on content quality when determining website rankings. This is the latest in Google’s ongoing effort to return the most relevant query results for its users. Google reports that these adjustments have impacted 11.8% of their queries.
According to a February 24th Google blog post, the “update is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites—sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful.â€Â Though post does not specifically mention “content farmsâ€, the changes seem to be in response to the growing number of these websites, which are stocked with freelance written copy on a multitude of subjects. Since the primary objective of content farm sites is to garner advertising revenue by racking up pages views for optimized keywords, the quality of the information is typically lacking.
To evaluate the actual impact of the Google changes, the SEO firm Sistrix has done its own research and compiled data. They report on the 25 biggest losers, websites calculated to have dropped in keyword rankings from 77 to 93 percent. The majority of the sites on the list are the informational article or content farm type sites.
Though Google’s changes may not be good news for everyone, they do present an exciting opportunity for the owners of more focused sites, including small business sites. As professionals and knowledgeable authorities in their own fields of business, marketers can write their own quality content for their websites, and be rewarded for it with high Google ranking. To determine whether your website content is quality content, consider your audience and what information they will be seeking. Make sure your content tells your readers:
- Who you are
- What you can offer them
- How your product or service will meet their needs
- Why you are better than the competition
Based on your experience, anticipate what questions your audience will have and provide the answers in a clear, straightforward way.
Google’s algorithm adjustments should be great news for most businesses. While developed to provide users with more relevant results, they will also move quality website marketers even closer to their prospects.
