It’s no secret in the world of search engine optimization(SEO) that Google is constantly refining and changing their search algorithms. They have indicated that the purpose of such updates is to have search results pages be more reflective of the needs of those who are using Google to try to find what they are looking for. There have been numerous such updates over the years, and big ones have even been given cute names.
What We Learned from Penguin 4.0 and Possum Updates
A couple years ago, the Penguin and Panda updates were all the SEO world could talk about. As of late last year, this was superseded by the later Google search algorithm updates of Penguin 4.0 and Possum.
The original Penguin update penalized the search ranking of websites that used link building techniques that were considered spammy. The latest update of this Google search algorithm adds real-time updates to their evaluation of a site’s ranking and refines its ranking down to individual pages of a website instead of the whole thing.
The Possum update was less about penalizing websites for engaging in manipulative traffic and more about refining search results based on the location of what people were searching for. When searching for a business or organization, Google would only show results within a given city, but this update enables you to find results in the surrounding area as well.
Fred Doesn’t Like Websites That Try to Manipulate the Search Results
The latest Google algorithm update, known as Fred, doesn’t like those websites that are just trying to make a quick buck. When SEO firms conducted reviews of those websites negatively affected by this update, the commonalities were an overload of ads or affiliate links, poor quality links in general and low-quality content that doesn’t provide readers the information they were searching for in the first place.
In other words, websites that use so-called “black hat” SEO tactics that spam keywords and links to try to manipulate the search engines into believing they have what people are looking for had their search rankings punished by this latest update. By some reports, these types of websites may have lost up to 50-90 percent of their traffic.
Quality Content Is the Key
Every time there’s a Google algorithm update, they are trying to refine the process of getting those searching for something online to the information they need. Since most people are not looking for poor quality websites loaded with bad links and content that doesn’t add value, these types of sites will continue to do worse over the years with every new Google search algorithm change.
Websites that wish to enjoy solid, long-term growth in rankings need to offer the online world high-quality content that provides exactly what the visitors are looking for. This may help explain the growth in companies providing content marketing services as a powerful search engine optimization LOWtool. This, combined with high-quality link building strategies, will put you above any competition that thinks they can beat the system.
