Recent Changes to Google's Algorithm

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Last year Google made 350 - 550 changes to its algorithm.  The algorithm is one of the tools Google uses to decide where to rank your website when a user types a search.

Most of the changes go unannounced and even unnoticed, but about a month ago one change, which has become referred to as "Mayday," has caused something of a stir as it appears to have impacted the rankings of more websites than usual.  This change particularly affects what are known as "long tail keywords," where people are typing three or more words into the search engine. 

Long tail keywords are important to businesses as people using three or more words in a search are usually looking for something precise to buy.  If your product page can land at the top of the search rankings, you are far more likely to be in a position to sell.  Compare the difference with a search for "beds" and "white children's bunk beds."  (Now you know all about my online shopping this week.)

In a content rich site, you can also perform well for long tail keywords in a world where 25-30 % of all searches are unique in a two year period.

Google says that what it is trying to achieve with the "Mayday" change (as with everything) is an improvement in both the relevance and quality of its search results.  In the past, webmasters might have simply relied on the relevance of a simple product page to rank well for a low competition long tail keyword.  Now they will need to rely more on the quality of that page as well.  It is no good simply using the manufacturer's copy on your product page.   It is duplicate content and adds nothing to the Web.  Write (or commission) your own copy.  This is something I have been advising clients for a while.

It is true that Amazon will use manufacturer's product copy, but they generate unique content-rich pages by having user-generated content in the form of customer reviews and use link text for recommended products. 

It's still my firm belief that small players can out-perform the giants by being good at SEO, especially in niche markets and for long tail keywords. 

Of course, as well as having the correctly researched keywords to target and a focused website, it is important to develop external links back into your website.  Having authoritative and relevant links deep into product pages with keyword rich anchor text can improve the performance of your whole site in search as well.

Changes to the Google algorithm shouldn't be frightening to forward-looking businesses with high quality websites and a focused Search Engine Optimisation strategy.

Steven Loveridge