WebProNews is reporting some very significant changes to Google's search algorithm, that should give small websites and blogs with great content, some breathing space.
(WebProNews is a publication focusing on search, social media and eBusiness.)
All this was revealed in a Skype interview that WebProNews had with Matt Cutts, head of Google's Webspam team (their chief search engineer), during SXSW on March 16.
Apparently Google is to change its search algorithm so that websites and blogs with great content, but whose owners don't do a lot of SEO, will be higher-ranked.
(SEO is the process of structuring websites so that they can rank higher in search engine results).
Google has apparently now realized that some of its search users are getting frustrated at the constant prominence of ad-based or e-commerce sites that are so well-optimized, that they often rank in the top 3 of search results.
(Users have traditionally gotten used to the fact that top-ranking sites provide them with the most relevant information, based on the keywords they include in their search queries...
...So when users can't find the information they need from these top 3 sites and still can't find the information within the first page of Google search results, they'll switch to other search engines like Bing and Mamma, where the sites in the top 3 positions are more relevant.
Google makes slight changes to its search algorithm at least monthly, but major changes as per the one mentioned above, are done yearly, with the latest such change being called a Panda update in March 2011.
These changes aim to give greater prominence to sites that are more relevant to users' search queries).
Since search engines love content that changes often, that is chock -full of relevant search keywords and filled with backlinks from authority and highly-ranked sites, SEO firms strategically use this fact to "mold" sites, so that these sites rank higher.
Unfortunately for a lot of smaller websites and blogs with great content, but with no or small SEO budgets, if their owners are not adept at SEO, then they will never rank in the top 4 or 5 of search results, much less in the top 3, for queries based on their site content.
So previous to this major algorithm change, these smaller sites would have been at a slight disadvantage to larger, highly-optimized sites with deep SEO budgets, despite producing superior content.
How Will These Changes Affect SEO firms?
Well, most SEO firms make money from providing back-linking services, article-writing services and enacting keyword-optimizing strategies that involve changes to sites' HTML or CSS code.
Many charge large clients tens of thousands of US dollars, monthly, for these services.
Since Google will be penalizing sites it deems to be creating unusually large numbers of backlinks and which have an abnormal keyword density, many of these SEO firms that use black hat SEO techniques to optimize sites, versus enabling organic or natural backlinks (white hat techniques), will be in problems.
So even though there is some concern among members of the SEO community re this new Google algorithm change, those firms using white hat SEO techniques should have very little to worry about...
...They have so many "white hat" SEO tools at their disposal, that the revenue shortfall from this change, should be minimal.
Gillian
Sources Include
1) Article, "Keyword Density", via Wikipedia.org, accessed March 21,2012
2) White Hat SEO Definition, Webopedia.com, accessed March 21,2012
3) Search Engines - Bing.com, Mamma.com, accessed March 21,2012
4) Black Hat SEO Definition, Webopedia.com, accessed March 21,2012
5) Article, "Search Engine Optimization", via Wikipedia.org, accessed March 18,2012
6) Article, "Google Is Working On Making SEO Matter Less" by Chris Crum, WebProNews.com, March 16,2012
7) Matt Cutts [Head of Google's Webspam team (their chief search engineer)] website, accessed March 16,2012
8) Article, "Google Updates Search Engine: What This Means for Your Business", by Gillian Campbell, Market Opportunities Unlimited (MOU) Blog, March 18,2011
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