Every
month Google updates its index causing rankings
to rise and fall. Those in the industry know the
phenomenon as the "Google Dance." This month's
"dance," beginning in mid-November has broken
new records in stirring up controversy, anger,
and debate. Many of the discussion forums are
packed with literally thousands of message postings
on this topic alone. Everyone seems to have a
theory as to what has happened or not happened.
Thousands of Web site owners
saw their rankings drop dramatically or disappear
in recent weeks. Of course, the same number also
saw their rankings rise, they just aren't as vocal
about it. WebMasterWorld dubbed this latest flurry
of changes "Florida," sweeping in much like a
Florida hurricane. What has amplified emotions
this month has been the fact that the changes
came on the eve of the holiday shopping season,
leaving many businesses without the rankings that
they were counting on.
Since top rankings on Google
can supply a significant amount of traffic, a
drop in rank on enough keywords can have a noticeable
financial impact on a small business. This has
led to a debate about whether the changes were
made in an attempt to coerce Web site owners to
purchase Google Adword listings as a quick fix
during the holidays. Adding more fuel to the fire
is that many people have observed that more commercial
sites lost rankings this month than non-commercial
sites.
Unlike previous updates, this
latest one contains a "loophole" which provides
a mechanism to compare the "new" Google search
results to the "old" results prior to the Florida
update.
You can simply go to www.scroogle.org
and conduct a search normally without the extra
parameters. This Web site will return the rankings
as they existed before and after the Florida update.
For example, you'll notice that for the term digital
cameras, that 51 out of the first 100 listings
disappeared after Google applied the new algorithm.
Other search terms show no changes at all in rankings.
While commercial search terms seem to have changed
more often than non-commercial terms, this is
not always the case. There are no definitive "this
is always the case" rules with the latest update,
despite what some people may lead you to believe.
Be aware that Google could disable
the ability to compare results like this at any
time. It only works at the time of this writing.
Therefore, if you want to conduct any of your
own research, now is the time!
Why have certain sites declined
in rank? There are two leading explanations, both
of which may have some truth to them:
- Only commercialized keywords are affected
by the new ranking algorithm (at least most
of the time). This of course has lead to speculation
that Google is hoping to encourage people competing
for these keywords to instead compete for them
by purchasing AdWords listings. However, Google
denies this.
- Sites that have been "over-optimized" are
now being penalized.
For example, there are many
commercial, highly competitive Web sites that
have optimized every incoming link and tag to
the hilt. It's long been known that including
your keywords in the anchor text of an incoming
link can boost your rankings for that keyword.
Including that same keyword in the title tag,
meta tags, body area, domain name, and elsewhere
can also improve rankings.
Unfortunately, over the past couple of years,
many sites took this knowledge to the extreme.
Some even bought hundreds of extra domain names,
cross-linking them all and stuffing keywords in
each link. Porn sites are well known for this
tactic. Many traded or purchased links in such
a way that nearly every incoming link to a particular
page contained their chosen keyword along with
the title tag. While these sites ranked well for
years, they may have been just a little too perfect
for Google's taste. Many sites that followed this
strategy appear to have dropped in rank, but normally
only for the over-optimized keywords. Sites that
employed more "relaxed" linking and optimization
strategies, on a whole, appear to have fared better
during the latest update.
Does this mean that optimizing your Web site
is a bad idea or inherently dangerous? Of course
not. If you do nothing to enhance the search engine
"friendliness" of your site, then the odds of
you ranking at the top by accident are even worse
than those who are riding the line on over-optimization.
As has always been the case in SEO, moderation
is key! Having the most repetitions of your keyword
on the page or in your links is never the way
to win. You'll only be penalized for spamming
or keyword stuffing.
Despite the golden rule of not overdoing it,
Google's PageRank algorithm in the past has rewarded
sites for having tons of keyword rich links. The
"more the merrier" has been PageRank's unspoken
motto. The most common theory is that this latest
update has applied a ranking penalty to certain
keywords and sites to put a stop to the more blatant
abuse of PageRank. If your link structure is too
perfect, then you risk Google noticing and penalizing
you.
Of course there are those out there that do not
fit the above scenario that also saw their rankings
drop. Therefore, it is apparent that some rankings
changed for other reasons. Or, there's always
a possibility that we don't have all the pieces
of the puzzle yet.
Considering the prevailing theory that too much
link and keyword repetition on Google can spell
trouble, what's your best defensive strategy?
Mix up your link structure. Start with the internal
links on your site since they are easy to change.
While some links can contain your keyword, try
not to go overboard. If a human being reviewed
the site and the link structure, would it look
natural or like you intentionally optimized it?
Look at what other top rankings sites are doing.
The same strategy goes for external links. Google
realizes that you don't normally have control
over how third party sites link to you, so some
variety is to be expected. In the "natural" world,
variety tends to be the case unless you're participating
in a link farm, buying hundreds of domains for
the purpose of link building, or are involved
in some other kind of other artificial link-building
scheme. The average "authoritative" site on the
Web will have a range of keywords and phrases
in the linking anchor text. Some of these pages
will naturally include the same keywords found
on the page, but certainly not all will.
How much is too much optimization in regard to
external link text? Nobody outside of Google seems
to know for sure right now. However, look at your
high-ranking competition's links to gain an idea
for what Google wants to see. Also, watch the
WebPosition Page Critic for continuing updates
on this topic. However, don't be afraid to experiment
a little. Consider removing your keyword from
the title tag on a couple of heavily optimized
pages that recently dropped in rank to see what
happens. This is particularly important if you're
not able to easily dilute the number of keywords
from your incoming links. Bear in mind that external
links that include your keywords are still a positive
thing with Google. If you don't have many good
incoming links now for your key pages, then don't
let this change discourage or worry you. A solid
link building strategy still remains important
to your Google rankings when done in moderation
and in concert with properly optimizing your page's
content. You are no more likely to achieve top
rankings "naturally" or by accident than you are
in winning your State lottery. You have to educate
yourself on what to do and what NOT to do.
As for the recommended quantities of keywords
in other page areas, we just updated the WebPosition
Page Critic with the latest statistics gathered
since the Florida update. If your knowledge base
is current, you'll see keyword averages by page
area that reflect what a "top 5" site is now using.
Your best bet is to revise any fallen pages, and
emulate those averages. These will reflect what
Google currently wants to see on your page. However,
avoid the temptation of inserting MORE keywords
than what is recommended. Too many keywords can
be just as bad as too few.
According to the December 1st Planet Ocean report,
they are reportedly seeing sites where the over-optimization
penalty seems to linger even after changes are
made and Google re-spiders the site. While this
could prove to be the case, their article appeared
just a couple of weeks after the Florida update.
This is really not enough time in my opinion for
Google to re-spider the affected site plus all
external domains also influencing that site's
rank. Therefore, I'd recommend patience before
concluding that your site may be penalized indefinitely.
I would also not be surprised if there was another
refinement of Google's algorithm within the next
month or two. Many people are arguing that the
latest algorithm produces less relevant results
for the average surfer. While this is certainly
debatable, there would seem to be fewer commercial
Web sites ranking highly for commercial search
terms. If consumers are searching for a product
or service to buy and instead receive a dozen
listings from universities, consumer groups, and
government Web sites, then the average Google
visitor may not see that as an improvement. Expect
Google to seek out a balance since their ultimate
goal is relevancy.
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