The Google algorithm (the thing that actually determines what search results are returned) changes on a regular basis, affecting the way we approach SEO in our business. In recent months Google's algorithm has developed to prevent low quality sites from dominating the search listings . The concept behind this change is that nice looking, user friendly sites will rank higher in Google... this important change has been called the Panda update. This was officially rolled out in the UK on 11th April 2011.

So...what is this Panda?  The Panda update has essentially made the search algorithm a better learner and by using research done by human quality testers as a reference, the search algorithm (or computer) can make it's own decisions as to whether a web site is good or bad.

What does this mean for us as a customer searching for a particular product or business on the web?

Good quality sites will now be ranked higher in Google, so when we type in a particular search phrase or keyword, the results will come back with more 'relevant' results to our search and not just a website that happens to be well optimised.  Some websites mass produce 'optimised'  web content so it can be found by search users... these sites are called a Content Farms. The disadvantage to this type of content is that it is often of a low quality, often created merely to drive traffic by appealing to the search algorithms, thereby ranking highly.  Popular sources of mass produced 'content' such as Hubpages and Ezine Articles have seen a 60-90% loss in visibility in search engines since the arrival of Panda.  It seems that Google is now able to better recognise websites with good quality original content and is rewarding them with higher search result listings.

What does this mean for us a business?

Old fashioned SEO practices are becomming obselte.  The process is now more organic than ever and is all about creating a quality experience for the user. But what makes for a quality site? What will Google be looking for? The following points are important to Google:

• Can visitors easily navigate their way around the site?
• Is the content original, fresh and unique?
• Is it obvious to users what each topic page is about?
• Is the text clear and have you implemented a sitemap on your page?
• Have you included title elements and ALT attributes?
• Have you checked the site for broken links?
• Does the website work in all browsers? i.e Safari, Firefox and IE
• Has the content been shared to other uses? i.e +1, "like", "tweeted"

For a full list of the guidelines visit Google's Webmaster Guidelines.

Google’s John Mu recently said on Google blog “If you do have such high-quality, unique and compelling content, I'd recommend separating it from the auto-generated rest of the site, and making sure that the auto-generated part is blocked from crawling and indexing, so that search engines can focus on what makes your site unique and valuable to users world-wide.”

Has this new update affected where your site is ranked? email us and let us know.