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Google's Recent Algorithm Slaps Content Farms

Google unveiled an algorithm update last week (called the "Farmer update" for reasons to be explained below) which has caused wide-spread panic among websites and webmasters.

The impact, according to Google, affects 12% of all search results in the United States.

Here's the scoop:

In an ongoing effort to make sure SERPs aren't dominated by low-quality content farms, Google rolled out its latest update to scrub search results.

This from the Google blog:

"But in the last day or so we launched a pretty big algorithmic improvement to our ranking—a change that noticeably impacts 11.8% of our queries—and we wanted to let people know what’s going on. This update is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites—sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful. At the same time, it will provide better rankings for high-quality sites—sites with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on."

Notice the phrase "sites which are low-value add for our users" and "copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful."

There are a ton of websites that copy content from other websites. Some of these websites are referred to as "scrapper" websites because the "scrape" (or copy) content from other websites.

As noted by Econsultancy, eHow, Associated Content (purchased by Yahoo), Business.com, Mahalo, ezinearticles.com, hubpages.com, buzzle.com, articlesbase.com and others, are taking a hit by this update.

In addition, some SEOs are seeing drops in websites that are competitors to Google Maps/Places because they offer maps or business listings.

Will this hurt your website? Keep an eye on your traffic; pay attention to your Google Analytics report and watch your overall keyword rankings.

In addition, website owners should continue to build quality inbound links and write good, quality content for their website. Make sure your Google Maps listing is completed and up-to-date.

More to come, I am sure.

How to Lose Your Blog Readers in 20 Seconds or Less

By Sarah Groneck

SEO/SMO Writer 

I’m picky when it comes to reading blogs: If a blog does something I don’t like, I will leave the page within 20 seconds. Other blog readers I’ve spoken with do the same.

If you’re a blogger and are wondering how to keep your readers’ attention, think about if you:

Rant.

If you enjoy reading a good rant, you’re one of the few. Most readers would sooner stay away from drama than embrace it. As a blog reader, I’ll pass up blogs that even smell like drama: if a blog’s title is “I Hate Everyone,” for instance, I won’t bother clicking on it.

“But, I have the right to say how I feel,” you say.

Yes, you do. However, if you want to skip merrily with your fellow bloggers in a rainbow-filled blogosphere, stay away from the rants. Readers appreciate nice, thought-provoking posts as opposed to angry, finger-pointing remonstrations.

If you still want to express your opinion on politics and on religion, try looking at both sides. Is there anything positive about the other side that you can convey?

Another good idea is to write out your post and walk away from the computer. Then, come back a few hours later to edit what you have written. It might also be helpful to have a friend read your post to get feedback. If he thinks that your post is too overpowering, change it.

Your mother used to tell you that “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say it.” Well, surprise: it’s true in adulthood, too.

Include an insane amount of distracters.

Blog readers used to lament ads, pop-ups, and flashing banners on sites. Now, overused feeds, stickers, buttons, and pictures are starting to replace them.

When the blog tries to do too much at once, the viewer can get really confused. I’ve clicked on blogs where I automatically wonder, “Is this what I’m supposed to be reading? No wait, that’s an ad, the text is…here? No…where is it?!”

Don’t do this to your readers. They don’t really appreciate it. Instead, remember:

Less is more.

You might think that a flashing, giant puppy sticker is cute, but your readers might find it kitschy. You want to be easily accessible for your readers; don’t make them jump through hoops to discover your content.

Write haphazardly.

Readers want to view quality work, and that means you might have to brush up on your grammar skills. Even if you have grand ideas for your blog, you won’t get very far if you don’t know how to write well. How can readers understand what you’re trying to say if you don’t know how to say it?

If you decide that, to express your style, you need to write in lower-case and add 14 exclamation marks on the end of each sentence, that’s cool; just be sure that your new style is consistent. 

There is enough bad content floating around cyberspace; don’t add to the trash heap.

Again, these are just a few ideas on how to keep your readers from abandoning ship. If you abide by them, your readers might be more willing to spend long amounts of time perusing your space--or, at least a minute or two.

 

 {Thanks, piratechickan, for use of the photo!}

Recent Changes To Google Places Catching Businesses Off-Guard With Change In Listings, Ranking

Google’s recent changes with its Places feature has caused a stir among businesses who have seen a change in how they’re now ranked (or not ranked) in Google search results.

Recent Google changes include:

• Google Places (previously called Google Maps) has been moved to new locations within search results. Now, the “map” is shown on the right of Google search results above display ads (called “Adwords”).
• Previous business listings within Google Places have been merged with search results causing an entire restructuring of Google search engine results pages. For example, a business previously listed first in the Google Places section may now find itself listed first in the Google search results. This is causing other businesses to see lower results in Google listings.
• Some businesses that were positioned first in Google Places and listed first in Google organic search results are now seeing both results merged into one result in Google search engine results.
• Many other business listing websites, such as Yellow Pages, City Search, Yelp, etc., may now have been pushed off the first page of search results.

“Google continues to make changes and local businesses need to be aware of how that’s affecting their listings in Google Places, overall Google organic rankings, and traffic to their website,” says Steve Phillips, President of Purple Trout LLC, a Newport, Kentucky search engine optimization consulting firm specializing in local search engine optimization and local listing optimization.

“If your business was ranked No. 1 on a local keyword in Google and you were not listed high in Google Places, you may now find your No. 1 organic ranking has dropped to No. 8 or worse,” says Phillips. “This is another sign that Google is focusing more and more on local search results.”

Now, says Phillips, local businesses need to make sure they are listed correctly and accurately in Google Places, and that their websites are properly optimized for local keywords.

“Businesses shouldn’t rely on Yellow Pages, City Search or Yelp,” says Phillips. “Those listings are probably no longer a part of the Top 10 search results for Google. The way Google has repositioned its Places listings has pushed the other service sites out of the Top 10.

“Businesses need to make sure they are listed in Google Places and then optimize their website for the best locally-targeted keywords to attract local customers to their website,” Phillips added.

Google Trends: Baseball Teams Current Hottest Trends

It's a fun time of the year for sports fans: the baseball playoffs are in full swing; NFL; college football; NHL has started; NBA is in exhibition season and college basketball has started.

Anyone up for luge?

Even when it comes to Google, three of the Top 10 hottest trends are sports related.

The National League baseball playoff series between the Philadelphia Phillies and the San Francisco Giants is the second-hottest searching trend in Google behind Steve Jobs (who met with President Obama on Thursday).

The Texas Rangers, who are one win away from going to their first World Series ever, are the No. 8 hottest trend in Google, with the New York Yankees (who are one loss from going home for the season) come in at No. 10.

Among Regions, more searches are conducted in Google for the Giants with the Yankees as a close second. However, among Cities, Pleasanton, CA, San Francisco, CA, and Sacramento CA are 1-2-3 in searches for their beloved Giants.

Among Languages, English-speaking searchers are conducting more searches for the Giants, German (Rangers), and Spanish (Rangers).

Netflix, Chilean Miners Top Latest Google Trends

It probably comes to no surprise the rescue of 69 Chilean miners is among the hottest search trends in Google this week. In fact, the search trends spiked high over the past few days when the first few miners were brought to the surface to the cheers and tears of many family and friends.

Canada is the top country searching for stories, news and updates online about the rescue efforts, followed by those in the United States and the United Kingdom. Among the top cities, Toronto, New York and London searched more on "miners in Chile" than any other region.

However, by comparison, entertainment (mainly movies and games) beats out any rescue story. Sad but true.

Since mid-September, searches for the term "netflix" has crushed any searches conducted for trapped miners in Chile.

Why?

Other than the obvious urge for entertainment, Sony announced Thursday it will release a new version of its Netflix streaming video software for PlayStation 3 that does not require a disc be interested into the drive.

With news like that, gamers start to drool and miracle rescue stories are soon forgotten.

The No. 3 hottest Google Trend is the recent Yahoo outage with Wednesday's South Park Jersey episode coming in at No. 4.

Google Trends: "Soar" Throat, Runny Nose, Achy Muscles?

By Amanda Collins
SEO Specialist

Every year, around this time, we can expect the temperatures to drop and the cold and flu symptoms to rise. Before Google, most of us would call the doctor or mom for some advice and comfort. Today, we direct our concerns and symptoms toward Google, searching for terms like  “soar throat”, “runny nose”, “achy muscles”.  According to Google Trends, Hawaii, North Carolina, and Alabama are the places to avoid during the cold and flu season.

In addition to finding the most sickly states in the U.S., Google Trends is a great way to monitor the ebb and flow of the average flu season in your own state.  For those of us in Cincinnati, I have some bad news; we are #1 in searches for the “flu shot” and “chicken soup”. At #2 is Columbus and Cleveland comes in at #3 and we all start searching for these terms in early October.  I have already started stocking my kitchen with chicken soup and plan to get my flu shot today!

 

(Note: Every Friday, Amanda will share thoughts, ideas and findings using Google Trends)

Google Trends: Resentment Toward Government Is Volcanic!

By Amanda Collins
SEO Specialist

The #1 searched for term on the Internet according to Google Trends yesterday was not about sports or celebrity gossip. Shocked?  Me too.



The most active search term was phrase, “Resentment Toward Government”.  Really?!!  Why all this resentment on a Thursday afternoon?  Who are all these resentful web surfers?  Well, according to Google Trends, 5% of them are from Springfield, IL. and according to the news articles and the multitude of tweets associated with the spike in traffic, these Googlers were dutifully responding to a request made by radio talk show host Alex Jones.  Alex asked his listeners to Google the phrase, “Resentment Toward Government” and that’s what they did. End of story.

So, what can we learn from this story?  Google Trends is highly influenced by passionate people, which we already know. People are passionate about sports, celebrity gossip, and sometimes radio talk show hosts.  But, I think the most important lesson is that our behavior on the web is influenced by our surroundings (radio, tv, conversations, magazines, etc.), so surround yourself wisely.

(Note: Every Friday, Amanda will share thoughts, ideas and findings using Google Trends)

Google Trends: The Bengals take down the Ravens and the Cincinnati Housing Market

By Amanda Collins
SEO Specialist

I’ll be keeping tabs on the Bengals for the next few weekends and it’s not because I’m a fan of  Ochocinco, beer, or the color orange.  No, I’m a desperate home owner attempting to sell and if the Bengals keep winning, the Cincinnati housing market doesn’t stand a chance at recovery until football season ends!

I did find some statistics at Google Trends to back up my suspicions.  For example, search results for the last 30 days in Ohio show the Bengals (in orange) as clearly more interesting than mortgage rates (in red) or home sales (in blue).  You’ll also notice that searches for mortgage rates disappeared from view a few days before the Bengal’s first game and haven’t been seen since.  This is not good news for those of us trying to sell our homes.

 

Call me a pessimist or an opportunist, but once the Bengals get a few losses under their belts, people won’t be as excited about seeing them every weekend and will have the additional time to ponder topics like home sales, home ownership and mortgage rates.  Until then, I’ll be serving chips and dip, beer, and a steady stream of NFL live action at my open house next Sunday afternoon.

(Note: Every Friday, Amanda will share thoughts, ideas and findings using Google Trends)

Google Trends: Where's The Beef?

By Amanda Collins
SEO Specialist

No, I’m not referring to Lady Gaga’s meat dress!  As I reviewed Google Trends  this week , I was not surprised to see Ms. Gaga ranked in the top 10 hottest searches and topics. Her “hotness” peaked to the level of volcanic  at 8:00pm on Sunday evening (see graph below) when she appeared at the 2010 MTV VMA Awards in a “meat dress”, which continues to deliver a steady stream  of tweets, blogs, and news discussions.  I’m hoping Ms. Gaga will consider a “fish dress”, preferably in a shade of purple,  for her 2011 VMA appearance.


Like myself, you may not appreciate this new bit of Hollywood trivia entering your consciousness and/or conversations.  However, I have no doubt that Ms. Gaga will continue to fill our news forums, discussions, tweets, and blog posts for years to come.  She is especially popular Mexico, Venezuela, and Chile, with the United States ranking #7 for Gaga related Internet traffic.

If you’d like to see what else is hot (or spicy or volcanic) at Google Trends, you will have to sort through the latest celebrity gossip.  However, with some patience, you can find the real meat if you plan what to search for and take time to sort and analyze your results. If you haven’t used Google Trends before, I would recommend starting off with a few simple searches that could easily reveal some trends about your business, products, and services.

• Compare your product/service vs. your competition during a specific time period.
  
  • (ie: Coke, Pepsi during the past 12 months).
  • You may notice spikes in interest based on a news story or time of year.
• Compare your product/service along with your competition in specific regions, or sub-regions.
  
  • (ie: Searches for Coke/Pepsi in India).
  • You may be surprised to see the popularity of your product or service in an international or local market where you never considered your product or services to be of value. 
• Discover what your customers are saying about you and your product/service in local blogs, tweets, and discussions.
  
  • (ie. Latest buzz about Coke and Pepsi)
  • Take your findings a step further by limiting your search to specific time frames and look for trends based on time of day, time of month, year, etc.

Good luck searching for trends and have fun!

(Note: Every Friday, Amanda will share thoughts, ideas and findings using Google Trends)