The Google Quality Update

The Google Quality Update

Google continues to rule the web as the most visited website globally with its search ranking algorithm being the most watched by website owners all over the world. From time to time, Google makes updates that see other sites coming up while others going down in rankings. In the past few months, Google has made several sweeping changes to its search algorithms, all in the name of improving their users experience.

Google named its two most recent updates, Penguin and Panda. These cute animal-themed updates are built to penalize and de-index web content that uses malicious or sneaky SEO tactics in order to trick the search engine and rank higher in Google results. Referred to as the Quality Algo or Quality Update, the sweeping changes in Google search ranking were aimed at rewarding high quality content. Formerly, the update was known as the Phantom Update because, unlike “MobileGeddon”, it came without an advance warning or a confirmation from Google. Sites with quality content are poised to reap big from this update because of enhanced rankings and more traffic.

The Quality Update was done in line with Google’s mandate to provide its users with quality information. To be sure your business website stays search-friendly with respect to recent Google updates, check out these three takeaways for small business owners

Quality Content is sovereign

This means if you consistently create quality content, you will be able to maintain or even enhance your rankings for your targeted keywords which will in turn drive more traffic to your site. Google is no longer going to index websites that create poor content, such as duplicate articles posted across many pages and domains. Instead, the search engine wants to see a steady stream of relevant, original, high-quality content posted to your website or company blog. Google has guidelines it uses to determine the quality of your content. These are the same guidelines it incorporates into its algorithm to form ranking signals.

Something to think about when writing content, make sure it’s relevant to your readers. It sounds simple but as an Estate Agent you need to create content for people looking to buy / rent a home and not content that’ll simply interest other Estate Agents. The target audience is one of the most commonly overlooked parts of content creation.

Choose your website developers wisely

When you partner with a website developer ask them what they’re doing to meet Google’s new guidelines. In this way, you can determine whether your developer is going to be able to keep your business website visible in the post-Penguin and Panda search results.

Start pulling chords on Social Media

It is agreed that Google’s search algorithms will place superior connotation on social signals. To be prepared for future Google updates that place emphasis on social media sharing and content, it’s best to start your social course of action now. Social media is a little different for business than it is for your personal profiles, but a good place to start is creating blog content, sharing relevant articles and engaging across Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.

In a nutshell as a small business, you need to take a leaf out of Google's books and focus more on satisfyingly real human wants. Google change their algorithm regularly and it’s always with the end users experience in mind, as long as you keep your users in mind, you should see your SEO rankings improve.