Google is constantly changing and tweaking its algorithms in an effort to improve the user experience. As a result, SEO strategies that worked last year may not be as effective this year. Here are some of the most important Google updates from 2011 and what they mean for businesses who want to stay ahead of the curve.
1. Panda Update (February 2011)
The Panda Update was first released in February 2011. Its goal was to lower the ranking of “low-quality sites” and raise the ranking of “high-quality sites.” In order to do this, Google looked at a number of factors, including the content of a site, its design, its loading speed, and whether or not it was mobile-friendly. Sites that were found to be lacking in any of these areas were given a lower ranking by Google. As a result, it’s now more important than ever for businesses to make sure their site is well-designed, fast-loading, and optimized for mobile devices.
2. Google+ Integration (June 2011)
In June 2011, Google announced that it would be integrating its social networking platform, Google+, into all of its other products and services. This integration meant that, for the first time, Google would be able to take into account the social interactions of its users when determining search results. So, if someone in your network +1s (i.e., gives a virtual thumbs-up to) a particular website or blog post, that site will likely show up higher in your search results than it would otherwise.
This update also affects businesses who have set up Google+ Pages for their company. These Pages now show up in search results when people search for your company name or relevant keywords. As such, it’s now more important than ever to make sure your Google+ Page is complete and up-to-date with useful information about your business.
3. Schema.org Structured Data (June 2011)
Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft have announced support for a new approach to structured data that will result in richer search results. The companies have also created a number of new “schemas” that will allow developers to more easily add structured data to their pages. This new approach is a result of the companies’ joint efforts to improve the way search engines work.
The goal is to make it easier for developers to add structured data to their pages, and to make search results more relevant and useful. The new schemas will make it possible for developers to provide more information about their content, and to better control how that information is presented in search results. This will ultimately lead to better search results for users, and more traffic for developers.
4. Freshness Update (November 2011)
Google Freshness Update 2011 is an algorithm update from Google that was first announced on November 3, 2011. This update is designed to improve the quality of search results by giving preference to websites with fresh content. The update affects both organic and paid search results, and it is rolled out on a global basis. Google has said that the update will affect roughly 35% of all searches.
The Freshness Update is based on the assumption that people are generally looking for the most recent information on a given topic. As such, websites with fresh content are more likely to rank higher in search results than those with outdated content. The update also takes into account the time frame of the user’s query; for example, a query about a current event will return different results than a query about something that happened in the past.
5. Page Layout Update (2011)
Page layout update happened in early 2011 when Google decided to give more weightage to websites having content above the fold. The ‘fold’ refers to the area of a web page that is visible without scrolling. This update was targeted towards websites that had a lot of ads above the fold, and not enough actual content. As a result of this update, many websites saw a significant drop in their search rankings.
6. March 50 Pack Update (2011)
The 2011 March 50 Pack update from Google includes a number of changes and tweaks to the way anchor text is handled. One of the most significant changes is the way that Google interprets the relationship between anchor text and target page. In the past, Google would give more weight to anchor text that exactly matched the target page’s title or keyword. However, this led to some abuse, as webmasters would deliberately choose keywords that were not relevant to their content in order to improve their search engine ranking.
Conclusion
Google is always changing and evolving, which means that what worked last year might not work this year. As a business owner, it’s important to stay up-to-date on the latest changes so that you can adjust your SEO strategy accordingly. By paying attention to updates like the Panda Update and Google+ Integration, you can ensure that your website stays ahead of the curve and shows up in front of your target audience—no matter how much Google changes its algorithms.
