Quality Content Reigns in Google Searches

In the never-ending battle between content quality vs. quantity, quality scored game-changing points when Google recently announced a major update to its search engine ranking algorithm. The update spurred from mounting consumer demands for searches to produce better, more relevant results and downgrade the “spam” results. It has reportedly reached that goal, changing the way businesses need to think about their own website content and SEO in the process.

Google specifically attacked “content farms” with the algorithm change. According to Mashable, these “farms” are low-quality sites that seek to attract search traffic by compiling large amounts of (usually) inferior content that contains targeted keywords. On the consumer side, these are the sites that make us groan when we realize they provide little or no useful information to help us in our search quest. Now, these poor sites should rank lower in Google search results, replaced by higher-quality sites with useful and relevant content. It’s a researcher’s dream come true.

According to an analysis by independent SEO software firm Sistrix, sites including popeater.com, sears.com, consumerreports.org and linkedin.com have seen at least 15 percent increases in rankings since the change. To see the full list of higher-ranking sites, click here. Meanwhile, websites like suite101.com and ezinearticles.com have seen 90 percent decreases in rankings. See that list here.

So, what does the updated ranking algorithm mean for your website? If you want to rank highly in Google searches (and who doesn’t?), then quality content should be a forerunner in all aspects of your website. Many websites that are not considered content farms have been surprised to find that they were negatively impacted by the ranking update. In response, Google encouraged such sites to thoroughly evaluate their content, noting that low-quality content on just one page can decrease search rankings in the new algorithm.

It’s time to rethink and refresh the information your website offers. With Google being the No. 1-used search engine by a landslide, can you afford not to?

Need help in creating quality content or just making your website search-engine savvy? Contact us! We’d be glad to assist you!