Feature Article: 
Reacting to the Google Dance

There is a major buzz making it’s way throughout the SEO and Web master community and it has to do with Google. It’s created such a stir that even some of the mainstream industry press has noticed. And the buzz is more of a high pitched scream then a low murmur of confusion. In November, Google laid a bomb that started even before the 15th of that month and is still on-going. It has to do with the way they are ranking millions of web sites. They implemented a new algorithm that decides what search results will be in the top ranking.

In short, two and three word search keywords that have commercial association are undergoing an extra set of rules beyond the normal SEO best practices that have been commonplace for a few years. An example of this would be “bed and breakfast” keyword search, where there are thousands of these businesses across the United States. In many cases Google almost flipped the search results directory completely upside down, where the ones in last position are now first. Okay, it wasn’t really that dramatic, but with the on-line holiday season approaching, for many web sites dependent on search traffic from Google it looked like their world was turned over.
So why did Google do this? Was it a mistake? A conspiracy to increase their revenues? Or was it revenge against the SEO’s trying to make a living advising web sites on how to “cheat the system”.

Actually, it’s our opinion it was a little of each and without getting into the technical theories of how Google did this, which remains only a guess since they are not talking, let’s explore the cause and effects of this change. Google’s stated objective is to return relevant and timely web site listings to a user’s search query. It’s a simple business objective, much like their web site. A user enters a search phrase and gets the most relevant web site listing according to a programmatic set of rules defined by Google. Only the most relevant site gets to the top, but some use SEO tricks to fool Google and this is where the mistake comes in.

Google fully realizes the commercial potential their search engine provides for on-line commerce and even a business selling process. As a company they are profiting from the power of search and for the most part have done an excellent job at keeping their service at the top of the game. The mistake Google made was not in implementing the changes, but in not notifying those in the SEO and web masters communities this was going to happen. Numerous web sites that “followed the rules”, which are only vaguely stated by Google, now have found themselves in the penalty box for no apparent reason. This creates some ill will. Notifying the online marketing community beforehand could have softened the blow.

We have noticed that with some of our clients the changes will make it all but impossible to rank in the top for certain brand keywords that define their target business. Luckily most of our clients overall traffic has not fallen, because they followed our advice and didn’t focus on a few target keywords but instead utilize many phrases that defined their business. It also means we will have to take a new strategy to continually obtain search engine visibility, but it would be nice if Google provided some feedback that the changes implemented are permanent. My guess is yes this is the new search engine algorithm, but a little feedback from Google would be nice!

So Google made a PR mistake, but the SEO firms are a fragmented community and rather unorganized bunch so is there anyone else this affects? Here is where there is a bit of a self-serving that Google is up too. As part of the new algorithm, when Google comes upon a short search phrase that has commercial aspects it is applying additional rules or filters to that search keyword. In a sense it now ignores all of the old rules they used to play with, and now they are trying to decide if the site they are ranking is a content site or commercial site that is just trying sell an associated product or service. They will rank any content site over the commercial site completely when someone enters a simple search phrase and in doing this here is where the self-serving enters.

We have noticed that web sites that are content-centric and have Google AdWords are being recognized as top sites. Assuming our observations are correct, isn’t that a bit self-serving on Google’s part? It makes sense to us that when a web user enters a broad search phrase they should be directed to a web site that provides lots of content dedicated to that term, but isn’t this linkage to the Google AdWords being a little too relevant to Google’s bottom line? Living with this new algorithm will mean businesses will have to do more paid placement with Google AdWords to get noticed. As more companies come to this realization, there could be a bit of a resentment built up towards Google as they are forced to dedicate more marketing dollars their way. Whether this was planned this way or not, sometimes even good intentions can be interpreted in the wrong light.

As to the last point, if Google also intended (and we believe they did) to penalize SEO firms who were only focused on ways to “cheat the system, we applaud them! It sends a very clear message that looking for easy alternatives to high rankings will not be tolerated. For a web site to be relevant to the Internet community it must build good and timely content. How will this measured? By refreshing and expanding the web copy at your web site and creating linking partnerships that support your business objectives. SEO should always have been going beyond simple keyword enhancing web page titles and headings. It’s about looking at the environment your business operates within and how to convince the search sites by creating a vibrant and active web site that you are indeed a visitor magnet and worthy of higher visibility.

Most likely Google will refine and adjust this new strategy and stay with it for the long term. Content sites will continue to rank over sites only interested in selling something. Commercial sites will need to build or strengthen their content to focus on educating their prospective customers. They will need to budget a portion of their marketing spend on paid placement. And finally, they will need to work closely with their SEO firm to ensure they are expanding the search engine marketing efforts to cover their business’ entire value proposition.

Previous Articles

• Predicting Ranking
• Reacting to the Google Dance
• 4C's of Internet Marketing
• Developing Trust
• Compelling Web Content
• Permission Marketing via Search
• Internet as Research Tool
• Gap between Sales & Marketing
• Budgeting for SEO
• Measuring Marketing ROI
• Building Brand
• Define Internet Marketing