Search Engine Optimisation: Google’s Latest Updates

Google has made 2 recent changes to give people the most relevant answers to their search queries as quickly as possible, which should positively impact upon the quality of search results.

Personal Blocklist Chrome Extension

This update recently launched by Google allows users of the Chrome browser to download and install the Personal Blocklist tool in order to improve search results.  Within a Google search, a new ‘Block site name’ link will appear in results right next to the Cached link at the bottom of every result.  Clicking the block link adds the site to the blocked list and from that point onward, results from that blocked site will never appear in Google search results.

Google Algorithm Update to Seek Out Quality Content

New content, both good and bad, comes online all the time therefore constant tuning of their algorithms is required.

“Many of the changes we make are so subtle that very few people notice them. 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” advised Google.

As a result of this update, some sites will have gone up in the page rankings, whereas others will have gone down.  Google sees this change to their algorithm as a means of rewarding high quality sites and reducing the number of content farms and other low quality content sites in search results.

Expect More Updates!

Google has revealed that it has been tackling these issues for more than a year, and is working on many more updates that will substantially improve the quality of the pages in search results.  This change is initially being launched in the U.S. only and will be rolled out elsewhere over time!

If you need some help with your Search Marketing Strategy, call us today on 08290 73  11 90 or email us here: incoming@thewebbureau.com.