Wichita Marketing Notes: Google's code change is a good thing

When Google changed its algorithm in January of 2011, a lot of companies whose profits rely heavily on top search engine rankings were very put out. Google reported that the "significant changes" to its search algorithm would change almost 12 percent of its results.

The companies who lost on the deal were, for the most part, those who relied on content farming--considered by many (Ponder:Connect included) to be deceitful SEO behavior. Basically, the modus operandi for content farmers is to fabricate large numbers of websites that offer no real content to humans, but trick Google bots into thinking they do. The bots ride links from one content-farmed page to the next, ultimately arriving at the real web page at which the SEO efforts are directed.

JC Penney was recently slapped on the hand with a very big stick for (allegedly) indulging in this behavior, and now thousands of other companies are upset because their semi-black-hat SEO efforts are no longer being allowed.

I don't blame Google for the shift. It was undertaken in response to complaints from web users who were tired of finding absolute nonsense rather than the content they were actually seeking.

Wichita marketing firm Ponder:Connect has always recommended and followed the practice of creating genuinely useful and relevant content as a way of attracting both Google bots and humans to websites. We've been very successful at lifting our clients and ourselves to the top of the search results, and for us, those results haven't changed much amid this maelstrom of unwarranted SEO angst.

References:
http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/08/technology/google_algorithm_change/index.htm
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/02/25/google-cuts-its-content-farm-subsidy/
http://money.cnn.com/2011/02/25/technology/gaming_google/index.htm
http://mashable.com/2011/01/28/google-webspam-change/

Learn how blogging can help your company's SEO: http://www.ponderconnect.net/2010/11/wichita-marketing-notes-how-to-start.html

Contact us to discuss your company's marketing and SEO needs at www.ponderconnect.com.