Google algorithm changes and the importance of content

[djbaxter]

Q: How many changes does Google make to their primary search algorithm in a year?

"About 350 to 400 changes per year, or about one change per day." ~ Matt Cutts

Q: Is content still the king or has something else (structure) taken over?

"Content is necessary. It's not always sufficient because people have to find out about your content. But if you don't have good content, it's a lot harder to do good search engine optimization for your site." ~ Matt Cutts

Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_jm_isupFY

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[Bjoern30]

Will "SEO" and the like still work in 5 years??

 

[djbaxter]

Sure. What you have to do to optimize your pages may change but there will always be things you can do.

There's really not a lot new in this story beyond how much tweaking Google does. We've know for years now that the algorithms undergo continuous tweaking ("everflux").

 

[bigcat1967]

I would say that content is still king. I keep on adding valuable pages to my sites and they are moving up the SERPs (slowly though). I guess that's the way it really should be.

 

[djbaxter]

In the video, Matt Cutts makes the point that you can call content "king" if you wish but content alone won't get you to page 1 in the search results.

 

[bigcat1967]

Sorry Minstrel. I must have not seen that part - I'll go back and have a look at it.

 

[djbaxter]

Sorry. Looking back I realize I didn't make it clear that those were quotes from thje video:

"Content is necessary. It's not always sufficient because people have to find out about your content. But if you don't have good content, it's a lot harder to do good search engine optimization for your site." ~ Matt Cutts

Also, I messed up the video embed.

All fixed now.

 

[Bjoern30]

now there is a video in the thread

not a new discussion and I doubt that people are really looking for "content" online...
they are looking for a quick fix - if you look at the heat maps than you will see that most searchers never went beyond the 3rd result or so..

 

[bigcat1967]

Also, I messed up the video embed.

np. There was a link in there - so I just copied and pasted it.

 

[djbaxter]

I'm sorry. That's unacceptable. I insist that you vilify me for making an error.

 

[Toucan-marketing]

now there is a video in the thread

not a new discussion and I doubt that people are really looking for "content" online...
they are looking for a quick fix - if you look at the heat maps than you will see that most searchers never went beyond the 3rd result or so..

Yes, I just came across some old content saying that you have to rank on page one or two, well, that was in the times when Google used to throw every junk at you no matter what the content was and how relevant it was to your query. Then people really had to scroll down and look further. As Search Engines have improved this is not the case. You cannot rank no 1 with a crappy full-of-ads site any more. But there is a much bigger competition, too.

 

[gatedcomusa]

... I doubt that people are really looking for "content" online...
they are looking for a quick fix - if you look at the heat maps than you will see that most searchers never went beyond the 3rd result or so..

While that may be true, I believe it is entirely accurate. People are looking for information whether that comes in the form of "content" or filling out a form online. Take for instance someone searches for "Pay Day Loan", they may be only looking to fill out an application online, but will also read content on the page to determine which company fits their need.

BTW, great video post. I am sure Google realizes that content is written and rewritten so many times without any new information being provided. Content has gotten so hashed up and muddled that it is hard to determine what is new. Just because I site posted new content today, doesn't make the information new. It could be several years old. Google continues to work hard to be able to determine what is original and what is not.

 

[djbaxter]

I doubt that people are really looking for "content" online...

First, I disagree. I think people frequently search for"content" aka information online. If you think it's all about searching for products and services, I think you're looking at the issue with blinders on.

if you look at the heat maps than you will see that most searchers never went beyond the 3rd result or so..

Second, I don't see what "heat maps" have to do with whether people are searching for information/content.

 

[paperkool71]

Niced to see Vaudeville still has it's place in the world of electric text. It was also good seing that guys bald head, assuming he's from Google. Ultimately he must be saying "good content goes for nought, without a way to get to it."

 

[Bjoern30]

looking for "content" online...
they are looking for a quick fix

well first I put content in quotation marks...OF COURSE they are looking for content but....

 

[Ash6773]

I read recently that page load time is going to be a major factor in were your site ranks in Google's search engine.
This would mean that site's with alot of video's and photo's could end up being penalized due to there slower load time.
I dont know if there is any truth in this.

 

[Bjoern30]

good point - I was thinking the same - but this would affect half of the web - I dont even think they did themselves a big favor with the personalized search...

 

[djbaxter]

I read recently that page load time is going to be a major factor in were your site ranks in Google's search engine.
This would mean that site's with alot of video's and photo's could end up being penalized due to there slower load time.
I dont know if there is any truth in this.

It's not "going to be" but "is". But it's not a "major factor" - more like a minor factor among the 200+ other factors. It's already being applied.

If your site contains a lot of videos and images:

1. optimize them for the web as much as you can; and

2. split them up so you don't have a dozen per page - better to have many fast loading pages than one slow loading page with everything on it.

 

[Bjoern30]

yep limit the pages/posts wordpress show on the homepage - too many people show 500 posts or even more LOL

 

[harrysmith]

Yeah, use tag for all your media files, try to reduce sizes of images/videos.. yes, don't use too many images on same page.
Hope this help you !