The Google Ranking Panic Attacks!

It's a crazy time in the SEO world, as news of Google's new ranking algorithm trickles beyond the SEO community and starts hitting the webmasters and site owners. Panicked phone calls and emails have ensued, as many site owners see their cherished Google listings disappearing right at the peak of holiday season. They want it fixed, they want it now!

This confirms Google's reputation, and status, as probably the most-used search engine out there today, which gives them an awful lot of power. This has people worried, because in order to get the highest web traffic without pay-per-click, you need to keep Google happy. But Google doesn't really tell you what the rules of the game are, outside of general guidelines, and they change the rules periodically. How then is the honest webmaster to attain and maintain that coveted Google ranking?

The first thing I would advise against is wholesale site changes done in panic mode. Don't make major changes every time you see your Google ranking bounce around a little bit; any SEO professional can tell you that this is completely normal. If a good ranking drops dramatically, or your site is dropped entirely, then feel free to panic -- it's probably time for drastic action!

The second thing I would advise against is jumping on every new "hot idea" in SEO which supposedly cracks Google's ranking algorithm and guarantees you top rankings. If it's not pure hype, then Google is sure to catch on to the exploit and try to find a way to close the gap.

The third thing I recommend is being conservative in your application of optimization. Even if it's a solid idea, you can destroy it by overkill. Back links are good; link farms with dozens of irrelevant links are not. Keyword optimized text is good; text that is stuffed so full of keywords it makes no sense is not. Exercise some restraint!

Finally, going back to the issue of keeping a given ranking over time, remember that some fluctuation is totally normal. Keep your site updated for content, but don't keep changing it constantly to try to keep one step ahead of the search engines. Try some good ideas, then leave them alone for awhile, and give the spiders a chance to see them. If you change your site three times in one month, you have no idea which changes were effective and which were not.

The most recent ranking changes aren't unprecedented; Google tweaks their algorithm all the time. This was just the most major and most noticeable change in quite a while. Although many sites, in many prominent online industries, did indeed suffer huge ranking losses, many other sites maintained or gained ground (they're just keeping quiet about it, probably to avoid drawing attention to themselves!). Unless you were using a lot of SEO tricks that are widely believed to be a problem now, such as link farms, then your site probably isn't going to find itself banished to page 257 of the search results. If you had a site solidly optimized, leaning a bit toward the conservative in terms of keyword density, cross-links, etc., then it's still a solid site. Don't turn it inside out and upside down, especially when another major index should be happening soon. For all we know, Google might reinstate their old algorithm on this one, and then where would you be?

Don't join the stampede!

SharpNET Solutions: Search Engine Marketing

Comments

[Donnie Svederus]

Thanks for the Google information, I dont know whether to hate or like them. Seems like google plays a dominant role on whos website gets viewed. Sometimes I think they are taking away the creative side of making a website, and making it the way they want to see it. But If anything, I hope that the new google algorithm will take away those sites that use word spamming, invisible and tiny text to trick google into ranking over legit sites websites. Also, If you know the new algorithm rules besides the general rules be sure to let me know please. Just me though ok…

Thanks again for the SEO information,
Don