Google Algorithm Update – Don’t Panic!

It looks like over the past week a large Google algorithm update has been rolled out across the Google Empire, sending SEOs and business owners into a frenzied panic about search engine results. This post aims to put a little perspective on the whole thing.

First things first: don’t panic. Now this is really important as if you act in haste you will almost surely repent at leisure. Making hasty changes to a site which was previously performing well is not a good idea, the reason for this is that frequently the Googlies (people who work at Google) will roll out an update notice: it doesn’t work very well and tweak it or roll it back. Also, update seems to take time to settle down and this one clearly hasn’t yet I have had results moving from position five to thirty in a matter of hours and then moving back again.

Once things have settled down then you may decide to make some tweaks to your site. Unless you are doing something seriously black hat tweaks are likely to be all you need to make.
How should you change to adapt to the new Google algorithm? Honestly I don’t know yet. We need to let it settle down and pick through the results. Early indications seem to point to a shift away from the tradition Page Rank system towards a system based more on social media votes and up-to-date content, but we shall see as time goes by.

Why have Google changed the algorithm?

Probably a combination of two things; firstly the Google index is months behind Yahoo in displaying up to date results as Google has in the past made it very hard for new sites and content to display high up the rankings quickly and secondly because they have lord knows how many people with PHDs working there and they need something to do. A third possible reason is that Google wants to once and for all put an end to link spamming by using social media as more of an indication, which would be a foolish move in my opinion as social media can be easily manipulated, as it just requires manpower. If this is the case expect to see social media sites flooded with fake people and a ton of companies setting up in countries with low labour costs to provide the manpower to do this. Well done Google you may have just wrecked social media.