Google has recently changed its algorithm which means that SEO as we know it has also been changed. Some of the tweaks that they made don’t impact the world of SEO too badly, but other tweaks have us all thinking a little differently.
One example of an influential tweak on the SEO world is the cross-language information retrieval updates. This change allowed English web pages to be translated into certain languages and displayed below the English titles in search results. For SEO specialists this means that foreign markets can be reached easier than before when there were language boundaries.
Another example of a change that impacts the SEO universe is that web pages with more focus on the content will rank higher opposed to those that focus on the header or menu content. Google did this to help itself determine more relevant text to use in their snippets. For SEO specialists, this means you cannot rank higher by manipulating the header text and alt and Meta tags. The quality of the webpage content is what is going to help you to rank number 1. It has been noted that Google has added something that is more specific in regards to software companies called application rich snippets. This altercation allows users to view comprehensive search results while searching for software companies and therefore they should be put just as must emphasis on webpage content as they do on Meta tags.
Google is no longer considering boilerplate links with duplicate anchor text as relevant. This means that site wide linking in headers, footers and blogs will no longer impact how high you rank and paid linking sites that give links to blog rolls are useless now.
Image searches have also been taken into consideration with Google discontinuing the use of a signal related to images that had multiple references on the web. This is aimed to improve image search function and possibly decrease link juice from sites such as Flickr.
Perhaps one of the biggest changes that happened with Google is also the one that impacts SEO the most. The freshness tweak was recently introduced which means that the newer something is, the higher the rank will be. The message to the SEO world is clear: website, blog and social media updates should happen on a daily basis to keep the website ranking higher. Improvements to date have also altered how Google handles fresh content by allowing user to choose a specific date range. This means that news sites and other sites that list up to date current event content will get more prominence over others.
This new algorithm is definitely different than what most SEO associates are accustomed to working with. However, that doesn’t make this a negative development. Each and every tweak that has been made can help you with your business’s online reputation management.
Article Source: http://www.searchnewz.com/topstory/news/sn-2-2011111510NewGoogleAlgorithmTweaks.html
