Google's algorithm changed... what are you gonna do about it?

I wanted to open a discussion about google's recent changes to their search engine algorithm and how people are still getting successful ranking. I use several different BlueFart methods and whitehat methods for ranking of my sites, but after this update I've seen a huge downturn in my sites rankings. I use a mixture of forum profile links(xrumer), forum comment links(scrapebox), 90%+ unique spun articles sent out(articlemarketingrobot), yet i still see a drop in rankings.

Last month Google made on of he most consequential algorithm updates in the last decade. Deemed the "farmer update," the recent slap removed websites deemed to be "content farms" from many of the results. The outcome has left many websites teetering on the brink of obscurity.


What makes a content farm?
For several years now, content farms have been a big part of search engine optimization strategy. these sties were vast repositories of articles, editorials, and how-to guides, which existed to boost other websites search rankings.

Content farms worked like this...

1. the content farm published (or stole) large quantities of cheap, low value articles on a number of assorted links.

2. google's natrual bias toward information-based sites rewarded the sheer volume of content with a good search rank.

3. these small articles attracted links from other bloggers futher boosting the farms search rank and authority.

4. once the farm's authority got high enough , it could then link to other websites in need of SEO help and boost their search rankings. (usually for a price)


** Google steps in and makes an update to their search engine and on 2/24/20111 google engineers step in and take action against content farms. The google engineers said "this update is designed to reduce ranking for low quality sites which are low-value add for users, Conny content from other websites, or sites that are just not very useful. at the same time it will provide better rankings for high quality sites.
***

Who was affected?
when the google slap came, it hit hard, wiping out millions of top search ranks across a myriad of supposed content farms overnight. The slap affected targeted websites in a number of different ways. Search engine research blog SIStrix uses a forumla to measure how well a domain is ranking for searches related to it's content. This is known as "visibility", and the recent google slap wiped some sites clean off the map.

Five sites that lost the most visibility.
1. articlebase is down 94%
2. suite101 is down 94%
3. associatedcontent is down 93%
4. business is down 93%
5. essortment is down 91%


if losing nearly half all visibility is a death sentence on google, loosing a major percentage of top search rankings is the nail in the coffin.


Top five biggest search engine rank losses
1. suite101 is down 79%
2. associatedcontent is down 75%
3. buzzle is down 72%
4. ezinearticles is down 71%
5. hubpages is down 67%


Of course with so many top search rankings removed, there had to be new websites to take their place. As a result, some companies received huge gains in the google results as their pages rose to claim the empty slots on page one.

top five biggest wins
1. bestonlinecoupon is up 89%
2. ansers.yahoo is up 26%
3. ehow is up 20%
4. etsy is up 20%
5. sears is up 19%

curiously, ehow, regarded by many as a blatant content farm, not only wasn't affected by the slap, but actually benefited from many of it's competitors being wiped out of the top ranks.


What does this mean for SEO?
seeking links from content farms is no longer a winning strategy. when the google update came out it not only affected the content farms, but also the blogs that received links from them.

when a blog with good authority links to another site, positive link juice is passed along. If that website loses it's authority, those links become worthless, and could even pass along negative link juice.

blogs that built their SEO strategy around content farms saw their search position plummet as a result of the slap.

Now that google has put an end to the power of content farms how can you avoid being hurt by the new algorithm?

1. DO NOT COPY CONTENT
google's anti-scrapper update was a preamble to the content farm slap. the update punishes any blog caught ripping content from an orginal source.

2. Do not repost your content on other blogs
your orginal content should stay on your blog. posting copies on it elsewhere could cause google to deem your site as a scraper and hurt your rankings.

3. Do not buy links (not confirmed)
google's algorithm rewards sites with many inbound links. some websites, including JC penney and Overstock, have tried to trick google by buying huge amounts of links, but if google catchs on, your rank will be damage.

4. always check your inbound links
sometimes your website may have inbound links from content farms without your knowledge through no fault of your own, your rank will fall.




So the big question is...

What are you doing or going to do to still get top rankings after all of these changes by google?





I've seen a continued decline in my site rankings and looking to see what others are doing and share with each other ideas to stop the bleeding.


*word of note, if you have a way that you prefer not to made be public, please private message me and let me know your thoughts. I may also be open to hiring you so that I can outsourcing some of this to regain ranking on my 6 websites.*


Thanks,

Stormvault







*reference and props to Focus website for much of the information provided in this post*

 

I'm just going to fold my hands and watch the trend unfold. The trend will show us the way.

 

I agree with you. It all comes down to content but would be great to see what complimentary strategies people are using

 

Its just the way Google fights spam but, 1 equation cannot help

 

i still doubt it though. if say i'd like a competitor to be punished then i'd just post his articles everywhere, right? and this seems unfair.

 

Yes just try to post quality content on forums, blogs, etc... I don't know how they can punish smaller sites for buying links, a big site I could see them actually paying attention to and tracking, but small ones not sure how they could track or know. So far my rankings are still doing well and I am loving it, PR went down by 1 point but rankings are thus unaffected.

 

I'm gonna do my best at staying on top of the industry by reading and reading, and reading some more lol.

 

yes ok, this is really good information here right but, what is in there that we didnt know anyway? Of you were truely white hatting your SEO techniques nothing above would affect you. Yes Ehow might be a content farm to our intents and purposes, however its very good information for millions of internet users.

They have never allowed buying links ever! Never liked copied content and never really liked directories due to their complicated nature and structure. Your site stays fresh and informative, it will be loved as simple as that. The only sites that should ever have copied content, is news sites, but you have to quote the original source in the correct way.

 

I dont afraid from any of the Google updates because i am already doing quality work.

 

best thing to do is study what the changes all about then adjust on it...

 

There's no problem if we just abide with Google. There's no such thing as easy ranking for competitive keywords, we really need to work hard and get fresh contents. Having the right knowledge and using the right tool will get the site to page 1.

 

The updated didn't affect me maybe because i do seo the right way not using dirty tricks and crap things ...

 

Google came down heavy on copied content but if you have high quality and unique articles then they will increase your ranking. Just make sure that you offer good service to your visitors and keep on building backlinks so you wouldn't need to worry about any algorithm change.

 

Didn't think this would affect me very much at first..

However, my site got HAMMERED.

I don't copy any content and I always write my own articles. I don't do any blackhat business of any sort either.

I'm confused on how to recover from this..I believe the main reason was that I normally post my original content on my blog..then a few days later I republic it on article directories like ezine,goarticles.com

Can somebody help me out here? Is it already too late? Should I delete those articles from the directories?

Any advice would be appreciated..Thanks!

 

Nice Tips!! Thanks for Sharing... There is no doubt after this Farmer Algorithm update the main difference is unique and fresh content.. If you want that your SERP did not lost.. You have to focus on Fresh Content, Niche Based Keywords, Proper Social Media Optimization and Last but not Least Qualitative Back links...

 

best thing to do is study what the changes

 

anybody have an idea??

 

Hi,

I'm new and have to say that this is a very informative and well written post. Thank you for it.

After reading it, I have a question for the group... Since everyone knows that the information on Wikipedia cannot be used as reference material, because it's not reviewed and certified by experts, it's often incomplete and it's often even wrong, doesn't that make it a Content Farm? I mean... what other value can it possible posses?

Also, do sites that are formally considered to be references, like:

• Merriam-Webster Dictionary
• The International Foundation for Information Technology
• Britannica Online Encyclopedia
• Etc.

get hurt or helped by Google's policy changes? If sites like eHow are being helped by the policy changes, yet no one verifies or certifies the content on such sites, then how do we know what is a good Content Farm vs. a bad Content Farm? And, who makes that decision???

Shouldn't formal reference sites always have a higher value than non-reference sites?

If you think about how Wikipedia works, anyone can create an account, log in, and post on any topic, short of posting things like opinions on Q&A sites, and publish that content without any real review or certification of the content.

I understand that the rules are changing for SEO experts and that it's an SEO expert's job to constantly adapt to changing rules, but shouldn't some basics about the rules be standardized and published?

To me, Wikipedia represents the biggest content farm of all. It just hasn't tried to capitalize on it and take advertising dollars away from Google through Adsense, yet.

Enjoy,

Terri

 

Ha, how do you figure Wikipedia is a content farm? A content farm is a site which churns out content purely to gain rankings for keywords. That just isn't true for Wikipedia, or you could say that for any site!

As for accuracy etc., I agree that Wikipedia is not infallible, but research has indicated that as regards major articles (i.e. not 3-sentence wonders, but those which have been edited by many many people), Wikipedia is more accurate than some trusted print encyclopaedias like Britannica. That's because those encyclopaedias are written by old academic types with fixed ideas that they haven't changed since back in the 60s, whereas Wikipedia is comprised of constantly and massively user-generated content, that gets backlinked to like crazy, and that's what Google loves, whatever you think of it. Anyway, its content IS verified - just not in the classic peer-reviewed sense, but by what is effectively a popular consensus, usually of a great many people. Again, just like Google's ranking system...

 

I think the problem is people are approaching this the wrong way. While it's definitely not a good idea to go into webmastering with no SEO at all, if you create an awesome, original site that stands out from the crowd people WILL link to it naturally. It may take a little time, but it'll happen. And if you're not up to doing that, then webmastering probably isn't for you.