January 24, 2012 by claudia.smith
Based on feedback provided by Google users globally, the search engine giant has implemented updates to its page layout algorithm, which will mean any websites that are ad-heavy ‘above-the-fold’, with minimal content and an ‘excessive’ number of advertisements featuring on the top of their webpages, their ranking in Google’s search results will be impacted by the changes.
In Google’s own words: “we’ve heard complaints from users that if they click on a result and it’s difficult to find the actual content, they aren’t happy with the experience”. As ‘Distinguished Engineer’ Matt Cutts goes on to explain in his blog post on the subject:
“In our ongoing effort to help you find more high-quality websites in search results, today we’re launching an algorithmic change that looks at the layout of a webpage and the amount of content you see on the page once you click on a result.”
In a bid to constantly improve the services that they provide their users, Google has listened to the feedback and responded accordingly. This will not help SEO for any business that relies heavily on advertisements; to what Cutts terms “an excessive degree”.
In order for any sites looking for SEO help to increase revenue and stimulate new business, in order to maximise the position of their website in Google’s search result listings, a readjustment will be required, as Cutts notes: “sites that don’t have much content ‘above-the-fold’ can be affected by this change”.
It is anticipated that the change will impact less than 1% of global searches, however when considering the numbers on Google’s scale; 1% is not an insignificant number. It is estimated that Google receives several hundred million queries per day across it’s portfolio of online services.
For any business adopting standard practices utilising SEO to help increase their web footprint and maximise the exposure of their brand or business online, that is likely to be affected by these changes, the solution proposed by Google is to revise page layouts to ensure that relevant content is accessible to users, with a focus on providing the “best possible user experience”, as Cutts goes on to explain:
“If you decide to update your page layout, the page layout algorithm will automatically reflect the changes as we re-crawl and process enough pages from your site to assess the changes [...] on a typical website, it can take several weeks for Googlebot to crawl and process enough pages to reflect layout changes on the site.”
Related posts:
- SEO Help: Google Announces Ten of their Latest Changes to Search Algorithm
- SEO Agency Confirms Latest Google Panda Update
- Microsoft Infuriated by Google Panda Update
- Changes to Google Ranking Algorithm Effects 12% of Search Results
- User Generated Content Through Social Media Resources is Revolutionising SEO for Businesses
- Latest Search Marketing Report for Local Businesses Sees Content as the Future for Generating New Business
