Updated: April 20, 2012
Reflecting more on our last post and Google’s latest update got us thinking a little more about how Google decides which sites to reward (…through higher rankings) and which ones to punish.
How does Google write the algorithms that crawl a site, index its content, and rank it according to keywords?
While that’s certainly a question we could write many books trying to explain, Google does provide some guidance into its thinking. They do not discuss specific ranking factors but do provide some insights into what they consider a high-quality site.
The search giant’s stated goal is to deliver the best search experience for their users. In their Webmaster Central Blog post following their big Panda update a year ago, Google claimed it would be making nearly 500 tweaks to the algorithm over the course of 2011.
Rather than trying to keep track of all that, Google recommends and we agree that you should develop site content – articles, blogs, landing pages, e-books – with your readers in mind first and the search engines second.
The following questions originally posted on Google’s blog can serve as a good way for you to evaluate the quality of your pages and those of your competition. Continue reading for the 23 questions Google asks in assessing the quality of a webpage or article:
- Would you trust the information presented in this article?
- Is this article written by an expert of enthusiast who knows the topic well, or is it more shallow in nature?
- Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations?
- Would you be comfortable giving your credit card information to this site?
- Does this article have spelling, stylistic, or factual errors?
- Are the topics driven by genuine interests of the readers of the site, or does the site generate content by attempting to guess what might rank well in search engines?
- Does the article provide original content or information, original reporting, original research, or original analysis?
- Does the page provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results?
- How much quality control is done on content?
- Does the article describe both sides of a story
- Is the site a recognized authority on its topic?
- Is the content mass-produced by or outsourced to a large number of creators, or spread across a large network of sites, so that individual pages or sites don’t get as much attention or care?
- Was the article edited well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?
- For a health related query, would you trust information from this site?
- Would you recognize this site as an authoritative source when mentioned by name?
- Does this article provide a complete or comprehensive description of the topic?
- Does this article contain insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious?
- Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
- Does this article have an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?
- Would you expect to see this article in a printed magazine, encyclopedia or book?
- Are the articles short, unsubstantial, or otherwise lacking in helpful specifics?
- Are the pages produced with great care and attention to detail vs. less attention to detail?
- Would users complain when they see pages from this site?
Considering these questions and more when developing content for your site will go a long way toward ensuring your hard work doesn’t go to waste by way of a penalty.
WARNING: Low-quality content on one part of your site can impact the entire site’s rankings
Be sure you’re focusing on your entire site.
If you have lower quality content, it may be dragging your rankings down. Google suggests you can deal with this issue one of three ways:
- Removing the low-quality pages altogether
- Merging and improving existing content into more useful pages
- Move low-quality content to another domain
Of course, there are many other things to consider when making sure your website is crawlable by the search engines.
But from a content perspective, considering these questions above will go a long way toward excelling in the rankings and avoiding troubles during any algorithmic updates.
Other Posts you May Be Interested In
Upcoming Google Update to Penalize “Over-Optimized” Sites
Outlook for Search – Building High Rankings in 2012
7 Strategies for Maintaining “Fresh Content”
Content Marketing over Traditional Advertising – Making the Case