posted by

reading time: 3 minutes

Heard about Google’s latest update to its search engine algorithm? Wondering what it means for you and your business?

Here’s the quick and dirty.

If you’ve been paying attention to Google’s guidelines on quality content since the Panda update rolled out in 2011, you’ve got nothing to worry about.

On the other hand, if you haven’t gotten around to looking at the overall quality of the content you publish, let this latest update be your wake up call.

Quality content = an awesome user experience

For those of us in the content marketing business, Google’s latest update hasn’t come as a huge surprise. The search engine giant has always been clear about its commitment to filtering out poor quality web pages and rewarding sites that provide relevant, meaningful content.

Helping Internet users find exactly the information they want quickly and easily is behind every update to Google’s algorithm. So if your website is slow to load, out of date, cluttered with ads or littered with generic information that can be found anywhere, you can understand why it wouldn’t pass Google’s test for relevance — one of its main criteria for ranking pages in organic search results.

How Google defines quality content

Although it isn’t known exactly how Google weighs its 200 or so ranking factors, what we do know is how to produce content Google loves. Here’s how to check if your site measures up.

Ask yourself:

  • Does the appearance of my website convey credibility? Inspire trust? Or does it contain dead links, typos or factual errors?
  • Does my site provide original, useful information in an authoritative manner?
  • Is my content written with readers in mind or was it written when keyword stuffing for search engines was an SEO strategy?
  • Is my content so compelling my readers will want to share it on social media?
  • Are my web pages riddled with ads and other annoying distractions (pop ups, auto music, self-starting videos?)

Why Google updates are great for your business

You know the importance of your website as a marketing tool. If you take care to stay on top of Google’s guidelines, your pages will not only rank higher in search results, you’ll also improve the effectiveness of your online marketing.

High quality content will get more eyeballs on your website, but just as importantly, content written squarely with your reader in mind will help you connect with — and ultimately convert — more of that audience into customers.

So listen to what the content marketers keep saying! And when Google rolls out its next update, you’ll be prepared rather than panicked. You’ll know the result will ultimately be more people finding the stellar content you worked hard to produce for them.

With the new Google Quality update in mind, do you need a hand crafting or updating your current web content? We can help! Our specialty is creating content that your audience and search engines will love. Get in touch!