With the fact that Google launches over 500 algorithmic changes every year, you could easily spend your entire working life researching them and how they will affect your website.  Indeed many companies employ people to do just this.  January 2013 saw the Panda 23 update, which apparently affected 1.2% of English search queries affected.  So if you have a website to promote your business, should you be worried about these changes?

One of the important tasks we perform at Appletree is to advise our clients how they should create and maintain their websites and online materials, so that any updates do not have a negative impact on their website traffic.  We monitor what changes are due to happen (mainly by reading forums and social media chat – everyone tries to predict when and what the next change will be).

The biggest thing we’ve learnt over the last few years is that whilst yes, the updates can effect some sites, overall, Google aren’t out to penalize authentic business websites.  Although they will never disclose the actual ranking signals they use in their algorithms, they happily let you into the Google mindset with some guidance on how they generally approach search.

Relate the questions below to your website and all articles you post on the site, as a guide for how positively Google ‘sees’ your website.

• Would you trust the information presented in this article?
• Is this article written by an expert or 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 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?
• 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?

Our advice to our clients is simple: You’re the Expert!

Yes you do need to consider the questions above, but overall we advise our clients to pay close attention to the following when creating your website:

• 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?

A challenge from Google I read recently:? if you think you deserve a good ranking, if you think you are an expert in a particular field, well then prove it! Show off your knowledge on a particular subject and prove to us why you deserve a good ranking?.

Click here for Google Webmasters blog on guidance to building high quality content.