Google Algorithm Update Related to Relevance

In March of this year Small Screen Producer reported on the Google “broad core” algorithm update which sent brands and advertisers scrambling.  Though little details were given at the time, Google has now confirmed that the update was not so much about improving the quality of the search results, but that it was more about improving relevancy.

On April 6th, John Mueller of Google revealed that several sites may have had their ranking affected by the update.  This change in ranking did not necessarily indicate that a website was of low quality, but it may have indicated that the website is not as relevant as it should be.

Mueller also confirmed that the majority of Google algorithm updates do focus on improving relevancy rather than weeding out poor quality websites.

Relevancy vs. Quality: What’s the Difference?

Another confusing revelation to many advertisers: that websites with high quality content still may have seen a drop in their rankings because their website was not relevant.

A number of factors go into whether the content on a website is high quality, like:

• Is the length of the content appropriate?
• Are other forms of media being used to improve the quality (i.e. do you have a video embed and does it support the content)?
• Does the content flow well and is it typo-free?

Mueller suggested in his hour-long hangout (which you can watch here) that in order to make a website more relevant, brands and developers should be reaching out to their users to find out what they could be doing differently to improve their websites.  To get you started, here are some other quick tips from Small Screen Producer:

• Look into why users are visiting your website and create content based on that
• Put a greater focus on how-to’s and FAQs
• Consider changing the typeface, font, and line length to make your content more appealing to visitors

For more on the latest inbound marketing news and tips, be sure to Like and Follow Small Screen Producer on Facebook and give us a call to learn more about how you can expand your brand online at (281) 569-4370!