One common complaint about Google from the SEO industry is that the company doesn’t understand their business. As turns out, SEOs are the ones who don’t understand Google. That’s what Matt Cutts seems to be saying in a new video aimed at clearing up SEO misconceptions about Google.
Here’s what Cutts had to say.
Algorithm Updates and Data Refreshes
Cutts first order of business is clearing up the difference between algorithm updates and data refreshes. Updates change up the way search results are ranked; refreshes are an update of the data used to actually calculate the results.
The differences between updates and refreshes are important, but when your site’s dropped into the SERP backwaters it’s really more of a semantic issue.
Penguin and Panda Were All About the Money
All you Internet cynics have beaten down Cutts to the point that he had to come out and say it directly, search goals and revenue goals are totally unrelated. In fact, Cutts says that Panda actually hurt Google (in the short term.)
Cutts doesn’t care about the money, man, he’s just out there trying to make the world a better place one search result at a time. (You should all be embarrassed for even doubting his intentions in the first place!)
Don’t Focus So Much on Link Building
All that time and effort spent building up link networks was not well spent. Cutts says that SEOs shouldn’t focus so much on link building and should throw their efforts at earning social shares and improving end-user experience.
See, you really don’t get SEO at all.