Once again, Google is on the go and webmasters are trying to keep up. According to Matt Cutts on the Google Webmaster Central Blog, Google has made significant algorithm changes with the hopes of rewarding webmasters that provide high quality content and a great user experience.
On the opposite side of the quality spectrum, there are websites that have previously relied on keyword stuffing and spammy links to reach the top of the search results and Mr. Cutts has made it clear that Google wants its searchers to find sites that provide a great user experience and fulfill their information needs.
It appears that the days of achieving success with this strategy are long gone.
Why is this Important?
This has already thrown many webmasters, including affiliate marketers, for a curve. In a CAP forum thread, affiliates are complaining that their rankings are gone and their business is going to tank.
Of course, there are many affiliates who are seeing positive results. Want to know why? Simply put, they have adhered to Google’s guidelines in the past and will continue to do so in the future.
According to Matt Cutts, changes will continue to take place over the next few days. Sites that have been violating Google’s quality guidelines will see a decrease in rankings.
As always, Google is not releasing any specifics regarding this algorithm change. That being said, it is easy to see that they are rewarding “white hat” SEO as opposed to “black hat” spam.
White Hat Link Building Tips, Post-Panda
If your sites have been hit and/or you want to make sure you are doing things right in the future, visit Google’s guidelines for creating a high quality site. This will help you avoid issues down the line, as you can bet Google will be coming out with another algorithm update at some point.