by: John Moorehead
It's official! While there has been talk of an upcoming algorithm change
from Google for at least a couple of months, these past couple of weeks
saw a definite change in the way that Google ranks those sites on the
web vying for top placement in its listings. So what is the big news?
This algorithm specifically went after content farms and in addition to a
broad extent low quality sites that have been gaming the system for
higher rankings. Since the algorithm targeted content farmers, this
algorithm has been nicknamed The Farmer.
If you read our recent article: "Google Moving Against Content Farms-
What Does This Mean for SEO?" You probably were already on the look-out
for the coming algorithm change. Now that the algorithm has taken
effect, the SEO/SEM community definitely knows a little bit more about
it, however there are still a few things that require more research and
information.
Who Was Targeted by the Farmer Algorithm?
This algorithm change which took effect since late February is said to
have affected between 11% and 12% of the search queries in the United
States. As of the moment, it is not sure when the algorithm will affect
other regions in the world.
Some of the major website properties that were affected included article
distribution sites, aggregated content sites (those sites that
republish original content from others), sites that mostly sell products
with little or no content associated with them, and in general sites
that don't have unique or high quality content. Generally speaking, if a
website's goal is to monetize content that is not original or high
quality, then it is likely that the site has been targeted by Google.
Who Has Benefited from the Farmer Algorithm?
Generally speaking, those sites that have or will benefit from this
algorithm will be sites that create unique, high quality content.
Obviously, white hat SEO always included creating high quality, unique
content as a prerequisite for obtaining long term quality results, this
fact hasn't changed.
Tips for SEO/SEM to Avoid the Wrath of Farmer
If you noticed a sudden drop in the Search engine result pages or if you
want to avoid a sudden drop in the future, here are some tips that
should help you avoid the raft of the Farmer algorithm.
Make sure that the vast majority of content that you post on your
website is unique and original. Obviously, you may have to post product
descriptions or technical specs that come from a manufacturer, however
when possible, create original and unique content in addition to this
republished content.
Consider using the Original Source meta tag from Google: meta name="original-source" content=http://www.somedomain.com/article1.html More information at: http://www.google.com/support/news_pub/bin/answer.py?answer=191283
This meta tag directly tells Google that the content you have on your
site is original- this way if someone plagiarizes your content or
duplicates it in anyway, Google will know the original source and you
should get all the credit from Google.
Another good tool to checkout is at www.copyscape.com This tool will
scan the net looking for duplicate content so that you can identify
specific pages on your website that need to be re-written so they are
100% unique.
Be choosy with the type of articles that you distribute. It should be
noted that while Google has targeted many article distribution sites,
you will not be penalized for having your content on these sites- the
more likely possibility will be these back links will have less power
and thus be less effective- so there is no need to remove any of your
content from these sites.
Be careful how you monetize your content. Obviously, those that heavily
advertise on their site will receive extra scrutiny from Google. If you
use content to lure traffic for monetization, definitely use unique
content and do not rely solely on aggregated/republished content.
Obviously, the Farmer algorithm has only been out for a couple of weeks,
so SEO/SEM professionals are still researching its broad effects. As
always, we'll keep you updated as well if we find important information.
