Another big Google update just rolled out in the last couple of days. The screams of anguish you’re hearing are those who saw their sites take a dive. As usual, some of them seem to be truly innocent victims of Google’s evolving SEO algorithm.
My sites seem fine, so far. These things tend to roll out over time, though, so I’m not declaring victory just yet. You might be asking – what is this update targeting exactly? Here’s the answer.
What’s This Google Update About?
This update specifically is to hit websites using keyword stuffing in their content and tags, as well as what they’re calling ‘unusual link activity’. That activity includes paid links and backlinks that use anchor text unrelated to the actual content of the page being linked.
As this is all done by software there is that random element of ‘Why is this considered spamming, but this isn’t?’. Not much you can do about that, unfortunately. However, this does mean your SEO will need finer brushstrokes by many of you out there.
Here’s a couple of excellent articles on what’s going on and who the winners and losers are, so far, in this latest Google Update: