Google Turns Search Results Upside Down

2011 has been a very intensive year for Google, especially for its search algorithm that underwent many major updates such as “Caffeine” and “Panda”.

Google recently unveiled 10 new minor changes that would however affect the first search engine results page.

In an effort of transparency, the search company also announced that it would publish major updates on its algorithm on a monthly basis. Good news for SEO specialists like THEM!

Original and Pertinent Content is King

According to Google, parked domains will be de-indexed from the search results as they rarely provide users with useful and pertinent information. 

That announcement follows Panda’s quality criteria and their recent announcement explaining how ads may hurt your SEO.

Still regarding the quality criteria, new signals will be added to the search algorithm to detect original content and therefore help therefore the search engine determine which page between two similar should rank higher.

Google Likes Freshness

Following the freshness update, Google highlights that images and blog contents will be better indexed. 

So, this is a very good SEO reason to open your blog. And if you aren’t still convinced, check out why you should open your corporate blog.

In addition, search queries related to topical issues will display more recent images.

Impact on First Search Results

Google has also improved the code that selects the top search results. The idea is to reduce the number of results from the same site in the first search engines results page. 

As Google suggests, this code will continue to be updated and improved in the future.

Other Minor Search Updates

Other updates include improvements of associated searches, autocompletion, and live sports results features, as well as optimizations of long-tail documents and tablet layout.