Fresh Content can mean better search engine rankings
It can’t hurt content providers like SCRIBERIS to see even more emphasis on content. Unlike the Panda update, more recently, Google’s algorithm update was not just about good, relevant content, but new content. We have seen this in the blog world for some time. People read blogs to find fresh posts on a regular basis; daily updates are the preference for many.
We have always been big supporters here of useful, quality content that provides site visitors with a “take-away.” Now, the Google freshness update seems to be saying that fresh content will be another important component of their algorithm. Those changes should affected the page rank of many websites fairly quickly, as the timestamp on newly updated content shows up in SERP’s in a big way.
In some ways, this is an interesting development for researchers like me. I generally run custom searches when using Google with recency as a primary criteria to begin with. I like updated information and I want to know that the research I’m doing includes the most up-to-date facts available. This ranking criteria will favor those sites to begin with now. For website owners who have static webpages that are frozen in time, this may not be so good. Newer is better.
RSS becomes even more important with this freshness emphasis and sitemaps are helpful also. Remember, this is just one more good reason to add high quality content on a regular basis. Is that advice self-serving? Yes, of course it is, but it is also important for keeping your business’s online presence in front of people who are running searches.
The irony here is just like the old saying about the shoemaker’s children going barefoot…..we spend so much time writing for others that we neglect our own content.
© 2011 K Richard Douglas