Google Algorithm Change History

Each year, Google changes its search algorithm up to 500 – 600 times. While most of these changes are minor, every few months Google rolls out a “major” algorithmic update that affect search results in significant ways.

For search marketers, knowing the dates of these Google updates can help explain changes in rankings and organic website traffic. Below, we've listed the major algorithmic changes that made the biggest impacts on search. Understanding these updates can help with search engine optimization.

Click below for more details

http://www.seomoz.org/google-algorithm-change#view-all

Could Guest Posting Be Dead?

Guest posting has long been a killer way to get links, but is it dead?  It’s no secret that the number one way online to get to page one of Google is to get links and lots of them.  Many SEO’s have been frantically submitting guest posts to 100′s of sites in hopes to boost their clients SEO with good links.  But are those links valuable?  We’re going to take a deep dive into guest posting with some expert advice from Matt Cutts of Google today. 

Matt Cutts put together a video today where he addressed guest posting as a way of getting links.  AJ Kohn asked Matt, “What is Google’s view on guest blogging for links?”  Matt Cutts put together the following video to answer that question:

So, to answer the question … No, guest posting is not dead for most people. Matt outlines some very simple principles of guest posting that I think everyone out there should pay attention to.

1. Spinning articles for guest posting will not help. It’s just like and article farm—no rankings—and sometimes negative rankings for this.
2. Writing crappy articles will not help.
3. Writing short articles of 200, 300, and 400 words will not help as much. The longer the better.
4. Having no Google Authorship will not help as much, you need to be known a little better.
5. Quality—it all comes down to quality. Make sure you’re putting time and effort into your posts.

Don’t take anything to extremes is one of my favorite quotes from the video above.

Don’t take anything to extremes is one of my favorite quotes from the video above.  There are a lot of people that outsource their article writing to low quality writers and take credit.  They simply outsource and post up the articles.  This is a no no.  Make sure that you’re putting together or getting real quality in your articles.

He recommends that you write the articles yourself.  If you can’t write them yourself make sure that you pay good money to have them written.  Some of the top places I’ve used to get real quality articles is Blogging.org, Textbroker, and Writer Access though I prefer to write all my articles personally!

Over the past 2 years I have had a very aggressive guest posting strategy for a couple of my projects that has worked very well. I have worked with some of the top sites in many industries to guest post on their sites. These are all top quality posts that bring real value to each and every person reading them.

Not all the blog posts are 100 percent unique and something new, but every post has something unique to me and my experience. All of my posts tend to be 600+ words, bringing real value to the reader. That’s what Google is looking for—quality and real value to the reader.

From this video you can tell that Google does love guest posting, they just want the crappy stuff gone. Stop trying to cut corners and put up spun posts. They aren’t going to help your site and I would imagine that Google is going to start really penalizing sites that do spin articles. Put up good quality guest post on other sites and Google will reward you for them.

Want to know if your article is good enough for Google?

Here’s a great way to know if it will pass the Google test. If you can send that article to your best friend in the industry and he learns something from it, I’m pretty sure Google and Matt Cutts will both agree that it’s a good article. Pretty simple test, but will all your guest posting articles pass this test?

This is just another example that Google is upping the SEO game. We, as SEOs, need to be constantly working hard to put out only the best for our clients. Gone are the days where we can put out really crappy information for links. Gone are the days where we can buy 2,000 article submissions for $100. The days are here where we need to step up our game and do as Wil Reynolds said at Mozcon this year: “Real Company Shit” Time to step up our game boys and girls!

Google Panda Update 20 Released

With the 2.4% impacts on English search engine queries and more. Google has come up with his new Panda Update which has named as Google Panda Update 20. Google has confirmed that this update is not just a data update but an algorithm update which has already affected about 2.4% of English queries to a degree that a regular user might notice.  It seems that there is more about this update which can roll out in 3-4 days as per the comments Google’s Matt Cutts.

He has confirmed that Google Panda update which has been released on 9/27 has lot more to come as it is more than a data update. Not only English search queries have affected but French, Spanish and other also has seen the impact of 0.5% in search queries. It will continue for 3, 4 days more but the sad part is that there are other sites also which has been affected by Panda update but it is elusive which Update has affected it.

Google panda Update Till Date

We’ve had a string of updates since then, as follows, along with the percentage of queries Google said would be impacted:

1. Panda Update 1.0, Feb. 24, 2011 (11.8% of queries; announced; English in US only)
2. Panda Update 2.0, April 11, 2011 (2% of queries; announced; rolled out in English internationally)
3. Panda Update 2.1, May 10, 2011 (no change given; confirmed, not announced)
4. Panda Update 2.2, June 16, 2011 (no change given; confirmed, not announced)
5. Panda Update 2.3, July 23, 2011 (no change given; confirmed, not announced)
6. Panda Update 2.4, Aug. 12, 2011 (6-9% of queries in many non-English languages; announced)
7. Panda Update 2.5, Sept. 28, 2011 (no change given; confirmed, not announced)
8. Panda Update 3.0, Oct. 19, 2011 (about 2% of queries; belatedly confirmed)
9. Panda Update 3.1, Nov. 18, 2011: (less than 1% of queries; announced)
10. Panda Update 3.2, Jan. 18, 2012 (no change given; confirmed, not announced)
11. Panda Update 3.3, Feb. 27, 2012 (no change given; announced)
12. Panda Update 3.4, March 23, 2012 (about 1.6% of queries impacted; announced)
13. Panda Update 3.5, April 19, 2012 (no change given; belatedly revealed)
14. Panda Update 3.6, April 27, 2012: (no change given; confirmed; first update within days of another)
15. Panda Update 3.7, June 9, 2012: (1% of queries; belatedly announced)
16. Panda Update 3.8, June 25, 2012: (about 1% of queries; announced)
17. Panda Update 3.9, July 24, 2012:(about 1% of queries; announced)
18. Panda Update 3.91, Aug. 20, 2012: (about 1% of queries; belatedly announced)
19. Panda Update 3.92, Sept. 18, 2012: (less than 0.7% of queries; announced)
20. Google Panda Update 20 Released, 2.4% Of English Queries Impacted