So far in 2012, it looks like Google has moved away from its ‘Panda’ algo that struck such fear into the hearts of people every where. This algo was said to be aimed at ‘low quality’ websites. It changed the game for many people, especially anyone with an outdated style. Google said they plan on changing their algo 500 times this year, which seems to imply that webmasters should focus on the quality of their websites instead of trying to game something that is increasing in complexity.
The quality issues seem to boil down to these:
Infrastructure – the server, IP, and ‘neighborhood’ your website is located on
Niche – many ranking issues are now very query specific
Freshness – you need updated content to rank in Google. QDF is now real.
Competition – Sometimes you’re getting your ass kicked by competitors, not by Google.
Design – Your design must be updated to reflect today’s surfing choices
All of these seem basic, because they are. It’s important to gain control of all the most basic element’s of your website’s SEO before worrying about more advanced techniques. That’s how lots of people end up doing it, though. They skip the basics and move on to other things. This can cause the foundation to crumble, resulting in a tragic end for rankings.
Anyways, please share if you were impacted by the update on the date mentioned in the title. If so, please explain what happened. Thanks.