Looks like the Google Florida and Austin update storms may well be over. Talk around the forums this week tells of another Google update bringing back a lot of lost rankings. Google and other Search Engines are constantly tweaking and changing their algorithms to protect themselves from spam and to keep their rankings methods secret, so what's the best way to stay protected from roller coaster updates that wreak havoc with websites?
Stay out of the weather. No that doesn't mean stay out of the search engine's database it means stay under an umbrella. In other words KISS (Keep It Simple Serenart) - the more simple your website is, the easier it is to protect yourself from filters. Any major changes to filters or tags will more than likely affect the more complicated pages that use advanced and varied tags e.g. the title tag - not the one at the top of the page the one used inside the anchor tag.
The balancing act. If you balance the different areas on your page and your site there is less likelihood of the density filters knocking your pages around. And remember the more pages on your site the better chance you have of hitting the correct density for that particular update.
Bouncing back. If you do get knocked down and find that the search results just don't look right, hang in there and don't change a thing. Of course it wouldn't hurt to validate your pages just to make sure you have not made any major mistakes. In the long run for a search engine to prosper they must be showing relevant results and if your site fits the bill then don't derail site, you just need to wait for the search engine to get back on track.
Beware the scorpion's sting. A particularly well-known search engine has admitted to staging stings here and there to catch optimisers off guard, so suddenly changing your site to suit a major update could set off a red flag telling the engine that you have fallen into the trap.
My forecast for the coming month's is good weather with Yahoo now breaking away from Google and Microsoft leaning heavily towards upgrading their search engine it looks like healthy competition may see more of an even playing field for overall results. So happy searching and may all your pages be on top.
Author: Theresa Fitzgerald, Search Engine Optimiser. 21st February 2004.
