Google Raises Standards for Online Content

Not so long ago, before the age of blogs and social media, most information that was released to the public went through some sort of gatekeeper.  The ease of setting up a blog or posting on Facebook has made it easy to make one’s voice heard.  Until now, it has also been very profitable for Internet publishers to solicit and publish very low quality articles stuffed with non-sensical search terms.  The bad content helped as much with Google rankings as the good.

Google recently (once again) revamped it’s search alorithm.  The new algorithm (Google Panda or Google Farmer) takes article quality into account when ranking articles.

The Google Webmaster Central blog has listed some of the criteria that are taken into account under the new system. 

• Would you trust the information presented in this article?
• Is this article written by an expert or enthusiast who knows the topic well, or is it more shallow in nature?
• Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations?
• Would you be comfortable giving your credit card information to this site?
• Does this article have spelling, stylistic, or factual errors?
• Was the article edited well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?
• For a health related query, would you trust information from this site?
• Would you recognize this site as an authoritative source when mentioned by name?
• Does this article provide a complete or comprehensive description of the topic?
• Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
• Would you expect to see this article in a printed magazine, encyclopedia or book?
• Are the articles short, unsubstantial, or otherwise lacking in helpful specifics?
• Are the pages produced with great care and attention to detail vs. less attention to detail?
• Would users complain when they see pages from this site?

These sound a little like print publication guidelines.  Although I’m not sure how a computerized alorithm can make judgements on some of these items – I think, overall, the new algorithm will improve the information available via google search.  It will also motivate all of us to “up our game” as far as writing quality.

Here are a few tips for making sure that your articles are google ready:

• Make sure that you have something original to say.  Even if you are copying part of someone else’s article (like I’m doing in this blog post) – add comments to make the material more accessible to your readers.
• Have someone not involved in your area of expertise read over your post.  The post needs to make sense and be useful to the “average reader”
• Consider hiring a proofreader or using an online service like http://www.paperrater.com/
• Let your post sit overnight and read it again.   I always find that I can improve my writing if I step away for a bit.
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