Essex SEO agency VerriBerri, talks algorithms.

03 Dec Essex SEO agency VerriBerri, talks algorithms.

What are Google algorithms and why do we care? To answer this question, our Essex SEO agency have to go all the way back to the very beginning. 

Google Florida, the major algorithm shake-up. 

Google Florida was the very first algorithm change and as this Essex SEO agency remembers it, it was catastrophic for many businesses. 

Back in 2003, November 16^th to be precise. A hurricane of an algorithm change took everyone by storm – get it? Absolutely no one expected it. It was just before the holidays and it knocked so many peoples’ rankings down that the public outcry was deafening. 

Small companies went out of business overnight. As it was just before the holiday season, furious owners threatened to sue Google. Before this algorithm change most websites relied on affiliate links to drive traffic to their site. This pretty much changed how that worked forever. 

In fact, the uproar was so momentous that Google promised to never make significant algorithm changes again around the holiday season. They did keep this promise, at least that was, until 2012 when they rolled out Penguin in November and December. 

What did Florida do to the SERP?

SERPs (search engine result pages) removed the clutter affiliate links bought. Basically, you couldn’t buy your way to the top of Google anymore. People do still try – click here to read how you shouldn’t, most people now attempt through PR. 

We have to accept that businesses will continue to attempt to climb the rankings and will do so using spurious tactics. It’s Google’s job to stop that and this is where it all began.

At the time – 2003 seems so long ago! It appeared that Google’s targets were commercial, clothing, watches and similar items all seemed to activate the filter Florida relied on. When tests were run it appeared adult content and gambling sites, interestingly, were not affected by the change.

In addition to the above, no long tail keywords seemed to have been affected by Googles algorithm change. 

What we have to bear in mind is that yes, sites were hit hard. Equally though, sites who hadn’t been using black hat tactics benefitted from Florida. 

What now? 

When our Essex SEO agency look back after so many years, an algorithm change does not seem a shock. They happen all the time now. In fact, as long as you’re producing quality content, not copying anyone else and following best practice, then algorithm changes are a good thing. 

Now, Google doesn’t seem to hit industries any more, which seems much fairer. Instead, they penalise tactics. Florida was instrumental in forcing us to make quality sites and focus on giving the visitor what they actually want when they search. 

Our Essex SEO agency believe that the reason more people use Google than any other search engine in the world is because it gives you what you are looking for when you search.  After all, if the search engine doesn’t do what it claims, you wouldn’t use it any more. When was the last time you used AOL search? 

In conclusion, it’s important to understand why algorithm changes happen. They may not feel like it but they’re ultimately for the end user’s benefit, and as long as you’re doing everything that Google wants you to, there’s nothing to worry about. 

If you need help with your Website’s ranking, get in touch with our Essex SEO agency today to find out how we can help.