The Freshness Update...Bigger Than Panda

[Kurt]

It's kind of funny how certain things get more attention than others, but Google's recent "Freshness" update is having a lot more impact on the SERPs than Panda ever did.

It's estimated that Panda/Farmer impacted abou 11% of all SERPs. The Freshness update is believed to be influencing 35% of all SERPS, or more than 3x as powerful as Panda.

This means fresh content added as often as possible is even more important than before. And I don't think just updating old content will work.

Also, adding a time stamp may be the new "meta tag" when it comes to SEO. Google recommends you use 2011-10-25 (yy/mm/dd) for the date format.

Make sure you have a site map plugin or script for html sites that includes time stamps, even for updates.

Use social sites like Twitter and Facebook updates, which have time stamps.

As Google moves to "freshness", there are some major implications for SEO. First, "new" is better than old. It didnt use to be this way.

Researching the competition becomes almost useless, as the SERPs change often. A keyword could be tough today, and weak tomorrow. Plus with geo-targeting and personalized SERPs, who's to say how many "top 10" sites there really may be.

It may be easier to rank for a competitive keyword/phrase now, but the results may be temporary.

It's still way too early in the game to be sure of anything...But with 35% of the SERPs supposedly impacted, "freshness" is something I suggest keeping an eye on for any serious SEOer. If the numbers are correct, it's 3x as important as Panda.

[mosthost]

There's no question this is a big deal. It changes up the idea that aged domains are powerful. Now you have to have lots of fresh content.

[paulgl]

Aged domains were never powerful.

Google always liked freshness, but not every niche or site needs
freshness.

Maybe google wants us all to turn into wikipedia, where
anyone, anytime, can change and update a page. Keeps
the freshness factor going continuously.

Like I said, however, not every niche needs freshness.

Reading between the lines, I think they meant that they
are going to tweak search results if current events dictated
a fresher approach. Searching for Justin Bieber, they guess
people might be looking for anything new on The Bieb.
Searching for George Washington, with nothing in the news
about him, will get the same results. Searching for dinosaurs,
may get you the UK museum story, where as searching for
a specific dino may get the old results.

People who had blogs associated with their main domain pages
already were leading the way. If you don't have a blog, twitter,
etc. associated with each unique site, you have been missing
out already.

Paul

[Kurt]

Originally Posted by paulgl

Aged domains were never powerful.

Google always liked freshness, but not every niche or site needs
freshness.

Maybe google wants us all to turn into wikipedia, where
anyone, anytime, can change and update a page. Keeps
the freshness factor going continuously.

Like I said, however, not every niche needs freshness.

Reading between the lines, I think they meant that they
are going to tweak search results if current events dictated
a fresher approach. Searching for Justin Bieber, they guess
people might be looking for anything new on The Bieb.
Searching for George Washington, with nothing in the news
about him, will get the same results. Searching for dinosaurs,
may get you the UK museum story, where as searching for
a specific dino may get the old results.

People who had blogs associated with their main domain pages
already were leading the way. If you don't have a blog, twitter,
etc. associated with each unique site, you have been missing
out already.

Paul

I've posted years ago about some topics not needing to be updated as often. However, the point is that about 35% of the SERPs have been affected by the "Freshness" update, as compared to the 11% for the Farmer update, yet Freshness hasn't been discussed here yet.

But Paul does bring up a good point and that's to figure out if you're in a niche that needs "Freshness" or not.

To see some of the biggest winners and losers of the Fresh update, as well as to get an idea of which topics may need to be fresh:

The Winners & Losers Of Google’s Freshness Update Revealed | TechCrunch

[MikeFriedman]

Originally Posted by paulgl

Like I said, however, not every niche needs freshness.

Reading between the lines, I think they meant that they
are going to tweak search results if current events dictated
a fresher approach. Searching for Justin Bieber, they guess
people might be looking for anything new on The Bieb.
Searching for George Washington, with nothing in the news
about him, will get the same results. Searching for dinosaurs,
may get you the UK museum story, where as searching for
a specific dino may get the old results.

This is exactly right.

Before everyone goes freaking out and changing everything they are doing, take some time to research what the freshness update is really doing.

While Google has stated it affects about 35% of searches, I would bet it is only having an impact on maybe 1-2% of the niches IM'ers go after. In other words, it is not really having an impact on typical keywords.

I know we do not want to believe it, but a large part of the world that uses Google is not doing so to find something to buy or look for some obscure information that will lead them to our MFA website. They are often looking for things like world news, info on their favorite sports team, the latest celebrity gossip, etc. These are the kind of searches that are being affected by the freshness update.

Most of my sites never or rarely get updates. They haven't budged in the rankings since this update.

Is the freshness update bigger than Panda? To the world, yes. To IM'ers, probably not.

[bnetwork]

Yeah this update kind of got ignored by all the micro niche site gurus...

As a few of you have already mentioned - not every niche needs freshness. Google said it themselves. Some niches/sites do fine without any content updates, ever. Others require constant updates. It makes sense.

What I find funny is that this is going to impact a lot of micro niche builders that go after product related terms. According to Google, product reviews should be "fresh". Same goes for film releases, gossip, some financial topics/terms and many other searches.

It's all very well explained here.

[bhuff85]

Originally Posted by MikeFriedman

They are often looking for things like world news, info on their favorite sports team, the latest celebrity gossip, etc. These are the kind of searches that are being affected by the freshness update.

^^This right here about sums it all up. Couldn't have said it any better.

If I am going to Google to look up some info on my favorite sports team or musician, I would expect them to display the most current and up to date info. Heck, that's for any news in general. Wouldn't make sense to look up stuff regarding current news, only to get results from several months prior.

As for other niches, yes - there wouldn't be much of an impact. Some topics or subjects can only go so far, while others will endure consistent updates over and over.

[NEseO]

I agree with Mike and Paul here.

The update was based on current trends and such. So if you search for cheap loans then just because a site is not fresh does not mean it won't rank.

It is more aimed at searches for thinks like the Olympics, instead of giving historical results it will return relevant pages about the 2012 Olympics.

No need for any panic here.

[Mike Anthony]

Excellent post Mike

The only thing I will ad is that its the same in mainline business. although a few sites are affected IF I sell toddler shirts freshness is not something I need to have up to date information. I suppose a few business sites will switch around some specials and add a little more to their blogs but I really can't see the whole business world changing their sites daily or even weekly and I continue to see sttic sites well knonw in their field sitting right at the top.

Still Kurt is right it bares watching.and it could very well be the key in some serps

[yukon]

This subject had a forum thread already, I searched can't find it now.

Anyways...

I agree this most times will depend on the niche, still a static site/niche could take advantage of this freshness situation.

Example, say you had a site that sold "disaster/survival supplies" & a new hurricane just made the news today, hasn't hit land, just made the news.

I'm sure that site could take advantage of that news & create a new weather page with proper internal links pointing at their survival supplies pages. Then the usual external backlinks for the hurricane name pointing at the new weather page.

IMO that new/fresh weather page would stand a very good chance at picking up a lot of extra free traffic in the SERPs because of freshness.

Repeat for the next new hurricane in the news, when the story first breaks. Something like hurricanes, you have at least a week before it ever hits land & I'm sure traffic would last a week or two after the storm.

You could possibly do the same with a CPA site for auto insurance. Create a weather page about how destructive the new hurricane would be to automobile owners If it hits a certain coastal city. Then link to the CPA auto insurance offer/sales pitch.

A CPA auto insurance page is static & never change, still you could turn this into an adavantage over other static CPA auto insurance competition by creating fresh pages based on current news events.

Just saying, If you get creative you can make something like a freshness update work to your own advantage.

[OmarNegron]

Yep I agree what is being said this is a big update but it highly depends what niche you are in.

Some niches require more "updating" than others"

-Omar

[Kay King]

The Freshness update slammed me. My sites have sailed through multiple updates while people here moaned and groaned. These are not "IM" sites and they have continued to do well even through Panda.

This update got my attention. Looks like I need to get to work!

kay

[paulgl]

Originally Posted by Kurt

I've posted years ago about some topics not needing to be updated as often. However, the point is that about 35% of the SERPs have been affected by the "Freshness" update, as compared to the 11% for the Farmer update, yet Freshness hasn't been discussed here yet.

That's a good point, with figures and all.

I have always contended, however, that most of us here may not
be in that 35% of SERPS.

IMHO, just by looking at trends, the vast majority of searches are
done for current events, celebrities, movies, etc. If your site
is not one of those, chances are it slides through. Most of us
here are selling a product, giving info, etc. on something a little
more static.

Freshness has been discussed here, but more on the lines of why
a new site can rise, then fall just as fast.

I don't think it's just about freshness now. People may construe
that as just more updating. But it's more than that. It's about
having current info, not just changed info. QDF was probably
more about changed or newly created.

Paul

[Kurt]

Originally Posted by NEseO

No need for any panic here.

Originally Posted by MikeFriedman

This is exactly right.

Before everyone goes freaking out and changing everything they are doing, take some time to research what the freshness update is really doing.

.

I'm not sure who is freaking out or panicking...

I see it as an opportunity. It's one more way to get free traffic and those that are early adaptors will get most of the traffic. And as marketers, if you aren't in a niche that's been affected, maybe you should be now?

[BigNorm]

Does this effect our sites though when we follow the simple rules of SEO? You see the same recommendation drummed into people who ask the simple question of how to rank their sites "add more Quality content", agreed some niches won't need to be updated due to either their niche specifics OR the minimal size of their competing pages within that niche.

But the same has always held true, update your content every 3-4 days for new sites or 2-3 times a month for established sites with consistency, this way big players like Google see that your site is consistently updated with fresh content.

[NEseO]

Originally Posted by Kurt

I'm not sure who is freaking out or panicking...

I see it as an opportunity. It's one more way to get free traffic and those that are early adaptors will get most of the traffic. And as marketers, if you aren't in a niche that's been affected, maybe you should be now?

Yes valid point, there is oportunity in anything!! Time to start selling disaster survival kits

[larney]

When did the freshness update happen? One of my sites disappeared a couple of days ago from the serps but seems to be back now.

[blueorca17]

Originally Posted by Kurt

I've posted years ago about some topics not needing to be updated as often. However, the point is that about 35% of the SERPs have been affected by the "Freshness" update, as compared to the 11% for the Farmer update, yet Freshness hasn't been discussed here yet.

But Paul does bring up a good point and that's to figure out if you're in a niche that needs "Freshness" or not.

To see some of the biggest winners and losers of the Fresh update, as well as to get an idea of which topics may need to be fresh:

The Winners & Losers Of Google’s Freshness Update Revealed | TechCrunch

I've noticed several of my really big sites are being affected by this update. It's interesting to watch, to be honest. One day (after I update or build a few new links), my traffic skyrockets, and then the next day it's back down to where it was yesterday. It has nothing to do with virility or being shared on social sites either. Is it just me, or does anyone notice kind of a traffic-toggle going on as well? Like you stay in the same spot in the SERPS, but traffic is minimal until you update something.... It kinda reminds me of how AdWords works. The more people who click on a certain result, that result will jump higher in the serps until another site becomes more popular. I'm not freaking out or anything, cause my income is still pretty good, but it's just cool to watch the changes... Anyone else have thoughts?

[MikeFriedman]

Originally Posted by Kurt

I'm not sure who is freaking out or panicking...

I see it as an opportunity. It's one more way to get free traffic and those that are early adaptors will get most of the traffic. And as marketers, if you aren't in a niche that's been affected, maybe you should be now?

Kurt, I didn't mean to imply you were freaking out about this update.

I simply meant that there are those who will read your post and completely change everything they are doing. They need to contemplate what they are doing and take some time to understand what this update is impacting before making any rash decisions about their business.

You are absolutely right. The update may very well present some unique marketing opportunities.

[MattCatania]

This is the reason why you SHOULDN'T RELY SOLELY ON GOOGLE FOR TRAFFIC.

People who know how to obtain traffic without having to use google will continue on with their business like nothing happened.

[Fraggler]

Originally Posted by Kurt

Also, adding a time stamp may be the new "meta tag" when it comes to SEO. Google recommends you use 2011-10-25 (yy/mm/dd) for the date format.

I wonder if just having new content with relevant date will be enough to pass the freshness test. Taking Paul's Justin Bieber example: if he just played at the MTV Music awards, people will probably be looking for that coverage when they search for him afterwards (or just prior). Therefore an article posted around the same time about a song he performed 5 months ago at the Disney Kids Awards is probably not what the searcher is after, despite the date of the post matching.

Posting regular content might not be enough. Posting about current events on an already strong site might be deadly, and easy traffic.

[yukon]

Originally Posted by Fraggler

Posting regular content might not be enough. Posting about current events on an already strong site might be deadly, and easy traffic.

That's what I was trying to say about the weather example in the comment I posted above.

The 35% is obviously based on current events.

Still I think it might be possible that you can turn the table on Google & use that freshness to your advantage, even on subjects that wouldn't normally be updated with current events.

I'm going to test it this weekend & see what I can stir up in the SERPs.

I do know for a fact that Google tracks small things like Wordpress revision numbers in the web page HTML source code. I've had warning messages in GWT telling me I should update my Wordpress version number. I've since removed my version number from my HTML source code, & haven't had that message again. Just saying, Google tracks little things like that...

[Barry Unruh]

Quoted from InsideSearch on Blogspot:

"Update 11/7/11: To clarify, when we say this algorithm impacted 35% of searches, we mean at least one result on the page was affected, as opposed to when we've said noticeably impacted in the past, which means changes that are significant enough that an average user would notice. Using that same scale, this change noticeably impacts 6 - 10% of searches, depending on the language and domain you're searching on."

You should probably all read this post from Amit Singhal of Google which spells out very clearly the types of sites affected, the intent, and what you can do about it.

Giving you fresher, more recent search results - Inside Search