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Google Update - First Conclusions

by Fernando Veloso
25 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hi guys,

Google had a update last couple weeks and over here, Portugal, I am starting to see some interesting things:

1 - Keyworded Domain Names are ranking higher then ever. Some queries bring almost a top 10 filled with them. Some queries top 3 is filled with keyworded domain names.

2 - The old tricks of bold, italic, and underline keywords in content seem to have a big drop in serp's. In January they were ranking very high.

3 - Old sites with keyworded domain name + lots of unique content are ranking very high.

4 - Some major queries (credit, flights, weight loss, etc) show same sites for a couple months - no change in those, which is weird.

Guess thats all for now, I'll bring some updates next days, I bet this is not the end of this Google update.

What about your local Google?

Any relevant changes?
#conclusions #google #update
  • Profile picture of the author dvduval
    Word on the street among webmasters of large site is long tale keyword traffic is down 20% or so.
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  • Profile picture of the author gameutopia
    I haven't noticed any changes lately. Things seem to be holding steady. The darn google folks are always messing with or tweaking something it seems like. Only thing I notice is I may drop one slot in serp for 1 day, then back up the next. Sometimes visa versa, but nothing drastic.
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    • Profile picture of the author Fernando Veloso
      Originally Posted by dvduval View Post

      Word on the street among webmasters of large site is long tale keyword traffic is down 20% or so.
      Maybe new sites with longtail keyword domain name are ranking higher now? Lots of people entering the IM arena start exactly there: longtail keywords.
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  • Profile picture of the author HorseStall
    There are definite changes afoot, I'm seeing significant (and drastic) increases to some sites, while I'm seeing minor declines in others, have not found any common causes for the new trends but it still seems to be shaking out.
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  • Profile picture of the author Fernando Veloso
    High paying keywords show same results (very, very similar top 10) two weeks after the last update.

    No changes in those.
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  • Profile picture of the author Trent Brownrigg
    Very interesting observations. Thanks for sharing. On point #1 are you seeing the domains have the whole keyword phrase with maybe one extra word, or just some of the keywords in them?
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  • Profile picture of the author randypatok
    Same observation here Fernando. Google is prioritizing sites that are very relevant to the niche...
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    • Profile picture of the author Fernando Veloso
      Originally Posted by Trent Brownrigg View Post

      Very interesting observations. Thanks for sharing. On point #1 are you seeing the domains have the whole keyword phrase with maybe one extra word, or just some of the keywords in them?
      Both. Some of them are JUST the keyword(s) and others have some prefix / suffix.

      Originally Posted by randypatok View Post

      Same observation here Fernando. Google is prioritizing sites that are very relevant to the niche...
      True, I don't see many (if any) spammy sites/blogs along the top 10 for big keywords.

      Guess Google is getting better and better removing weak content from top 10.
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  • Profile picture of the author digital29
    Originally Posted by Fernando Veloso View Post

    2 - The old tricks of bold, italic, and underline keywords in content seem to have a big drop in serp's. In January they were ranking very high.
    Google has started decreasing the value of onpage SEO...soon only quality backlinks will do any good for SERPs
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    • Profile picture of the author SurviveUnemployment
      Originally Posted by digital29 View Post

      Google has started decreasing the value of onpage SEO...soon only quality backlinks will do any good for SERPs
      That seems to be the case but not entirely. The old keyword stuffing days are long gone, but staying on topic/concept will always be important. Spelling and grammar will matter more as well, I'm guessing.
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    • Profile picture of the author Fernando Veloso
      Originally Posted by digital29 View Post

      Google has started decreasing the value of onpage SEO...soon only quality backlinks will do any good for SERPs
      Maybe this update has put less weight into On Page SEO but who knows If it's not going back again? I've seen it doing well and doing not so well.

      This analysis is getting more and more interesting.
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      • Profile picture of the author tro2
        In my niche (and for a pretty competitive keyphrase), one website has risen from the page 3 to number 3 with this new update. Looking at their backlinks, they have about 3000 links obtained from link exchanges from signing up with the likes of linkpartners, linkslister etc. Most of the pages have no PR and are not relevant at all.
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        • Profile picture of the author Fernando Veloso
          Originally Posted by tro2 View Post

          In my niche (and for a pretty competitive keyphrase), one website has risen from the page 3 to number 3 with this new update. Looking at their backlinks, they have about 3000 links obtained from link exchanges from signing up with the likes of linkpartners, linkslister etc. Most of the pages have no PR and are not relevant at all.
          I didn't want to add "backlinks" into the mix but I can tell you I saw same thing in some major queries over here: at least one top 10 spot is occupied by a site with lots of links from ONE non related website, say 5K, 10K of them.

          The content is poor, both onpage and offpage SEO is poor, so my analysis is that these sites are ranking VERY HIGH solely on those massive backlinks.

          Need to wait a couple weeks to see where they stand.
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          • Profile picture of the author mjbmedia
            if Market Samurai is to be believed then a website design site I am working on for a client has gone from outside the top 100 to number 4 for a local term , yet has also lost some 400 backlinks including all its PR4-6 , many of which I had painstakingly gotten .
            Now I think MS is bugged at the mo cos the above doesnt make sense otherwise .
            I have searched on Google but of course it throws up as number 1 cos I go that site a lot, so my wife tries it on her works PC and the site isnt in the top 10 .
            Im confused
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  • Profile picture of the author awmi
    I am seeing more traffic for my PR2 site that has undergone very little change. But I update the content often, something Google likes very much.
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    • Profile picture of the author FredJones
      Fernando, thanks for posting this - some good observation shared. I did not try this on my local search engine though. However, I can add one thing to it - one of my top-ranking inner pages that had a PHP header redirect to a Squidoo page (the only page I have ever had of that nature) has skidded from the top to 600-odd in Google.com. So this makes your post even more interesting. Interestingly, the backlinks were intentionally built to the inner page and not the Squidoo page since I wanted to experiement whether this is a strategy which could still bring you to the top (and I had succeedded).

      I may want to move this page into my main domain's inner page and remove the PHP header redirect from the page, and see whether there is any change in ranking initially without building a single backlink (or maybe after building exactly one medium-PR backlink which I can always do from one of my own other sites).
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  • Profile picture of the author Fernando Veloso
    Hey Fred, thanks for stopping by. Love to hear the news on that page, if you decide to put on your main domain.

    MJ, Market Samurai can be a little *confused* but fact is, this last Google update might have cut some BC from you while pushing that domain up the top.
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    • Profile picture of the author FredJones
      Originally Posted by Fernando Veloso View Post

      Hey Fred, thanks for stopping by. Love to hear the news on that page, if you decide to put on your main domain.

      MJ, Market Samurai can be a little *confused* but fact is, this last Google update might have cut some BC from you while pushing that domain up the top.
      Hi Fernando, thanks, I shall try to remember and update this very thread if I manage to do it - the only thing is that being an SEO work it stands a chance to take some time - even up to a few months - but let me see if I manage to get a chance shortly to at least start putting content on that inner page.

      Good and informative thread, this one. Thanks once more for sharing knowledge!
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  • Profile picture of the author jason_simpson
    Hey Fernando, some nice observations of the Google Update that you have mentioned here. Even I have noticed some changes in the search rankings, but cannot relate them to any specific reasons right now.
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  • Profile picture of the author mjbmedia
    Cheers Fernando . Its looking good anyway
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  • Profile picture of the author drewman2010
    I have found that root domains seem stronger and that deep link pages are no longer ranking as well.
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    • Profile picture of the author Fernando Veloso
      Originally Posted by drewman2010 View Post

      I have found that root domains seem stronger and that deep link pages are no longer ranking as well.
      So it seems, but I choose to wait a couple weeks before taking that *too* seriously.

      Maybe a new small update can correct those issues?
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  • Profile picture of the author pandorasbox
    Many websites page rank went down in USA and some lost Page rank completely, older website gained lots of power even though some have not been updated for over a year. I also found that newer domains even though organic name or higher backlinks lost up to 30 pages even if they were on first page.
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  • Profile picture of the author ericshef
    The big g is up to some funny stuff again
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  • Profile picture of the author TheRazor55
    You're comparing authority sites that have huge seo presence against small wp sites. Obviously the ones without the 10000s backlinks will drop right off once some changes have been made,
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