Updated Date: May 16, 2022
Keeping up with Google search algorithm updates has always been a challenge for marketers. Google does little to clue in marketers on the changes they are making, leaving many website owners scrambling to make adjustments to their strategy after their rankings have been damaged.
The latest Fred update is the most recent 2017 Google update that has marketers working overtime.
Here’s what you need to know about it.
The Target
It appears the Fred update is mostly aimed at removing sites with outdated and low-quality content from rankings. Many websites immediately noted that some of their keywords were no longer making returns because the quality on those pages may have been weeded out by Google.
It also seems to be aimed squarely at sites that are overflowing with ad space but do not have much core content.
What Fred Means for You
To avoid taking a hit to your site rankings in the immediate future, there are several steps you can take to prove your pages are current and valid. Updating any old content and expanding it to meet minimum quality standards will ensure that your site retains its place in search result rankings. While Google doesn’t openly publish the specifics of their ranking algorithm, they do publish a clear set of quality guidelines for content.
Another important factor appears to be the quality of the backlinks provided in your content. Many SEO experts recommend using a spam filter to determine if any of the backlinks associated with your content are related to nefarious sites. This can obviously downgrade the quality of your overall content if Google believes that you are sending people through a network of spam with minimal value provided to the user.
In addition, many website owners found that turning off a portion of their ads, especially above-the-fold ads, has a positive impact on their traffic. Ad-heavy pages tend to present more opportunities for spam to appear, so Google is trying to reduce the amount of noise that customers face when surfing top-ranked sites.
V Digital Services
The best way to prevent Google from releasing an update that devastates your website’s search engine rankings is to always provide fresh and high-quality content. Using Organic SEO services by V Digital Services, a Premier Google Partner, ensures that the content on your site exceeds minimum Google standards and is linked to appropriate sites elsewhere on the web.
We also manage ad space on your site to ensure that your customers find a robust site full of useful information, not spam.
To learn more about Organic SEO packages from V Digital Services, contact us today!
2017, Algorithm, Fred