Google is always working to get users the most relevant results while making sure that those results are websites that people will actually be willing to read. This is a part of the normal Google algorithm evolution we SEO people have to be ready for! Can these updates cause some confusion and frustration? Yes! But it is manageable if approached with usability optimisations and natural links in mind.

What is over-optimisation?

Put simply, over-optimisation is as it reads. It refers to the over-use of traditionally known SEO techniques in an attempt to rank higher. Having links from untrustworthy sources, reciprocal (two way) links, too many ‘exact match’ links within the site and keyword stuffing. Keyword stuffing refers to pages that have too many instances of the same keyword within content. When this happens, it just becomes difficult to read, and therefore won’t have much use in the eyes of Google. For example:

“At Ollie Architects you can be assured that our team of professional architects are the best architects in the industry. Architecturally designing functional buildings, houses, and professionally managing large projects, Ollie Architects are sure to give you the best service at competitive prices compared to other architects.”

This doesn’t really resound with human dialogue qualities, it looks like the content is being tailored to ‘trick’ the system, and it becomes unreadable in the process! These ‘tricks’ used to work, but Google has become smarter to ensure content like this has less prevalence in their search results.

What does this mean for my site?

If you are updating your website on a regular basis with fresh content and avoiding the keyword heavy (confusing) paragraphs, you need not worry. This is one of the best recommendations we can make and it will be more and more useful to you once the changes are implemented and we start seeing more sites that are optimised for people, rather than search engine ‘robots’.

How can I help my site now?

Have good structure
Make sure people can browse and find relevant information within your site easily. Having your content behind too many clicks can just turn people away. If you are unsure if this is an issue for your site, ask someone to find something (that you would want people to find), and see how long it takes them! If they can’t find it easily, how will Google?

Get Blogging
If you haven’t already, try to implement a Blog to your existing site. Blogging is a great way to communicate and provide information for your visitors and if it is done well, they will come back or share it. You might think ‘I don’t have the time to write things for my website’, you need to remember that your website is a reflection of your business.

Share, share, share
Make sure you are involved in at least one of the social media sites. Social media isn’t really a choice anymore, the movement has already happened and it continues to ripple through the internet. If you are not involved in Twitter or Facebook or Google+, it’s never too late.

How have you been optimising your site? Do you think a change like this could impact your rankings? If you would like more information about search engine optimisation and how Melbourne IT can help, call us on 1300 661 889 to speak to an SEO specialist today.

Ollie is an online marketing professional with an avid interest in user experience design and client management. Always being alert of the latest internet activities, he ensures that his team is at the forefront of search engine optimisation and marketing practices.