Last year Google updated their Search Quality Guidelines so what does this mean for your site?
Basically they are trying to get the algorithms to outwit deceptive or manipulative behaviour and assign better rankings (higher organic search results) to pages with content relevant to the search term used.
Quality guidelines – basic principles
- Make pages primarily for users, not for search engines.
- Don’t deceive your users.
- Avoid tricks intended to improve search engine rankings. A good rule of thumb is whether you’d feel comfortable explaining what you’ve done to a website that competes with you, or to a Google employee. Another useful test is to ask, “Does this help my users? Would I do this if search engines didn’t exist?”
- Think about what makes your website unique, valuable, or engaging. Make your website stand out from others in your field.
The best way to do this is with relevant and engaging original content for your site.