Tuesday 13 March 2012

Duplicate Content and the Google Algorithm

Thanks to an increasing number of people who engage in black hat SEO techniques, Google content results have become less reliable than before. Duplicate content seems to clutter the World Wide Web nowadays. In an effort to solve this problem, Google recently changed the algorithm it uses to rank websites.
According to a number of SEO experts, Google basically considers more than 200 different factors when deciding where to place a particular website in the search results.
Such factors include link popularity, keyword usage and domain trust among others.
Since the number of scheming web marketers is increasing, Google constantly changes its algorithm in order to get rid of irrelevant and spam results, while also rewarding sites that offer the most relevant content.
In an effort to get ahead of the entire search engine optimization game, most spammers try to manipulate the search results by developing duplicate content. Matt Cutts, Google’s Webspam chief, deals with this issue by exploring various new spam techniques with his team. Having a fair idea of these techniques makes it easier for Matt Cutts and his team to identify and eliminate them from the search results and generate only the most reliable and relevant google content.
In fact, the recent change made in Google’s algorithm was intended to rewards sites containing unique content and penalize those that contain duplicate content. Right after the new algorithm was put to use, it automatically affected 2% of all SERPS. Sites containing duplicate content or rip-offs of other sites’ content have been de-indexed from Google and have dropped from the rankings.
According to Matt Cutts, duplicate contents, as well as web spams, have decreased over time and have allowed attention to shift to content farms. By content farms, Matt Cutts refers to sites with low quality or shallow content. These sites have been the main reasons why two major algorithmic changes were launched in 2010.
Although two algorithmic changes were made last year, Matt Cutts and his team felt the need to take further action to minimize the occurrence of content farms in google content search results. For this reason, the team launched a redesigned document level classifier known as the “content farm” algorithm to prevent spammy on-page content or duplicate content from reaching a high rank in the Google search engine.
The new algorithm change was launched sometime in the second half of January 2011. Its net effect has been helpful to all Google users as it currently generates more relevant searches and spews out sites that contain less spammy and more original content. With the newly launched algorithm, Google is now more capable of identifying pages containing repeated or spammy words, sites having low levels of original content, as well as sites that copy content from other sites.
The launch of the redesigned algorithm is bad news for all spammers; however, it poses as a big help for honest web developers who take the time to create original content. So how can honest web marketers gain full advantage from this new algorithm? Well, they can actually utilize this new algorithm to maximize the efficiency of their search engine optimization techniques. Honest web developers can capitalize on this new algorithm and use it to their SEO’s advantage.
In order for them to maximize the original and quality content they produce, they can follow these suggestions:
  • They can do a quick run-through of their site and review all its contents. They have to make sure that it’s filled with relevant and up-to-date content.
  • Google’s new algorithm has made the search engine very particular about finding duplicate content. Therefore, if their sites consist of any definitions, summaries of websites or direct quotations, it would help if they rewrite these items in order to produce a new content.
  • They should continue making original and relevant content for their visitors.
  • They have to remain aware of the importance of keyword density. Keywords should be used organically and sparingly and not abused.
Overall, this newly launched algorithm enables Google to give more credit to website owners who are keen on producing new and original articles on a regular basis. Therefore, if a site wants to obtain a high page rank on Google, all it needs to have are high quality and unique and relevant content.
Google’s new algorithm pushes all sites that are heavy on duplicated content at the bottom, while also promising to continue rewarding sites containing stellar content. In other words, a better SEO strategy for web masters to abide by is to put their site’s readers’ needs first and not fuss over how they’ll rank in the search engines. Additionally, Google’s new algorithm also places more importance on quality over quantity in terms of content. So instead of engaging in devious search engine optimization techniques, it’s better to just follow the rules and make sure the readers get what they want

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