In a bid to be more transparent, Google has started to discuss its constantly changing algorithms more and more. This sounds like great news for those with jobs in SEO, but in reality, it could be interpreted by some as more like a payment of lip service than anything else.
Of course, the recent “Fresh” update has been well documented, but other recent changes
not given so much attention may interest many.
One change which is certainly worth discussing is that the text which displays on the SERP is now confirmed that it will largely come from the content in a page, where no meta description exists.
This is important, as previously the text shown was often from the menu or headers. Ideally of course, a relevant meta description should be in place but, those SEOs who work hard on page content should be happy at the change.
Another point that is interesting, is the way that navigation links, where the text is repeated through the pages will not be weighted favourably. This makes sense, as repetition has always been a big no-no. Some in the profession will lament this but in reality, SERP success will not be affected if you’ve played by the rules.
A final change, which will please larger companies, is that the detection of official pages has been enhanced. Meaning these will be automatically promoted ahead of unofficial sites, sites aiming to tailgate competitors will suffer a blow.
Explanations like these do certainly help, but it is unlikely Google or any other search engine will ever be truly open, because it would give their own competitors too much information. Whether they should or not is open to debate, but that would just make optimising a page too easy; and after all, we all love a challenge.
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Surely also – that giving away trade SEO secrets will make ‘dormant’ or the un-trained more active in SEO – thus making SEO even more competitive than it alredy is … I don’t want more people chasing my keywords thank you just cos Google do!! – I like the mystery and unpredictability of SEO but not the cost and hard work ironically !!