If you noticed unusual changes to your Google rankings this month, you’re not alone. Several site owners noticed a rankings shift earlier this month and assumed Google had slipped another update in while no one was looking, but Google insisted no such thing had occurred.

Now, after weeks of speculation among bloggers and business owners, Google has acknowledged that, while not an official update, changes have been made to their core ranking algorithm. So what do these changes mean for you?

While we don’t know exactly what changes Google made, there is evidence that suggests they may have tweaked how content quality factors into page ranking.

Keeping this in mind, there are two ways your business needs to respond if it wants to keep up.

Feature Original and Credible Content

Any content featured on your website should be exclusive to you and informative to your audience. This means avoiding shallow and badly researched content or redundant articles on the same topics with marginally different keyword variations.

There’s no shortage of content on the Internet, so there’s a good chance that any topic you choose to feature has already been written about at least once before, but that doesn’t mean your content can’t stand out. When creating content, consider whether or not it offers greater value or a newer perspective on the subject than the numerous articles already on the web.

Basically, your content should be crafted with the goal of providing visitors with a good user experience, not with the goal of ranking higher in searches. If you’re creating strong content, your ranking will increase on its own.

Ensure Clear Brand Identity

This one may seem like a no-brainer, but a lot of businesses fall short in this area. Your website is your online representative, and as such it should be an accurate representation.

Any images on your site should be original unless they’re specifically meant to represent another brand’s content. Photos on your site should be images of your products, your team, yourself, etc. Additionally, make sure all business specific information, such as location, hours of operation and contact information, are accurate and up-to-date.
So, as always, Google is striving for the best user experience. Strive for the same thing and you’ll be fine.

By: Victoria Vener