A week after Google’s announcement regarding the release of their new “freshness” algorithm, the results game is showing some clear SERP winners and losers. While many of the losing sites are considered high-quality and reputable, the way people use the internet has evolved to reflect the fact that realtime communication is so readily available. Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook not only provide realtime information, they also contain reactionary material from other users.
This is not Google’s first venture into the world of realtime. The advent of this new algorithm came on the heels of Google parting ways with Twitter in regards to their former realtime feed, google.com/realtime. Ever the innovator, the new ‘freshness’ algorithm is designed to understand user intent based on current realtime events and apply it to the standard Google SERP.
Unlike the Google Panda updates whose results showed a decided commonality among losing sites, the freshness algorithm’s noteworthy commonality occurs among the winners. While Google shows a clear preference for news and video sites, there are many brand sites like MarthaStewart.com and Dominos.com that have benefited from the change. What may be most interesting is the presence of Google’s own Blogger.com on the list of losers. Searchmetrics compiled a list of winners and losers using their extensive in-house SEO software; the entire list can be found here.
What does this mean for organic SEO?
According to their official blog, Google predicts that 35% of search results will be affected by the new algorithm. Results that remain unaffected are those searches for which timing has no bearing on relevance, such as recipes or history. Since there are many brand sites whose internet presence has been boosted by ‘freshness’, it’s clear that continually adding relevant, new content to your site is more important than ever; particularly if you want to maintain a high position on the Google results page.
The full extent of the new algorithm may not be apparent for another few weeks; however, the implications are clear: content counts. Instead of racking your brain for continuous new content as you juggle the regular stresses that come with the holiday season, why not let the experienced team at SEO.cc do it for you?