I’ve spent weeks studying Google’s updates and the fallout trying to get a handle on it, says Fat Stacks.
The only conclusion I can come up with is that it appears there’s an unwritten set of Google Web publishing guidelines for a subset of Web publishers.
I set out what I believe those to be below.
These are my suspicions only written from Google’s perspective to enhance the effect:
Preamble:
At Google, we pride ourselves on delivering the best content to the world.
We employ the smartest people in the world… and have ping-pong tables in our office.
We’ve made sweeping changes to our search engine.
Below are the unwritten Web Publishing guidelines running the search engine for a subset of Web publishers.
The Unwritten Guidelines:
1. You must only publish content your visitors want.
Do not target search terms they would use to find that content.
We now consider targeting terms the people search, as web spam because that is an attempt to manipulate search.
You must only target non-searched terms.
Don’t worry, the Google algorithm will figure out what your content is about.
That’s how good our algo is.
2. Your content should meet all the informational wants of every reader who visits your site, but nothing more.
Do not add any extraneous information, such as an FAQ section, because that is manipulating search.
Ignore the fact we use FAQ in our content here.
If you are a good publisher, you will know precisely what information to include and what not to include.
3. Every piece of content you publish must be original.
We decided it’s best for the Web that we are the sole publishers of unoriginal content conveniently served by our very own SGE content generator.
4. Do not publish so much content in an attempt to scale content, no matter how good it is.
At the same time, your site should be an authority on its topics covering every topical gap but do so without appearing to scale content or publishing articles that are too long.
The amount you should publish each week will become obvious to you.
If you are deindexed, that is a signal you missed the mark.
5. If you think you can get away with scaling your site by using AI content, think again.
Our state-of-the-art algo will detect it.
Our algo masterfully distinguishes good content from bad.
No, really, we can.
Remember, we are the creator of SGE so we know AI better than anyone in the world.
6. Do not publish a site restricted to a niche, aka a niche site, regardless of your area of expertise.
Alternatively, do not expand your site’s topics outside of your niche or area of expertise because that is overreaching, which screams a lack of expertise.
There is a sweet spot in between that is up to you to figure out.
7. Ensure your site is user-friendly, which includes making it easy to navigate.
However, do not use table of contents because while they help visitors find what they are looking for, it’s indicative of content being too long and, therefore unhelpful.
8. Keep your content up-to-date but do not refresh the date because that will appear to manipulate search rankings.
You must figure out how to show visitors that your content is updated without updating the date.
9. Do not put ads on your site.
It’s unpleasant for visitors.
If you must make money to feed your family, publish content so good your visitors donate money.
Ignore the fact we force Google visitors to scroll down below the fold to get past our ads.
This might seem like hypocrisy because it is.
Remember, Google makes the rules so Google is not subject to the rules.
10. Do not compare your content and rankings to other sites ranking at the top of search.
The Google search algo applies different ranking factors to different sites.
11. Getting your site to show up in Google is a privilege.
We no longer include all websites.
We are embracing the directory model.
We are actively censoring which sites are included in search because we know best what every person on the planet should read and watch.
If your site is removed from our index, don’t get too excited about the reconsideration request option because that’s only there for show.
12. Above all else, publish content that is helpful.
This is self-explanatory.
We are confident that these latest guidelines will make for a better inter-web.
— Your friends at Google
THE END OF UNWRITTEN GUIDELINES
The above was NOT issued by Google.
It’s my take on what’s going on with Google after many recent algo updates.
The above is tongue-in-cheek, in case you’re wondering.
What did I miss?