Recently Google went and switched things up on us. Awesome news! Change is the only constant on the web (and maybe in life too). Without change we start to take things for granted. By making a change to the algorithm, Google is trying to make search results more relevant to users. How is getting better search results a bad thing?

The most recently visible examples of  SEO juice abuse were Overstock.com and JC Penney. With millions at stake these companies have stood punishment for their wicked ways. Why is this a surprise to them? Probably because most changes to the Google algorithm are more subtle than this latest one. Majority of changes go unnoticed. I am happy that war has been declared on content farms. I like my content like I like my chicken – FREE RANGE!

Free range content!

Bad search results can affect all of us in some way. It can be a loss of time, loss of opportunity. I travel quite frequently and the worst results have been related to hotels and flights. Sooo many times when I thought I found a deal I was redirected to a site that was nothing more than links. No bueno. Was this a huge deal? Not really. Did it annoy me? Slightly.

Google’s recent change gives me a feeling there is justice afoot. I have actually lost business from people who thought we were charging too much for original content writing. A potential client, who shall remain nameless, is actually experiencing some pain now. By pain I mean that the potential client has fallen from page one to past page ten. Am I happy that I was right? While I would never celebrate anyone’s loss of business, it is nice to know that I provided good information. Rarely in life is there a short cut for actually doing the work. You very rarely get something for nothing. None of our current clients have lost traction with search rankings, not one. (Knock on wood) We have always insisted on doing things the old fashioned way, elbow grease and creativity.

The SEOs out there who cheated and went the cheap route for their clients will have a hang over… Gloria Estefan comes to mind right about now. The algorythm is gonna get youuuuu, TONIGHT do doo do do dooo!