New Age of Google Search

With the new day comes the new year, and Google is determined to make this year the breaking point between quality and quantity. If you haven’t noticed, in the past few years every time you search for something on Google you get results filled with spam and bad quality sites whose only goal is funneling search visitors towards one marketing message and tricking them into clicking on their ads to make a few cents for the creator.

As an individual whose goal is to help others and not only make money I applaud Google on its recent announcement to finally clean up this spam infested web. More than 60% of today’s websites are spam, and this announcement could not have come at a better time.

The point that I am trying to make here is that if I am searching for “How to build a fence” I am not looking to buy one; therefore the first page of Google will not interest me because most of the first page is infected by websites that are trying to sell me the fence. Bob’s website that describes the whole process and has the best content, the one that I am looking for, is not listed on the first page but instead it’s listed on the 5th, 10th or beyond. By the time I find Bob’s page I already give up on building a fence myself and I just buy one.

So what is the problem here? The problem is that Bob who knows how to build a fence but does not know how to do SEO. He may be the best fence builder in the world and can explain the process in the smallest detail but he does not know what a Meta tag is, or how to research the keyword and his ideas never see the light of day. Those that know nothing about fences on the other hand know a lot about SEO and they are able to place their sites in front of Bobs.

The Google announcement offers some hope and promises that Bob will be able to deliver the message that I am looking for. According to Matt Cutts, Google is closer then ever at cracking down on spammers and he offers a few examples of what exactly Google is trying to do:

Google has developed 2 algorithm changes that focus on moving down low quality sitePlans to add an extension to Chrome for easy reporting of spam sitesPlans to improve the ability to detect hacked sitesCracks down on automated sites and autobloggs

The fact is its Googles fault the search engines are what they are today. Google invented SEO and it came back to bite them in the you know where. Prior to Google there was no spam, quality was more important. I’m not blaming Google for creating SEO because it created a brand new field of work but they need to find a way to fix what they have broken a decade ago. I have no doubt that they will find a way to fix things but they need to start thinking in a more natural way, rather then mechanic.

If we ever reach the point where the first result is the best result Google’s work will be done but we have a long way to go. What is encouraging is that Google was able to admit their mistake and is looking to change. How long that is going to take no one knows but at least they are moving in the right direction.

Goran Cobanovic is a web designer, SEO guru wannabe and WordPress addict. He is currently working as an accountant but uses all of his spare time to help and educate others about SEO and online marketing. If you feel like you need help with your website don't hesitate to ask.

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