Red alert: Matt Cutts has announced the release of Penguin 2.0. At a high level, he’s stated the goal is for Google to reward “authority websites.”
But, what does that mean specifically?
It’s hard to say overall, and I’m not going to speculate on the SEO aspects of this because frankly, that’s not my expertise – writing SEO content is. So, here’s what I’ve been hearing from some of the experts in the industry, Bruce Clay and Heather Lloyd-Martin:
Low-quality blog posts and articles should be rewritten or replaced
Pages that border the keyword-stuffing line should be rewritten
Content you would be embarrassed to show your customers or friends needs to be rewritten or tossed entirely
Articles typically done in batches where speed was emphasized have a high likelihood of needing to be rewritten
Going back to the authority idea – if you haven’t blogged in weeks or months, it’s time to start again
How Do You Know if Your SEO Content is Low Quality?
Quality is definitely very subjective, and who knows exactly what Google defines as “quality?” No one knows the precise answer because no one knows Google’s algorithm, but Google does give us a few hints, and if you use common sense and pay attention to experts in the industry, you can safely assume these signs may indicate you have low-quality SEO content:
Many spelling mistakes (think around 1 per 100 words or more) – There’s no precise rule on this, but you can assume a typo here and there is acceptable – it happens all over the web, and why should otherwise good content be harmed by a couple typos?
No research/experience – Some articles you can write exclusively from experience. Others, you need to do some research. If your content is general and similar topics are available all over the web, you can bet it’s “low quality.”
Awkward wording – Again, your SEO content doesn’t need to be perfect. Some awkward wording is okay here and there. But, if it’s a routine offense every paragraph or two, you may find yourself in trouble with Google.
Does it pass the eyeball test? – If you showed your content to a good friend or trusted employee, would you feel proud or embarrassed? You can guess how this could be used to judge quality!
Keyword is easy to identify – If it’s really easy to pick out the keyword, your content is probably low quality. If your content focuses on any more than 3 keywords, chances are very low that it’s high quality.
Do you cite authoritative sources? – Authority links to external websites help your authority. If you routinely link to spammy, low-quality websites no one’s ever heard of, your content may be judged as low-quality too.
It’s not written for the digital readers – At a minimum, your SEO content should have headers, sub-headers, 3-4 sentence paragraphs, bullets, and bolding to make it easy to read quickly. If you have long paragraphs filling up a quarter of the screen or more, it’s likely you aren’t familiar with writing for the web and your content is low-quality.
It’s all short – “500 words” is the generic rule most people stick to when writing for the web. People go on and on about the importance of short copy. Short copy can work, but guess what? Everyone does short copy, so you stick out and improve your own authority by using long copy (700+ words). But again, it’s not the length that matters, but what those words say.
Compare the Extremes to Understand Quality
So you kind of have an idea of what low-quality copy may look like. Now, let’s take a look at a couple extremely good and bad examples of SEO content quality so you get a better understanding of what it really is.
For a quality blog, think of the big-timers like Huffington Post. I’m not a fan of that particular blog, but it has interesting, well-written content that many people read – in Google’s eyes a website with “quality” content. On the other extreme, you have content-mill type websites like eHow.com(I nofollowed the link just to keep my own authority safe). Some blogs actually do worse than this content, but eHow is very prominent in the search results still, despite it’s low-quality content. What makes eHow low-quality? Just a few of the reasons its content stinks:
It’s very short and uninformativeLinks to outside, credible sources are rare or non-existentSometimes, the information is downright inaccurateThe content uses awkward wording routinely
eHow was low-quality from the start because it chose to hire freelance writers for bottom-dollar and focus on churning a quantity of content versus quality content in order to make money off ad revenues. At one point, the company was worth more than $600 million, and according to what I’ve heard, it currently takes a loss on the content it creates.
What Makes a Website an “Authority Website” in Google’s Eyes?
I always tell people to aim for “a quantity of quality SEO content.” If you follow that overarching idea, then you’re on the right path to creating an authority website. Blogs with hundreds of quality posts are authority websites. To be an authority, your website needs:
Regularly updated content – at least 1 new page/blog post per week, and ideally 2 or moreContent that adds unique value to the internet – takes a new slant on an old topic or focuses on a new topic entirely
Well-written content – Your content should be clear, informative, and so simple to understand that someone who knows nothing about the topic can understand it just by reading your page
Links to other authority websites – This one’s self-explanatory
Age – It just has to be around doing it’s thing for a while before Google gives it a little more credibility
Links from other authorities – Do some guest posts on currently popular blogs to build your own authority
Content that answers questions – This is especially applicable for small businesses – listen to the most common customer service questions you get and answer them on your blog
Other SEO factors play into the idea of an authority website, such as the quality of back links and their anchor text. But again, I’m a content guy, so I’m just stating my opinion of authority as it relates to content.
Wise Swans SEO Firm
