The latest Google Quality Rating guide has just been rewritten, which details the expectations that Google sets for gauging the quality of a website by its human checkers.
Whilst not a direct representation of the algorithm, it does give a clear and unequivocal representation of the factors that it expects human experience to discern in a good site and, unsurprisingly, this chimes with its consistent exhortations to the industry.
Encapsulated in its acronym, E-A-T (expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness), it reiterates the need for a site to demonstrate credibility, or Google Quality Rating. As Jim Boykin talks about here,…
“It all starts with writing quality content. The next step is marketing the heck out of it”
…and…
“Reputation management a MUST for everyone now”
keyword-rich anchor-text links
Is Google hypocritical to wage war on keyword-rich anchor-text links? As highlighted here, there’s certainly a usability case to be heard for articulating to a user what a link will lead to but, of course, it’s clear that Google felt it had to stamp on over-optimised link campaigns aimed purely at gaming its algorithm.
A perfectly articulated retort to this position, however, was provided by @bill_slawski
Why does it appear that Google’s preferred weapon against link manipulation isn’t algorithms, but instead social engineering? 🙁
— Bill Slawski (@bill_slawski) July 25, 2014
And if Google’s position can end up stepping on a credible link source such as YouMoz, there is little guaranteed safety for any of us, it would appear!
Essentially, Google has made us dance to its tune, rather than adapt itself to play a song that fits our dance. The benefit of being a market leader, I guess…
Structured Data markup
I’ve mentioned Structured Data markup previously and, without any doubt, it’s central to optimising a website in the future in order to keep up with your competitors. Nevertheless, it is not a completely straightforward process and, whilst there have been introductions and guides that I’ve drawn attention to in the past, this is the clearest and most helpful yet. My advice is to avail yourself of its knowledge.
And Finally.
And reinforcing my point last week about the proliferation of articles in which agencies complain about clients, here’s one about the things PPC clients do to sabotage their own campaigns. As the Senior PPC manager, I can sympathise with a lot of these – sometimes, despite all your attempts to establish a strategy and follow best practice, a client just doesn’t trust your expertise. As the saying goes, “you can’t help some people!”
