Google’s head of web spam Matt Cutts has just released a new series of webmaster resource videos. Featured below is the most recent video in which Matt shares some insight into what we should expect from Google in terms of SEO in the coming months.
Key Points on What to Expect
1. Google is relatively close to deploying the next generation Penguin 2.0 update. The Penguin updates are intended to target blackhat web spammers.
2. Google will be taking a look at advertising. Paid links that violate quality guidelines will be targeted. These links should not flow page rank, which means that your advertisement links should be marked with a “nofollow” tag.
3. Will be working on areas contested by spammers. Systems are in development to thwart sites that use spam link building in favor of quality content.
4. Will deny value to link spammers. Efforts are being rolled out to make black hat techniques less effective.
5. Trying to rank authority sites better. Google is working on improved detection and ranking of experts on certain subjects.
6. More information to webmasters who’s sites may have been affected by hacking. They will be showing more example URLs of indexed pages that may be affected within Google Webmaster tools.
I’m pleased to hear about these forthcoming updates to stop the effectiveness of spammy link building techniques. Webmasters who work hard to produce quality content and a user-friendly experience will continue to be rewarded while spam sites will find it much more difficult to rank without putting in equal effort.
Many thanks go out to Matt Cutts for providing SEO advice direct from Google’s web spam team. I highly recommend following the quality content guidelines and addressing any of the points above that may be relevant to your website.
Here are some more recent Webmaster Help videos you may find interesting.
