Some business owners have seen their business strategies crumb as a result of Google’s frequent changes to their algorithm.
And for the past 15 years, Google has made constant changes to their algorithm in hopes to help businesses improve their website and marketing strategies. Business owners who have found themselves at the tail-end of change have found a significant decrease in web traffic.
As Google’s algorithm changes more businesses get hit with a Google penalty. A Google penalty is a punishment against a website whose content conflicts with the marketing practices enforced by Google.
You might think there is nothing you can do to help your website not be affected by Google analytics, but the truth is there are steps and practices you can take to ensure your website is within the good graces of Google. We gathered some information to help you navigate the ever-changing world of Google analytics.
Stay up to date
Every year for the past 15 years, Google has made changes that affect how websites stay relevant. These are to help user experiences, not to destroy your business. But if you stay too far behind the times, your business could wind up on the 3rd search page in no time. Here are some of the most relevant changes from the past few years.
- Panda- Created to crack down on thin content and high ad-to-content ratios. If you have a site that is heavy in advertising and has less than 300 words that are deemed relevant, your site is hit with a major Google penalty
- Penguin– This is one of the few changes that go through yearly updates. As of now, Penguin cracks down on link schemes, keyword-stuffing, and other black hat tricks. This change was created to go after websites thought of as spam, instead of websites that are just poorly made.
- Exact Match Domain- Sites that are low-quality and have search terms in their domain name got hit with this change.
- HTTPS/SSL- Google gives preferences to sites that are secure, which is important for e-commerce sites. Adding encryption to your site creates a boost in rankings on Google.
- Mobile-Friendly– Easily the most important change in recent years, having a responsive website that works not only on desktops but also mobile devices saw a huge boost on Google, while those websites that didn’t change saw a significant drop on Google searches.
- Intrusive Interstitial- This punishes websites with interstitial ads and other pop-out content that can hinder a pages’ functionality on a mobile device.
If you’re still unsure about if your website is affected by Google analytics you can use a penalty indicator tool to find out so you can make the appropriate changes.
Some basic websites mistakes that affect your google analytics are also the easiest to fix. Some basic issues are as followed
- Your website has a lot of pop-out ads
- There are a lot of keywords to the point it becomes spam.
- The content copy is too thin and needs more relevant words and content
- Your website has a high load time
- The website has a low-quality appearance on mobile devices
Google has created these updates not to be the bad guy for business owners, but instead to ensure your website is up-to-date, helpful, and trustworthy for users. Takes this as a learning opportunity to create a better web experience for your clients, and to present the best image of your company that you can.