Friday’s update to the Google search engine results algorithm was a subtle, but impactful alteration of the SEO world. While most people were going about business-as-usual, however, Softline Solutions’ SEO manager, Anatoly, is known to have been the first member of the SEO community to notice Google’s change, known as “Penguin 2.1,” and make the necessary adjustments.
He was using his private account to communicate with other SEO specialists online, and he caught sight of an anomaly right around the time the change was made. This was well before Google officially announced it.
As is their policy, Google never announces such changes in advance. They also keep the secrets of their algorithms under lock and key. No SEO company has advanced warning about such updates, nor is there any detailed explanation of what steps are necessary to fix the damage done to rankings.
Across the Internet, many sites experienced changes in their rankings, and many of these changes weren’t helpful to anyone. Some publications reported that the visibility of entire industries, such as online classifieds, suffered, and were replaced on search engine results pages by inferior websites.
Since Google doesn’t provide explicit rules or publicize requirements, it is precisely the kind of constant vigilance displayed by Anatoly that keeps the SEO world up-to-date on best practices.
Anatoly is among a small number of specialists who follow such trends carefully. They immediately began to study the impact of the change, determine which aspects of Softline Solutions’ proprietary technology were triggering problems for clients’ sites, and take the necessary steps to remedy the matter.
Meanwhile, Anatoly accumulated gratitude from colleagues online who appreciated his eagle-eyed trendspotting.
Softline Solutions constantly builds a solid, search engine-friendly foundation, relying on tried-and-true methods, like the creation of original content that is useful and user friendly. In the long run, thanks to these efforts, damage to a site’s rankings generally won’t last long.
While the overall impact of Google’s algorithm change still remains to be seen in some corners of the internet, damage control has begun, and ranking changes are being patched up.
