So Matt said something at SXSW last week about Google introducing a filter / penalty / change. As my inbox is already overflowing with emails from people asking whether they should stop optimizing their site and/or using my plugin, I thought I’d do a quick post. What Matt said was vague at best but he said one thing that leaves little room for speculation:
All those people doing, for lack of a better word, over optimization or overly SEO – versus those making great content and great site.
So, Google wants to do something about over-optimization. That’s not saying they want to do something about SEO. As Matt said on that same panel one more time, they have nothing against SEO, they have something against spamming.
So, if you write texts with a keyword density of 25%, you maybe should be worried. If you install an SEO plugin that helps you write more search engine friendly content (and even warns you when it thinks the keyword density is too high) and optimizes most of the technicalities for you, there’s nothing to worry about. Several Googlers use my plugin, do you really think they’d do that if they considered it over-optimization?
Now, stop over-analyzing everything Matt says and get back to work, building good websites for users.
Thank you for explanations.
I wish people could just accept that 95% of SEO is building good content that people want to read. If you can do that, the rest of the stuff is just about making it easier for Google to find.
Agreed. As long as a plugin, extension or anything else helps me make a complete and well-formed page with decent title, description etc. etc. there is nothing wrong with that. As long as all your careful work is in support of the thing that really matters: your actual content. You can even put a shareable, sticky, likeable 2.0 name on “good content” if you like, but in the end that’s it: make something people actually want to find.
Short an sweet :)
Totally agree.
Matt has said time and again that SEO is not a bad thing.
The problem is cappy sites that spend more time on SEO than actualy content and user experience.
Hopefully Google’s algo change can differentiate between the two well enough :)
Whew – that had me concerned. I love your plugin and it has been a huge help in guiding me to ensure my user friendly content reaches as many as possible using the best principles of SEO. Thanks Joost!
I totally agree. The SEO community has way too many players eager to cry “WOLF” every time Google changes even the slightest bit. If those people spend as much time doing proper SEO for their clients as they do speculating they would make a fortune :-)
Keyword density is a myth anyway. Its enough to have the keyword in title, description and a couple of instances in content.
I believe that some younger “SEO experts” could learn something from Matts statement – but the rest of us will just continue making prober SEO ;)
Great post, Joost
In my world Google should only look at content. Meta title and descriptions and H1 etc. are for geeks and have nothing to do with content.
Just because we know what and how to write speciel text in the Title tag, do not make our content better. It’s only manipulation.
Today Google are much better to understand the content of the page, and should only do so.
:-)
Peter, I don’t agree. Correctly constructed mark-up is an important part of your readers experience. When you write a Word document you use titles and other formatters don’t you?
If you don’t create semantic content that is clear to your readers, how do you expect Google to understand and calculate is relevancy?
But I take your point. Some people put too much emphasis purely for SEO purposes rather than readability.
I agree with Bill. Correct mark-up is important. But correct mark-up also means NOT to be spammy. Writing good content for users and correct mark-up, e.g. for better SERPs will create good results in SEO. And a good SEO-PlugIn must help webmaster to do so – just like the SEO Plug-In Joost offers. ;)
Some of Black Hat SEO Still Work with Google, RIP Panda :P. who says over optimization don’t work check http://www.mastergoogle.com/blog/black-hat-seo-still-works-with-google-2.php. thanks
Simple explanation for a common sense subject. “Google is shutting down unless we all stop optimizing” That’s what I heard Matt say ;)
As always, great write up thanks!
I think this should have been default already.
There are too many spam websites in top results and other guys who are writing a great content but don’t care or don’t know about this kind of optimization are low in rankings.
It’s interesting to see how a few vague comments by Matt Cutts can lead to an uproar in the SEO community :). It’s rather far-fetched to assume the days of optimizing your site or using an SEO plugin are over.
Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how Google’s planned algorithmic changes will pan out in practice, considering that they already seem to have some filters in place for countering spam and keyword stuffing.
I wish it remained within the SEO community. It’s the tech press that’s picking it up which is annoying as hell as they don’t know what they’re writing about.
Turning a fly into an elephant is what gets views and sells ads.
Hmmm, I can see that being a problem. The press is usually quite good at unnecessarily blowing things out of proportion. On the other hand, as they say: “there’s no such thing as bad publicity”. :)
Thank you for you explanatin! I was wondering too if your SEO Plugin will continue to help me or not. I’m glad you wrote about this.
I’m on your side, I think it’s great news for most website owners, and of cause users to. When that’s said, I think it’s kind of a funny statement, it’s almost like they want to scare people with non-facts.
Found you post on Google+. Why should Google be against SEO? How would people find our websites then? :)
There is one true fact you said: Google will always be against spamming tactics.
Joost, thank you for the most excellent post. I have a question about H1 tags. For aesthetics, some folks choose not to show the title on the page. While that still leaves the title tag for Google to index, it takes away the opportunity to max out on the combo of making title tag and H1 a little different. Is this type of design strategy negatively impacting SEO significantly? I’ve only seen folks remove page titles and leave them on posts.
Defending your SEO practice purely on statistical ranking numbers is like a baseball manager trumpeting that his team of losers spent more days in first place than anyone else.
Thanks for this, Joost. I never suspected they would penalize the sites that were using those plugins, that is plain SEO and if I remember one of old Matt’s videos, it is kinda OK to do SEO to help SE know what the page is about. The over-optimizing is something to penalize on the other hand, because it is really a bad experience to read those posts, nothing sounds human and footers have 100 links to different pages… you know what I mean, lol
Always keep it on the save side and spread quality content. If you don´t have the time to do it yourself, you can always find someone to do it for you for a good price.
Google wants a good user experience and optimization, including your plugin, help that user experience by allowing people to find relevant content. I don’t think Google will be changing that. It’s all about intentions. Hopefully your post allays concerns of the “sky is falling” crowd.
Woke up this morning and read – what else – some tech blog blaring this nonsense to the masses. Have to say my first reaction was to click my bookmark for Yoast to find out the real truth behind the SEO doomsayers comments…..much appreciated Joost for the quick analysis.
I write for my readers and not for the search engines anyways. Always worked for me.
I agree that we should all just get back to building good websites. Ever since Matt Cutts announced a new over-optimisation change is coming out in the next few weeks everyone has been worring far too much about it.
As long as your site is not crazily optimised then I can’t see it being a problem. Your website should be optimised but it also needs to be user friendly so as long as you have kept this in mind and designed accordingly (ie not done over the top crazy stuff) I can’t see google penalising anyone.
Totally agree with you !
Completely agree, and have just this minute posted a comment on another blog on the same issue http://www.leecolbran.co.uk/google/google-over-optimized-and-over-seod-update-what-does-it-mean/
People need to get back to the old ways of optimising their sites. That’s by, writing awesome content, content has become a small part of SEO nowadays.
People understand this issue differently and get panicked. You are right, they are fully against link farms,websites with only aim is selling links with copy content etc.
A much needed post I believe. Most of the people are not yet aware of this announcement and I wish it doesn’t spread as it becomes difficult for SEO pros to make others understand the truth. But on other end, I believe, this opportunity may provide Google a reason to affect rankings of any website upon there wish. Spamming or Black Hat has been punished since the start so what’s new in this statement. Since there are no set rules for SEO, this sometimes become an issue that how much optimization is the RIGHT level of optimization.
meh! some people over-analyzing everything! just enjoy being creative!
I agree.Just relax and live you life. :-)
In 2012 there shouldn’t be such a thing as SEO. The idea made sense years ago when search engines weren’t as sophisticated but now it has become a business and a way to cook the books. The whole concept of SEO was to help find that golden nugget of obscure info that gets published by some academic once in a blue moon. It is anathema to the notion of sites that regularly publish large amounts of unique, quality content.
Everything looks natural is the best, and delivering best content for internet users should be done in the right way naturally. So, content maker need best technique to deliver best content–as compiled in SEO ebooks
In seo, needs creativity not spamming so its good what will happen in future – for spamming website’s..lets wait & watch..
Yoast : http://www.filiwiese.com/about-fili/ -> Thesis Website. Does WordPress SEO plugin work with Thesis?
Matt Cutts uses Thesis as well. What does that indicate?
That Thesis was popular at the time they created their sites.
First: Agreed. But does WordPress SEO plugin work with Thesis?
Second: Also, Once I migrate from AIO Pack to WordPress SEO; do I need to resubmit the sitemap locations to Google Webmasters?
Third: News SEO module does not let me specify which categories to include. On our site, we only want just one wordpress category to be considered in the news sitemap and others to be ignored. Do you plan on adding this feature? I’m sure a *lot* of news publishers would find it useful. :)
It does work, but some parts are harder or break at times. I don’t give any guarantees anyway but for Thesis I can almost guarantee it’ll break.
As for News SEO: will add that soon, already have it here ;)
Any plan to make sitemap module for Mobile sites? Will it necessary?
I think Matt Cutts could have used a free theme as well…it won’t make a much of a difference for him lol.
Its always something “rocking” the boat. Just write meaningful content that focuses on the topic. Joost thanks for your great plugin! It makes life so much easier!
Ha-ha good to see a straight to the point post about this over optimisation hype. Everyone loves good content Google and Users…
Thanks, good post. Think the operative word here is moderation.
If you’re trying to get too cute with your implementation, then you might have an issue. If you’re just trying to optimize real content then you should be just fine.
Thank you for being short and precise. Why would Google ruin SEO ? We build the web. It doesn`t make sense.Your site was too bad, now fix it. It`s that easy
I have used your plugin with great success. And I concentrate on producing relevant weekly updates. I target three posts per week. One tip: write specific alt tags for each of your images. My site is on page #1 of Google for very competitive search terms. Thanks for this excellent plugin. Have a great day.
Amen Yoast, your plugin rocks and the sites I have it installed on all went up in the rankings for their main keywords :-)!!!
I like your style, short and to the point. Lets all work on putting out better content and spend less time worrying about what Google is doing. Just think of it this way: What kind of grade would you receive from your teacher for what you have just posted? Work on pleasing the reader, use this plug in of Yoast’s to make Google happy and be on with your day.
In the end the reader has to read your content not the Google bot. And if it sucks the reader is going to let you know by not engaging with you and your site or ever returning.
Completely agree. There are, for want of a better word, “ethical” methods to promoting your site: you can’t just rely on its existence to give you good results in search, so there has to be some form of promotion, just like with a physical product. Google can’t punish you for that. Not yet, anyways!
A concise well written article to help us mortals see the light of day. I think the comments in this thread enforce that.
Thanks
Probably only time will tell exactly how Google views over optimization, so it’s likely a good idea keep a close eye on your present ranking for your website, if you notice that your ranking drops it’s probably a good sign that you are over optimized!
Nicely put Joost;
I think it is obvious, when a site has 100,000 backlinks and most of them are “spammy” and the next site has 500, then I think someone may just lose their place in the ranks.
I totally agree with your comments about on-page, a far too ignored topic that can rank many sites all by itself.
I’ve been reading enough from other bloggers to know there’s good and bad SEO. The bad SEO was a big reason for the whole Panda Update 3.0 and 3.3 and the rest to come. I use your plugin and love it. It makes every page and post more work, but it disciplines me to make my content work to sell my site. Thanks.
Thank you Yoast, I agree with you and also with Google, it’s time the spammers who steal content and use link farms, and any other ways they can to try to fool Google and Google users to be closed down.
Hi Joost,
I use your plugin on my own sites and all the sites that I manage. It does a wonderful job of reminding me of the things I should add to pages and posts without forcing me to do it. Once in a while it tells me that I should add a keyword to an h1 or title, where it just doesn’t fit, in those cases I just ignore the advise. That’s part of what makes this plugin so great.
I follow Matt Cutts on twitter and read his blog and watch his videos, I’m sure you are right on this one, if we make content and markup that helps our readers, the bot will like it too.
/peter
As many have said, there’s a huge overreaction from the SEO goo-roos anytime Matt Cutts even sneezes.
Good content is what we all want and what Google wants to find for us. It’s only those attempting to ‘gane’ the system who need to be worried.
er, I meant ‘game’ the system :)
Totally agree that ultimately How Google ranks sites (so SEO) is about good quality content and making sure that your website is for people and not for Google.
Building websites just for Google won’t get you sales either…the Googlebot doesn’t buy things just crawls them. Websites made for people get people to buy things!
Hi Joost,
Great Post. I agree that I sometimes get caught up in trying too hard to make sure everything is just right for SEO and forget to make sure the content is as good as it should be, but I am working on doing a better job on the content.
I am certainly glad I don’t have to worry about using your plugin.
Thanks for all your hard work on our behalf.
Herschel Lawhorn
I hope Matt is accurate in his statement and they do penalize poor website publishers. It’s amazing how many crappy websites, plastered with adsense, rank well due to over optimization.
Quick question for anyone kind enough to respond. Do websites with slideshows and gadgets rank well with google? Does it hurt SEO? Or am I better to have a simple magazine type blog site without all the pretty features. I’ve heard Google has a hard time indexing complicated layouts.
I agree completely, and just commented on another blog with the same sentiment. Time and time again, despite Google warning about poor quality content, I see horrible sites with crazy on and off-site optimization rank number 1. I hope this finally makes a dent.
I think your post may be over optimized. ;-)
Well said!
In other words: I agree :) so let me get back to satisfying my readers, visitors & clients…
Great, thanks for this post. :)
Fire Your SEO Guy
…and hire a great writer instead. :)
As a webcomic artist, my content is embedded in my webcomic image. My only searchable content is my post title & my SEO search terms. How does this affect me? Should I include my webcomic dialgue & other text into the body of every post?
I’m glad Google is cracking down on Black Hat SEO tactics. It’s a real uneven playing field for those of us that work hard for our ranking. A LOT (and I mean a LOT) of people, companies pay mucho $$$ for top SEO rankings.
If you write good content, are ethical, and patient, you will be successful in the SEO industry. Good write up!
Cheers
For sites like mine where the intention is to create interesting and readable content, relevant to the visitor who is trying to find out about the town I live in (Nerja), it is pointless stuffing the pages with keywords to try to fool Google. Even if it works the visitor will soon disappear and not return. I hope Google do act on sites that rank well in searches but offer absolutely nothing of any value when someone clicks on their link.
Another great post Joost I’ve noticed a shake up this morning in local SERPs, I think this update over the weekend has really clamped down on keyword stuffed Titles and descriptions
I hope google will be transparent with this change and tells what is the right amount keyword density per article.
You had me worried there for a bit! I guess that’s the power of a catchy title for your post…
Just sticking to normal SEO with your own plugin and we should be alright I guess :)
Half of what Matt says is smoke and mirrors. I also hate when a bunch of you start saying “quality content blah blah blah” and keep buying links from ALN. Or you preach the same cool aid about quality content and still don’t make a dime in this game.
Yes, quality content is cool, we get it. But you got nothing without linkbuilding.
Totally agreed! Don’t worry as much about Google and build links that bring you traffic! It may take time to build links that bring you good traffic but in the end you will have a much more stable business!
Im looking forward to the new changes, and the challenges it may bring. But i dont really think the ground values of SEO will change. The only thing i hope, is that a million links from spam sites gets lets value in ranking!
Man some people are on edge if that is the conclusion they are jumping from Matt’s comments.
Balance has to be maintained for optimization and SEO or good content will have to enter into politics of shallow and excessive optimazion…
Sometime it happens because of lack of knowledge also, I remember I have placed around 22 % keyword density post bcz I was not aware of the fact, your plug-in has come as rescue and I could come out of the issue.
I used SEOPressor that assist me to ensure that my page content is keyword and font optimized.With the latest comment from Matt, all of us should check our work, better safe than sorry.
The last point you made is the most important. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems that a lot of the people who jump to things like this sub-consciously know that they’re not outputting the best of content. (not everyone, however).
Now, I’m not saying to stop caring about SEO, not at all. Rather, give equal, or more, attention to your content. If it’s good and your SEO is decent, you’ll be fine.
I read the original report and reading this one put me more at ease. I mean I can still SEO just keep it within reason.
Well put, Joost. I want to be friend with Google, but I want to be friend of my readers more. My readers are not Google bots :)
Nice post, short, sweet and to the point
I’m sure for some people in our industry it is quite lucrative to regularly claim “the sky is falling”. Good SEO is about making great content easy to find. Which is why your plugin rocks. Thanks Joost.
I hate to preach the same thing that Matt is always saying but, by optimizing your relevance will be more quality to the users of the web. Google is always looking for the most relevant websites and information on the topic searched. If you have quality content optimized and relevant to the topic than you should be more than fine. Not only with your results but with not getting penalized.
Thanks for the Post Joost!
Ifs always funny how people want to try to always cut corners, As lots and lots of people have said now before and after you should be writing great content for your readers that should be your primary concern
Search engines can’t actually determine the quality of the content they are indexing. This means, on average, the quality of information which is shared via social networks is way higher than what is returned by search engines.
Put simply; people are much better than machines at knowing what people like.
SEO is how we pander to the machines, and not a good way to produce content. It’s far better to take your content straight to the audience, cut out the intermediary, and let people decide if they like what you’re saying, or not.
Don’t get me wrong — SEO is something you need to implement properly to avoid missing out on all that organic search traffic — but these days most modern blogging platforms with help from plugins incorporate good on-page SEO principles into their basic design.
My issue is not that SEO should be ignored, but that often it leeches the lion’s share of resources from projects and enterprises which should be spending their budgets and energy going after far more important prizes, like authority, social influence and reach.
If you make a fair appraisal of where SEO and Social Marketing have their strengths and weaknesses I think you will see, these days, having a strong Social Strategy is more important than having strong SEO.
If you like, think of social marketing as, the best kind of off-site SEO you can get.
Terence.
Social is just about 10% of the whole SEO game. SEO is content provision and support. Social networks can not provide any coherent financial or medical info product by default. SEO is not just building links or putting a quality product out there. It’s much more. I don’t even understand why you separate social marketing and seo, SM is just a part of it and not the biggest one.
I am afraid you’re hung up on size for some reason.
It’s a common mistake.
In my many years of online marketing experience, I’ve seen a wide variety of companies and individuals enter the web marketing space with different ideas about what’s likely and what’s possible, as well as different levels of understanding about what or who their competition really is.
In all cases, an understanding of the competitive search and social media landscape will help content marketers (and content marketing is what SEO is all about, after all), differentiate to better attract and engage with customers.
Where size really matters is in authority, social influence and reach.
Terence.
If you don’t want to take my word for it, why not check out what Darren Rowse, Chris Brogan, Brian Solis, John Jantsch and Seth Godin would tell you over at SitePreBuilder.
Terence.
“I believe that some younger “SEO experts” could learn something from Matts statement – but the rest of us will just continue making prober SEO ;)” agree with marcel :)
Thanks, Navin ;)
Marcel one more thing. i was using transposh WordPress plugin which translates the post to different languages. those post are indexed in google also. does panda effect in this case ?