As my friend Matt @ Sacramento Weddings commented in the last post, and something that I have suspected was coming for the last couple of months, Google has announced their latest algo update called Caffeine, which is still being finalized and which inevitably will affect SERPS across the board.
The test run is at http://www2.sandbox.google.com/ and an offer from Google to give your feedback, which is at the bottom of each SERP page.
I suggest you go over and search your keywords to look for any changes in SERP positions for your sites and to see how they may be affected when Google finally rolls out this update. I suspect that there have been some significant changes in the algorithm as far as link values go and that many sites may suffer.
What I have noticed for some competitive keywords I watch is a more content driven SERP results with Google favoring very aged sites that have a diverse link profile. Another change I noticed is fewer home pages on Page 1 and a lot more inner related pages.
I think this update will not be as heavy as the Big Daddy update was, but I do think that link values have changed somewhat, though it's difficult to pinpoint the exact change.
Within content links on semantically related websites and pages are still the greatest in link value.
Matt Cutts Said:
“We’ve been shooting to get them [the results] pretty close [to "old" Google], so most people won’t notice a difference.” - Matt Cutts video interview
Google Caffeine Brings:
- Results reflect a more real time indexing of pages, which of course will lead to more frequent updates.
- Much larger index than Google had before.
- Real time information from social media sites seems to be ranking higher, which is indicative of Google wanting to provide searchers with the most relevant and recent information from sites like Facebook, Twitter and FriendFeed.
I have seen a lot of buzz going on about Caffeine, but overall I have not seen a huge change from existing SERPS.
What do you guys see in the SERP update? Any analysis of how your websites were affected, if at all and your analysis? This will help all of us, so please leave a comment!
I had a quick flick through a number of different keywords I am familiar with and I can’t say that I noticed much difference.
My understanding of the “caffeine” update is that it is one of a number of different changes to be demoed before the lot is tweaked and goes live later this year.
.-= Andy´s last blog ..An Introduction to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) =-.
@Andy,
Yes I believe they are still working on it, they are showing a sample to get feedback
The biggest difference (so far) was for the KW: “Non cheesy wedding DJ(s)” — went from page 38 to page one, top of SERP. As far as I can tell, the changes seem to favor CONTENT over metas and links. My site mentions “non-cheesy” and “no cheese” in the site’s textual content, but there are none of these words in Title or Meta tags.
Conclusion: the new algorithm is tilted toward words in the site’s content.
@Matt
Non cheesy wedding? I love it, there is a keyword to rank for!
I checked for few keywords and see a difference of rankings up to 10 places , few keywords were going down in rankings and few were coming up , So at this moment i don’t think it would make a huge difference .
.-= Tom @ Car Wheels´s last blog ..7-20 bently =-.
I no longer focus on SEO anymore, so hopefully I won’t be hit by any Google slaps.
I much prefer developing the word-of-mouth rankings….
.-= Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach´s last blog ..BY Invitation ONLY – Income Fitness Launch =-.
For me, when testing with 2 of best keywords driving trafic to my blog, nothing changed i’m always in the first page (5th or 6th link) i dont have much time to test my other sites but anyway i think that google is now (with cafeine update) appreciating backlinks more than before
.-= Blog astuces web´s last blog ..Les nouvelles offres mutualisées chez OVH ça casse les prix =-.
I don’t think this will make a huge difference at the moment and Google has always really favoured content over anything else. I guess all of us with good content sites will stay ranking well.
.-= Clickbank Profit System Review´s last blog ..Clickbank Profit System Review =-.
I’m not noticing a major change to be honest.
It would be nice if Google could roll out a similar sandbox test for the UK SERPs – there are all sorts of problems currently, none of which have been officially addressed.
Rik
.-= Motorbike Insurance Articles´s last blog ..Bikers Ignoring Motorbike Maintenance To Cut Costs =-.
@Rik
I have heard this same complaint in the forums about the UK SERPS, they are probably updating those as well, which is why so many are seeing problems.
I get a lot of uk shopping sites coming back in my SERPS, which is lame because I’m in the US.
Hey JR,
What I have seen watching my sites is that domain age appears to be a bigger influence. I have seen results with several sites in the top spots that don’t even have the key word in the title, some without even the exact keyword in the body, but they are from domains with age.
I think it is probably time that Google did something about the article spinning services because everybody seems to be doing it now so I am sure they will slap those links somehow.
.-= Agrande with network marketing leads´s last blog ..Network Marketing Leads For The Future =-.
@Agrande,
I am seeing the exact same thing with aged sites for several keywords, this I think makes the SERPS crappy because they are not as targeted for kw as they were.
The one thing I noticed – at least for German SERPS – is that the domain name seems to count less in the “new” results. Anyone else who has noticed that?
@kauf auf rechnung,
Do you mean keywords in the domain? I noticed that too, several sites on page 1 do not have keywords in the domain.
@JR, That’s exactly what I mean. Good to know I’m not the only one who has noticed that.
Hay JR,
Me too, did not notice any major changes, though small fluctuation is there in rankings.
You are right, domain age plays big part there. And this is trial by google, maybe they will modify it is some other nature.
What change do I see…
How about going from “not ranking” to “not ranking”. No big change.
Seriously though, if Google wants to index even more pages, and focus a bit more on content, that seems good to me. It amazes me what a good job they do already (whether I rank or not) and I expect they’ll just get better… ~ Steve, understanding trade show booths
@Steve
LOL, you will rank eventually, just keep at it, your keywords may be really competitive.
I can’t say that I noticed much difference.
My understanding of the “caffeine” update is that it is one of a number of different changes to be demoed before the lot is tweaked and goes live later this year.
I’m always in the first page (5th or 6th link) i don’t have much time to test my other sites but anyway i think that Google is now (with caffeine update) appreciating back links more than before
Google Caffeine is a great updates for the search engine, but we need to work harder to outrank others’ since there are more and more pages indexed and even faster.
I’ve gone through and do a checking for my keyword, my blog drops a few places behind, but it’s not a big deal, I’ll be running a link building campaign soon.
Regards,
Lee
.-= Make Money Online´s last blog ..Make Money Online Selling Online Products =-.
I just checked my rankings and they look like they have improved. Nonetheless, I just hope Caffeine launches after the Halloween holiday season.
I see no major changes so far. But i believe with more inner pages in first page like you said, keyword driven content will be more valuable in the future.
.-= latest gadgets´s last blog ..Blackberry Users are More Productive 15 Hours a Week =-.
Intresting what google want to launch, but i am not so sure that the changes are so signifiant. I will wait to see how this tool can help on my blog. thanks for the post.
I feel something to changes when I checked my keywords with this tool.
thanks for great information
.-= nisya@computers software´s last blog ..Apple Investigating Exploding iPhone and iPod =-.
When using the caffeine google im seeing alot of irrelevant results, I cannot see google implementing this yet.
Google’s Latest Algorithm Update: Caffeine – Where Will You Rank …: Google has announced their latest algo.. http://bit.ly/pPj57
Google’s Latest SERP Update: Caffeine – Where Will You Rank? http://ow.ly/kp6E
Google’s Latest SERP Update: Caffeine – Where Will You Rank? http://ow.ly/ks49