Well looks like Google is at it again, making changes to their algorithm, shaking things up and causing webmasters to pull their hair out. Two things have happened in the last few weeks, Google launched the Caffeine update which they have been working on for some time and also there is what is being called the Mayday update. (By the way, this is a typical action on the part of Google, they usually make major tweaks in the summer time, around May and June). These are two very distinct actions on the part of Google.

Caffeine
Caffeine has nothing to do with ranking, it is just the method in which data is being stored, retrieved from keyword searches and then displayed in SERPS.

Mayday
Mayday IS about ranking and is a search quality algorithm change, ( not manual) launched by the Google Search Quality team and impacts long tail traffic referrals that DOES change how sites are ranked in SERPS.

Basically if your long tail traffic referrals fell heavily in the SERPS, Google is telling you your site sucks….Thanks Google, we love you too!

Last week at Google I/O, Matt Cutts said – ”this is an algorithmic change in Google, looking for higher quality sites to surface for long tail queries. It went through vigorous testing and isn’t going to be rolled back.”

Check out the video regarding Mayday by Matt Cutts

MAYDAY and GETTING SENT TO THE GOOGLE BLACK HOLE

Mayday has significantly impacted long tail keyword searches and therefore, inner pages as opposed to having a widespread affect on home pages and many have lost their precious rankings for these queries in SERPS.

There has also been a lot of buzz about the especially negative affects of Mayday on e-commerce sites ( that link offers some real useable insight into the e-commerce issues with Mayday, thanks to Link Builder) losing rankings and SERP placements that have significantly impacted their earnings and bottom line.

Mayday Impacts

1. Pages in long tail keyword searches that do not have healthy link profiles and so do not hold enough “authority” in the eyes of Google

2. Thin pages, like product pages without any other significant added value

3. Pages that are several clicks away from the home page, hence ineffective heirarchy and overall site navigation

4. New and much stricter guidelines have been set by Google as to what qualifies as an “authority” and “useful” site for a particular search query and only those sites that do will now rank for those terms.

5. Likely most thin affiliate sites pages went down hard.

6. Evidently the long tail pages that got hit were ones without significant amounts of written original content, hence the product pages of ecommerce sites, that only had product listings.

7. The long tail search referrals were tweaked to impact sites lacking authority in Google’s eyes.

8. This is not a manual penalty – purely algorithmic

9. Metrics measuring the “quality” and “authority” of sites has been tweaked, tested and launched and this is a permanent change.

10. Has nothing to do with Caffeine

Now What?

Likely many of you have been impacted by this, and if you haven’t yet done so, I suggest you go and check your sites rankings and see what’s going on.

• At this point it is imperative to think quality and get creative.

• Analyze everything about your sites and evaluate if your content really measures up to getting better links.

• Look at your navigation – all inner pages need to be 2 or less clicks away from the home page.

• Check your site structure – hierarchy always matters, make sure it’s clear and well balanced.

• Bounce Rate – While Google denies this is a deciding factor – I’m not sure, if your site has a high bounce rate then that is a problem, and Google aside, you want to improve your user’s experience so they stay longer.

• Check your website speed and fix any issues – See Complete Guide To Website Speed

Most Important

• Take a look at those site that ARE ranking for the search queries you lost, use Link Diagnosis and take a look at their links. Their site structure, their content. What are they doing that you’re not?

• Healthy link profiles to ALL pages of the site, not just home page, are significant for ranking.

• Build authority – most important – authority is still gaged by a healthy link profile, I don’ t believe that has changed. Quality, natural, diverse links going to all pages of your site establish authority, when your site has high overall authority, inner pages will usually rank and rank quickly for most any search terms. If your long tail search traffic is suffering, get better links to those pages.

• Don’t give up – like anything else in the world of Internet Marketing, this is a learning experience, and another opportunity to push your business and skill level to another level. Do the requisite research and then take action!

I have a lot of sites, and a few were affected by Mayday, which of course means loss of traffic, and therefore money. For me, I see one common denominator, the sites that suffered were not authority sites in the eyes of Google, which I already knew but it has never been a problem before. And, good quality links to those sites were few and far between.

LEARN MORE WITH PART 2 - How To Create and Rank Inner Website Pages Post Mayday

More Useful Stuff on Mayday

Mayday Thread at Webmaster World Forum – Good discussion going on here with all the techies and veteran webmasters who have lived through many Google shake ups.

Search Engine Land on Mayday

Why Google is Costing Some Sites

Was the Google Update a Complete Failure?

SEO Moz – Google Mayday Update and What it Means For You

How did you guys do? Anyone lost rankings? What are you doing about it?