Google adds new ranking factor: Site quality

Google has updated their algorithm to improve the rankings of quality sites.

Quality sites are made up of quality content.

To ensure that our content meets Google's quality standards, we at Wizzley must ask ourselves these questions - from a post on the Google webmaster blog (slightly edited with strike-throughs for relevance to our site):



• Would you trust the information presented in this article?
• Is this article written by an expert or enthusiast who knows the topic well, or is it more shallow in nature?
• Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations?
• Would you be comfortable giving your credit card information to this site?
• Does this article have spelling, stylistic, or factual errors?
• Are the topics driven by genuine interests of readers of the site, or does the site generate content by attempting to guess what might rank well in search engines?
• Does the article provide original content or information, original reporting, original research, or original analysis?
• Does the page provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results?
• How much quality control is done on content?
• Does the article describe both sides of a story?
• Is the site a recognized authority on its topic?
• Is the content mass-produced by or outsourced to a large number of creators, or spread across a large network of sites, so that individual pages or sites don’t get as much attention or care?
• Was the article edited well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?
• For a health related query, would you trust information from this site?
• Would you recognize this site as an authoritative source when mentioned by name?
• Does this article provide a complete or comprehensive description of the topic?
• Does this article contain insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious?
• Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
• Does this article have an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?
• Would you expect to see this article in a printed magazine, encyclopedia or book?
• Are the articles short, unsubstantial, or otherwise lacking in helpful specifics?
• Are the pages produced with great care and attention to detail vs. less attention to detail?
• Would users complain when they see pages from this site?

Our own Anne (nightowl) has written a great article about this topic.

Wow. This definitely makes one think about a lot of things. What is stunning to me is that they can produce an algorithm that can figure it out. I have trouble assessing my own stuff sometimes. 

It would be interesting to know what they think constitutes "expert" status on the author or the site. 

This information has been around for a month or so from memory.

For those misunderstanding it, it is what is used by the moderators who manually check sites.

However the algorithm can't check for these specific things of course, this is just a guideline for writers.

I'm not so sure about the limitations of Google's algorithm. It may not be able to replace a human editor, but it shouldn't be too hard to program it re: spun content. That's what we see most of in our new article submissions.

If I'm trying to build a solid online business for future residual income, I'd better delete my spinning software today and start writing unique content.

Spun articles have been heavily affected by Panda and will take an even worse hit from the next Google update.

It makes only sense to me - when the SERPs get fuller and fuller, the first things that need to go are the ones we have already enough of, anyway.