Web Content: Fear and Loathing as (Some) Websites Get Hammered

If you’re writing web content, whether for the content farms (Demand Media et al) or not, you need to be interested in the furore that Google’s latest algorithm changes have created.

A couple of days ago I wrote a post about the proposed changes at Ezine Articles. Chris Knight has backed away from the most controversial change:

The rel=”NOFOLLOW” attribute will be added to all links on all articles very soon. Currently, it’s included in the article body of any links but now it’ll also be included in the resource box.

Chris now says that they won’t be nofollowing resource box links.

(Not sure what this means? If you’re not au fait with search engine optimization strategies, when the “nofollow” attribute is added to links many people believe it impacts SEO — others believe it doesn’t. Since perception is everything, if people believe their nofollow links won’t help their rankings, there’s no point in them publishing articles in article directories like Ezine Articles.)

Apparently Google’s changes HAVE impacted rankings very swiftly, as you can see in the image below.

This image is from Sistrix, by way of Google Translate. Sistrix has tested the rankings change by using a million words, which were assessed before and after the change.

Search Engine Land has worked with Sistrix’s data. This post Number Crunchers: Who Lost In Google’s “Farmer” Algorithm Change? is well worth reading. Major content sites have lost huge visibility.

How does this affect writers?

When sites lose traffic, they lose income. This means that they need to make changes. It’s too early to know what those changes will be, we’ll learn more in the coming weeks.

That said, if you’re writing for a major content site, be aware that they’ll either be wanting more from you, or they’ll let you go.

But there is a silver lining, as I pointed out in this article:

If Google is indeed turning up the algorithm to favor useful and unique content that’s a good thing for writers. You’ll be able to sell more, and make more money.

You’ll need to change your own strategies to suit.

As you know if you’ve been following this site, I’ve always advised that you be careful with content farms. You can use these sites to get your feet wet as a Web writer, BUT you need to move on as soon as possible.

We’ll be discussing ways you can change your web content strategies in Wednesday’s issue of the ezine, which focuses on article writing, and article marketing.

There’ll be more to come in this fascinating saga.

I’d love to hear your comments. Do you think these changes will affect you, and if so, how? What changes will you be making in your Web writing strategies?