SEO Services Yahoo Stores by Tom Chuong

“Host Crowding” takes a backseat; Google changes algo again

Google changes its algorithm again. In fact, I’ve been noticing it for about three weeks now. One of my favorite keywords to watch in Google is “diet pills“.

The #1 listing in Google for the keyword “diet pills” was this URL www.weight-loss-institute.com/diet_pills.htm. Right below that #1 ranking was it’s homepage: www.weight-loss-institute.com/. This diet pill company has been dominating that position for several years. Actually, when I think about it, they’ve been #1 for about 4 years.

As you can see from the link above, Google has implemented this subtle change to make “host crowding” a thing of the past. Now all of the listings for that keywords only shows the most relevant webpages.

I think this is a good step in the right direction for Google because its make our job as an SEO easier. This is especially important when you’re working with a brand new company that knows nothing about SEO. New clients are particularly proned to the belief that what you see is what you get in the search engines. So if a client’s sees that their listing is right below a “host crowding” #1 listing, they might not believe that it’s #2, but rather #3.

They might start asking questions like, “How do we get listed above that indented listing?” Now I don’t have to worry about that question anymore because Google took care of it.

Lastly, as with all Google algo change, there’s always a chance that it could have a positive or negative affect on a ranking. I like to call these ranking changes search engine algorthim syndrome (SEAS). And if you have a well-optimized website, it could reap a very positive change such as a higher ranking.