Google Algorithm is the game we must all play. Remember Google’s shake up with their Panda update last spring? It literally brought down a lot of money making websites in a matter of seconds. Hopefully yours wasn’t one of those and hopefully you’ve learned from the mistakes of others to ensure you’re sitting on solid ground for a long time. Have you insured this?

What’s in store for 2012?

Well to begin the New Year off with a bang, Google introduced another change to their infamous Google Algorithm on January 19, 2012. Now if you don’t know too much about Google and how they control their search engine, let’s first be very clear. Google is always changing and tweaking their algorithm on a daily basis. Sometimes several times within one day. So what makes this latest change different?

Well if I chose to write about it, it was significant. Now, it’s not nearly as big as the Panda algorithm change that affected 12% of searches. In comparison, this Google Algorithm only affects about 1% of searches.

Now you’re probably saying to yourself, “Only 1%! How is that significant?”

The Google algorithm is evolving – it’s getting more creative and more sophisticated in its abilities to identify real content on the page and differentiate that with all the extras (sidebar text, widgets, etc.) on the side. What does this new Google algorithm mean for you and me? For starters this change will continue to evolve over the year so that Google can begin to give more preferential treatment to the higher quality content on the page.

If you’re a regular visitor to my site you might have noticed I’ve been constantly changing my header image these last couple of days. I’ll explain why in a bit. But first let me further explain this Google algorithm change in more detail.

The New Google Algorithm

It’s all about analyzing the amount of content that is presented to the user ABOVE THE FOLD. You ask yourself, “What does above the fold mean?”

If you know anything about journalism, above the fold is an old term used by newspaper publishers that simply means the story that appeared above the fold mark of the paper, or approximately half-way down. Think back to reading a newspaper, now think where they put the most important stories… as you can imagine it was always most desirable to have your story ABOVE THE FOLD to get maximum exposure. You see where I’m going with this? Where do you want your website to rank to receive maximum exposure?

Good guess. But not quite. In the world of Google and onscreen internet space, above the fold is the content that shows on your page before you click on the vertical scroll bar or page down. In other words, what you see on a website when you first open up your website in a maximized window, the content shown on screen is considered to be above the fold.

Like any Google algorithm it’s not that simple because there really is no standard screen resolution. Some people have small screens and resolution and others have dual 24” monitors in high resolution. So the above the fold line is difficult to actually measure. According to Google, you can safely assume the area of 900 pixels wide by 500 pixels high to be above the fold – about 90% of the users on the internet.

If I haven’t lost you yet, let me explain why this is important.

Why This Google Algorithm is Important

The simple reason, because a large percentage of your traffic comes from Google. If you’re creating your internet business on solid ground and expect to make this your living for years to come then you need to listen to Google and react to their changes.

If you’ve developed your foundation on solid, ethical practices that gains the respect of Google then there is no reason to worry.  However, if you’re trying to game the system then you’re probably exploded by now with more frustration.

My quick advice… Don’t game the system; rather focus on building your internet business on solid long term SEO strategies. When you choose to employ short term tactics you get short term results and are here today and gone tomorrow. Respect Google’s algorithm game and they’ll respect your website. Simple logic.

I choose to respect Google and their algorithm changes. Here’s how I build a long term SEO strategy for my internet businesses.

• I target appropriate keywords
• I build links for them in a conservative manner
• I write high quality and engaging content
• I build rapport with my readers
• I focus on building my list

The one thing I don’t do… chase a quick dollar.

Are you in this game to win it once or year after year?

This latest Google algorithm is something that Google has discussed many times over. It’s entirely about providing a great user experience by displaying textual content above the fold. If you don’t listen to Google YOU WILL GET PENALIZED.

Google Algorithm Logic

Google wants to provide the best possible experience to its users (our customers ). When a user searches for something, Google wants to take them immediately to a page of relevance and VALUE about the subject they searched. What Google doesn’t want is to have the user scroll down several pages past ads, banners, adsense blocks, flash animations and whatever else before getting to the real content that they were searching for. You feel me?

Google is doing exactly what they have always said they would do and for that I respect the Big G. I mean let’s be serious, have you heard Google talking about social media these past few months? I have. Where do you think the future is going? You got it! Concentrating more on the importance of social media. When it happens you can thank me later for telling you so.

What You Need To Do

There are some things you’ll probably want to change. Open up your site and ask yourself, “Do I have enough textual content above the fold?” I did this and realized I could do better. Thus why I have a new, sleeker header design. Still, I could probably do a bit better. Some of my sites are easier than others. But I’ve put it on my things to do this week list. Will you do the same?

To get a great look at your site as it is seen in different resolutions, take a lot at this terrific free tool by, none other, than Google itself.

http://browsersize.googlelabs.com/

This tool will allow you to navigate to your site and it will super impose a chart over the top of your site in a semi-transparent method so you can see what parts of your site are appearing.

Here’s a quick checklist of items you should consider evaluating on your site design.

• Site Header – Is it too thick and wasting too much vertical space? The taller your site header image is the further it pushes content down below the fold.

• Navigation Bar – Are you using a double tiered navigation bar? You know, the kind that has two rows of links? That just adds to a thick header and you should consider redesigning it and putting some of those links into the footer instead.

• Too many ads – If you have too many ads above the fold that just screams at Google – trust me, not in a good way. You need to reexamine your layout and see if you can shift some around to get more content above the fold.

• Big Image Sliders – These have become all the rage, but you need to really consider how you use them. If you’re not careful your above the fold view will have nothing but a header, sidebar ads and an image slider – seriously, that’s what a lot of sites look like, especially in lower resolution.

Is that too hard to do? I didn’t think so. Be creative as there are more things to do that I didn’t mention. Feel free to leave a comment below and tell me what you’ve done to improve your site above the fold. I’m anxious to hear. I’m personally exploring the idea of increasing the width of some of my sites so I can fit more content above the fold. Of course I want to do all of this without losing my design.

My Final Thoughts

Decide whether you’re in this game for one day or for years to come. This will decide your SEO methods. Also, I challenge you to think like Google. When you think like Google you can begin to really focus on your site’s goals and implement long term strategies for truly Dominating Google With WordPress!

Don’t forget to share your comments on what you’re doing to counter this new Google algorithm. Look forward to sharing our thoughts. Cheers!