Rachel Hand — June 8, 2017 Dubbed Fred, Google’s latest algorithm update has had many marketers scratching their heads trying to figure out what’s changed.
The update happened at the beginning of March and in true Google style, it has taken 3 weeks for them to admit the update has actually happened. As the update appeared to be a nightmare for Marketers, the name Freddie Kreuger began as a joke, but the nickname Fred stuck and Google’s very own Gary Illyes publicly endorsed it on Twitter.
What is Fred?
So, after weeks of speculation, Fred has been cracked. The update appears to target low-quality content and backlinks. Fred works against sites that put revenue generation before helping the user’s experience (UX). The issue of ad placement appears to be affected too. For example, if your website has too many unrelated adverts that are used to drive revenue over quality content for the user, you will be marked down in the search engine rankings.
The websites that may have noticed a change in traffic are likely to be sites that rely heavily on ad income and prioritize revenue over quality content. It appears Fred targets a lack of topical relevance and expertise displayed on the site. It’s all about having targeted, relevant and high quality content for the user to find easily.
How does this affect local search?
If you are compliant with Google’s website checklist and have updated relevant content on your site, then local searches are unlikely to be affected by this update. For example, if you are an online shop selling clothes in your local area, then as long as your website is compliant with Google’s algorithm then you won’t be affected e.g. if you have all of your alt/meta/title tags, a favicon, fast loading speed etc.
However, if your website is outdated and the content is irrelevant to clothes, then Google deems this irrelevant to the users search and will rank you lower. Therefore, big companies that have lots and lots of content without being specific in any area are more likely to be affected by the change.
You must consider updating your content if it was written before 2014 and there have been minimal changes to your website since. GRO would recommend that you constantly update your website content and keywords, this helps you to become an authority within your industry and stay relevant. This is especially important when there is so much online competition, you have to be the best.
Get rid of your old and #Irrelevant backlinks.
If you have generic or outdated backlinks this is detrimental to your search rankings as Fred will mark you down. For example, backlinks to outdated business directories. We believe that content and backlinks should be constantly updated and changed. SEO doesn’t just happen overnight, to get to the top of Google and keep you there, it takes careful planning, strategy, and hard work.
The key is to develop a unique and personalized campaign based on your industry and business. It is now more important than ever to get your digital marketing strategy right and build up a strong online presence through multichannel marketing. We understand the updates like Fred and work on your website design and development to constantly improve your search engine ranking. We work with our SEO clients as a partner to grow your business and get you seen by more potential customers.
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