Google have today launched their latest algorithmic change looking at webpage layouts and specifically the amount of content you immediately see when you have clicked on a result.

This is in a response to users who are fed up with having to scroll down a page, past all the ads and banners in order to find the content that they are searching for. This news is nothing new though and probably more of a reminder to webmasters that unique and well written content is still one of the stay fasts for effective SEO. What Google aims for is to give the end user the information they want quickly.

Google are specifically looking at sites that have limited content ‘above the fold’ or the first thing a user will see when arriving on a page. These websites may see rankings change over the next few weeks and months, although there is no need to panic as this should affect less than 1% of global searches translating to one in 100 searches.

Putting ads ‘above the fold’ is not a complete no no and is common practice for many sites as the ads perform well. Google are aware that well placed ads monetise online content and this new algorithm will only affect excessive advertising or sites with very little visible content above the fold.

If you feel your layout may need updating just follow this simple SEO advice and put yourself in the seat of the user, ask yourself are you happy with the results you get from your website using the relevant keywords. By doing this you are focusing on the user experience and should be able to avoid any major dips in rankings.

Within the realms of Google’s algorithmic changes this is a just one of over 500 improvements that Google expect to roll out to improve their search results for the end user in 2012. 

If you need any SEO advice contact Search today.