Google just can’t seem to leave things alone, that’s why.
If you’ve noticed that the amount of traffic your site has received from Google has gone down over the last few days, it’s probably because of Google’s new algorithm for providing search results.
Tech Made Easy has seen a reduction of around 70% of Google traffic since the new algorithm went live, which is a significant chunk of our page views.
Google’s new algorithm aims to match a users request with more relevant information based upon what the user entered and what they likely meant.
In other words, Google are guessing:“If I search for ‘Olympics,’ I probably want information about next summer’s upcoming Olympics, not the 1900 Summer Olympics (the only time my favorite sport, cricket, was played)… …Google Search uses a freshness algorithm, designed to give you the most up-to-date results, so even when I just type ‘Olympics’ without specifying 2012, I still find what I’m looking for,”- Amit Singhal – Google.
Not that guessing is a bad thing, it’s essentially what Google and other search engines have been doing all along. But I disagree that the new algorithm is providing “more relevant information”.
After all, like many site owners I’m able to see the search terms that lead people to this site, and rarely do I see a referral that I feel would have been a waste of time for the user.
The silver lining, if you want to see it, is that most of your competitors will be having the same problem. And as website rankings are largely comparative with other websites, it’s all relative really.