Is Google reducing webpage crawl rate to save resources? Or is there a much worse scenario coming?
Is Google no longer hungry for content? Is content no longer king?
I’m afraid it’s the scenario many have been dreading.
What is the actual reason behind this decision? Ever since 1998 Google was desperate for high-quality content as arguably that’s what their entire business model (and success) was based around. You search for something – Google provides access to information. Instantly. Know-it-all, have-it-all library.
So, Google no longer needs content? Of course they do.
But for some time now a number of acknowledged experts from all fields have been sharing their knowledge on a daily basis. Did Covid-19 speed up things? Arguably yes. Or is it just the fact that the new generation of professionals are Internet savvy and better understand that the true value of knowledge is in its sharing.
What does this tell us?
The era of content is so over.
The era of expertise is (finally) here.
Does this mean that content writing is no longer a viable job? Well, perhaps. Let’s take a step back and see how it came to this point.
Despite the fact that Google claimed they had started heavily with Penguin Update in 2012, their algorithm was by no means sophisticated enough to weed out crappy content. And for many internet marketers that slipped under Penguin’s radar or managed to recover fairly quickly – it was business as usual.
Of course, Google was trying to perfect algorithms even before Penguin in order to push quality content on top. But for many, Penguin marked the beginning of a new era. Or at least that’s what many thought.
In reality – it marked the beginning of a process that has lasted until now.
Let’s take a look at what happened to Suite101. For those of you not old enough to remember – Suite101 was a collaborative publishing site. Absolutely perfect for link building which, admittedly, the author of this post used quite a bit.
Suite101 claimed to have a team of experts that verified each submitted article in each category. But Google thought differently; that “experts” were simply good editors with good grammar skills. Google’s interpretation was in the lines of, if you write about computer hardware, you should be an engineer.
This was back in 2012.
Then the Penguin update came. Suite101’s 1million organic traffic (put that number in the perspective of active online users today vs 2012) was obliterated overnight.
Years passed and the Google Medic Update came. And many were super surprised that no longer can you (nor should you) write medical content if you’re not a doctor.
Entities were introduced as well as a means to prevent non-experts from publishing low quality content.
It took Google quite some time to get to this point.
But they did it.
Content is no longer King.
Expertise or better say, acknowledged experts, took the Crown.
And content – well it looks like it just became a science of its own.
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
