Page Layouts Factor in Search
Whether you agree with Google’s recent announcement or not, how you layout your page will now have some influence on your search engine rankings. The idea is simple: sites that are heavily ad-filled above the fold will suffer some degree of penalty, while those that deliver real content will not.
“This algorithmic change does not affect sites who place ads above-the-fold to a normal degree, but affects sites that go much further to load the top of the page with ads to an excessive degree or that make it hard to find the actual original content on the page. This new algorithmic improvement tends to impact sites where there is only a small amount of visible content above-the-fold or relevant content is persistently pushed down by large blocks of ads.”
I understand and can see Google’s point of view with this algorithm change in terms of delivering high quality search results and keeping “spammy” sites out. But what worries me more, is how well will this algorithm change perform? What about artistic/creative sites which are heavy on graphic content and less on textual content be judged? What criteria are used when defining “normal degree”?
All questions aside, this new algorithm change is an important one to keep in mind when developing your next web site or application. Clearly utilizing splash pages has long been a thing of the past in terms of good design, but this algorithm change delivers the final blow. Are you building a site with heavy graphics above the fold? Does your site depend heavily on ad revenue? Stop and consider how all this will affect your rankings. Having a good content strategy must now include well-designed layout structures.
Lastly, if Google is now factoring page layouts to this degree, how much further will they go with this? Things to think about and consider.
