Matt Cutts Confirm: Google’s MayDay Update Here To Stay

Google’s MayDay update has created a whole lot of controversy. If you haven’t noticed any significant change in your traffic, then you have been lucky. There are plenty of webmasters who are up in arms with the latest change in Google algorithm. Google is, allegedly, trying to improve its search engine when it comes to long tail search, essentially make it difficult for the average Joe to get ranked for those terms. This could obviously have positive and negative effects on searchers’ experiences.

There are plenty of people in various forums discussing how Google has screwed them or how this is the best move made by Google. The reality is, this move can improve the quality of search results in some cases and reduce it in some other cases. Not everything should come down to link-building (as this is something that can be gamed). Is it another one of those the rich gets richer updates? It’s tough to say. But if you have been hit hard by this update, now’s the time to diversify and think beyond Google.

There is no question that Google dominates the search engine market. Many of us get the majority of our traffic from Google. When you over-rely on a traffic source, you are going to be more susceptible to disasters such as this one. What you don’t want to do is panic here. Here are a few steps you need to take to protect and free yourself from Google:

• Focus on great content
• Utilize social media
• Test various traffic sources
• Build a community around your website
• Do not waste your time worrying about every little change in search engines

For me, it’s always been about my reader and the value my business offers. It has never been about Google, Facebook, or any of those individual sites. If you rely too much on any of them, you’ll get burned. Play the game but don’t take the easy way out.