Flip on the TV early on a Saturday morning, and you'll see one of those old black and white movies that pit the Good Guys against the Bad Guys in the Wild West. But if you want to sleep in on Saturday, you can still catch the Good Guys taking on the Bad Guys - right on your computer screen!
That's because Google just made a big change that's turning SEO content into its own form of the Wild West!
Dubbed the "Webspam" update, Google says the latest change to its algorithm is aimed at punishing website owners that are up to no-good - specifically, in the form of keyword stuffing, link manipulation, and other tricks that are used to fool the search engines. In fact, Google's Matt Cutts admits that he wants the "Good Guys" (his words, not mine) to win. That's why the world's largest search engine is doing everything it can to make sure that the Bad Guys (the "Webspammers") are nowhere to be found in the search results.
According to Google, the Webspam update will affect 3% of English searches. It's not as drastic as the first Panda update was back in early 2011 (that one affected 12% of English searchers), but it's still a major algorithm change. (And, to throw in an interesting twist, Google says it rolled out a brand new Panda update just a few days ago - right around the same time that Webspam started to take effect.)
So, how do you make sure that your SEO content doesn't get penalized by the Webspam update?
According to Cutts, you should be "thinking about creative ways to make a site more compelling."
How do you do that?
By publishing plenty of fresh SEO content that gives your readers the answers and solutions they need, in an easy-to-understand, fun-to-read way.
By introducing Webspam, Google has sent a strong message - focus on giving your visitors the very best experience possible. You simply can't do that with SEO content that has so many keywords in it that your eyes bleed, or with SEO content that's chock full of fluff instead of facts.
If you're not focusing on publishing great SEO content, get writing - or hire a quality content writer to do it for you. Otherwise, you're going to be pegged as one of the Bad Guys!