The Caffeine Update
Google recently updated their algorithm with Caffeine, a change that focuses on indexing more pages in real time, thereby increasing the amount of new material found by the Search Engine. According to Google, “Caffeine provides 50 percent fresher results for web searches than our last index, and it’s the largest collection of web content we’ve offered.”
What this means for SEO
As far as SEO is concerned, very little changes. The old adage that ‘content is king’ remains more true than ever. The Caffeine update makes it important that fresh content is added to blogs and websites, especially content that is relevant to current events. For most SEOs, this is a technique that has been known for a long time. The Google blog states, “Content on the web is blossoming. It’s growing not just in size and numbers but with the advent of video, images, news and real-time updates, the average webpage is richer and more complex.” Clearly, this statement signifies the need for dynamic, fresh websites that are well maintained and changing on a frequent basis.
Google’s Caffeine update brings relatively little change to SEO, because fresh content remains important. Sites without blogs should seriously consider them, and sites with blogs should make sure they are updated on a regular basis. Previously, it was a standard to change a website’s homepage content every six months or so, with the Caffeine update SEOs may want to change content more frequently.
