I can still hear the voices of naysayers echoing in my head while a tiny cricket plays a sad song on a violin. Google’s new algorithm update has sluggish companies and social media-unfriendly SEO practitioners running for the hills. The window of opportunity has shut.

The new Google “freshness algorithm” is designed to give search engines users the most recent results without having to type the day, month or year to find time-sensitive content. In an official post on the Google blog, the technology giant stated: “If I search for Olympics, I probably want information about next summer’s upcoming Olympics, not the 1900 Summer Olympics (the only time my favorite sport, cricket, was played).” I love how they maintain a level of professionalism while being funny and informative at the same time.

The algorithm update will affect around 35% of websites, which may not seem like a big deal at first, but it is.

To improve ranking in Google and gain maximum exposure, it’s extremely important for all websites to have a blog. You need a medium where fresh, current information can be posted on a regular basis, which will take advantage of Google’s freshness algorithm. Many sluggish, slow to adapt companies have simply ignored blogs while others that got a head start now have a huge advantage.

Keep in mind not all content will be considered fresh, but in the coming months us SEOs will have a better understanding of what qualifies and what does not. My initial perspective is that the algorithm is inherently subjective, and only research will prove or disprove this theory.

Lastly, I’ve been researching the freshness of backlinks to websites and have noticed a very interesting trend. I’ll touch on my findings in another article, so be sure to follow me on Twitter for updates.

Aaron Schoenberger
The Brainchild Group