Google Algo Update - Some Analysis

Wow. Been really busy dealing with the aftermath of Google Update "Allegra" (as coined by Webmaster World).

SERPs are still banging around, a site in one SERP that I monitor has been ping ponging between 5,6 and 9.

The most common complaint seems to be sites that are no longer ranking for their own domain name - ie, widgetmasters.com is no longer in #1 position for widgetmasters.

This seems to be related to anchor text. During the November 2003 update (aka "Florida"), I was able to salvage a punished site by adding about 15% of its links with "generic" anchor text - ie "click here to learn more" instead of "buy widgets".

Lots and lots of "white hat" sites get links with their own domain names as the anchor text. Now some of them are "disappeared". Seems like an obvious connection.

What's the fix? Get more links - business as usual - but concentrate on varying your anchor text. Consider changing your home page anchor text links (if you have them) from widgetmasters.com to "WidgetMasters.com - Masters in Widgetry" or whatever - shake it up a bit.

If you haven't put links to your home page with "helpful" anchor text, give it a shot - can't make things much worse. :)

Good luck, and remember there are other search engines.