Following the “Panda update” that improved the rankings for a large number of high-quality websites, Google appear to be focussed on the quality of websites in their results these days.

Google has now released guidance notes for those that were “affected by Panda” (negatively) on how Google searches for high-quality sites as follows:

• Would you trust the information presented in your articles?
• Are your articles written by an expert or enthusiast who knows the topic well, or are they more shallow in nature?
• Does your site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations?
• Would you be comfortable giving your credit card information to this site?
• Do your articles have spelling, stylistic, or factual errors?
• Are the topics driven by genuine interests of readers of your site, or does it generate content by attempting to guess what might rank well in search engines?
• Do your articles provide original content or information, original reporting, original research, or original analysis?
• Do your pages provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results?
• How much quality control is done on your content?
• Do your articles describe both sides of a story?
• Is your site a recognised authority on its topic?
• Is your content mass-produced by, or outsourced to a large number of creators, or spread across a large network of sites, so that individual pages or sites don’t get as much attention or care?
• Are your articles edited well, or do they appear sloppy or hastily produced?
• For a health-related query, should readers trust information from your site?
• Would a user recognise your site as an authoritative source when mentioned by name?
• Do your articles provide a complete or comprehensive description of the topic?
• Do your articles contain insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious?
• Are your pages the sort someone would want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
• Do your articles have an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?
• Would you expect to see your articles in a printed magazine, encyclopedia or book?
• Are your articles short, unsubstantial, or otherwise lacking in helpful specifics?
• Are your pages produced with great care and attention to detail vs. less attention to detail?
• Would users complain when they see pages from your site?

Having read this guidance, I am not sure quite how this explains why www.barrie-smith.com moved up 30 places recently for a search of my name...