The Google Fred Update: A Comprehensive Guide
Whenever Google updates its algorithms, the entire SEO industry must adapt. One such algorithm change was the Google Fred Update from March 2017. Unlike other updates, the Fred update didn’t have an official announcement from Google, which resulted in considerable confusion and speculation among site owners and SEO experts. With time, it became more clear that the update targeted websites obsessed with monetization and offered very little content of value.
In this blog post, we will explore what the Google Fred Update is, its workings, its impact, and solutions for recovering from it.
What is the Google Fred Update
The Google Fred Update is best described as a broad algorithm development aimed at low-quality user experience websites with aggressive monetization tactics, such as paying advertisements, affiliate links, and low-quality content. Google did not confirm the rumor, but many people believed that Fred was built to punish sites focused on excessive advertising rather than providing good service paired with solid content.
Following the last update, many SEOs and website owners observed a significant decline in their rankings and traffic, particularly for websites that rely on ads, affiliate links, or low-quality content for monetization.
Who Was Impacted by the Google Fred Update?
The Fred update mainly affected:
Ad Overload: Websites filled with ads, especially pop-ups, interstitials, and advertisements above the fold, were ranked lower, as the revenue-focused websites heavily relied on ads above the fold. They suffered heavy ranking losses.
Ads and Affiliate Link Overload: Sites plagued by ad overload and a lack of sufficient content received less traffic. Websites that use affiliate links, ads, and other monetization methods without providing substantial content and value have faced strong penalties.
Also Read- A Beginner’s Guide to Google Hummingbird
Content that was deemed too “Spammy” or “Thin” was targeted as forming clickbait content, and then failing to deliver anything of value was a major focus of the last update. Websites that attempt to gain traffic without providing actual value are heavily penalized through reduced rankings.
Struggled with User Engagement: Websites with a low user engagement ratio (high bounce rate, low time spent on page, etc.) also experienced the fallout of Fred. Google considers engagement metrics to be signals of quality, and poor engagement suggests that content stagnation issues exist.
What was the focus of the Google Fred Update?
- Content Quality With User Intent
Fred certainly appeared to target websites that focused on ranking with shallow, sparse, low-quality content, crafted primarily to generate revenue. Examples of such sites include those that relied on content scraping, spun articles, or affiliate-laden pages devoid of any real value to users.
Meeting user intent as a ranking factor has always been a top priority for Google. If your content did not meet the user’s expectations or offer a pleasant experience, then Fred most likely penalized it. Content quality remains one of the most critical factors for placing webpages in the search results list, and following the Fred update, it appears that Google wants to emphasize this point.
- Overly Aggressive advertisement:
One of the most commonly identified causes for Fred-induced penalties was the excessive use of advertising. This includes:
Pop-up adverts that cover a large portion of the webpage, especially above the fold.
Ad-inundated websites where the content was so densely packed with ads that it was impossible to engage without breaks filled with ads. Users’ experience was constantly interrupted by numerous ads.
Sites that were overfilled with ads and resulted in a negative user experience experienced a drop in rankings.
- Affiliate Spam
Many affiliate marketing sites suffered a blow from Fred. If you owned a site with excessive affiliate content and minimal original material, Fred could be coming for you. Google favors sites that have unique, user-centered content over those that rely on affiliate-driven filler content as an attempt to sidestep providing real value.
- Low-Quality Links
It is true that Fred targeted sites with low-quality spam links. Though he did not specifically target backlink quality as Penguin did, sites with excessively low-quality or spammy links likely faced consequences. Google tends to penalize sites that implement backlinks with low-quality content solely to boost their rank, especially when the site’s content is perceived as of low quality.
How to Recover from Google Fred Update
If your website experienced negative impacts due to the Fred update, take it easy. Recovery is entirely achievable, although it may take some time. Here’s how you can recover from the Fred penalty:
- Prioritize The Content Quality
Ensure that you check the value your content provides to users. Ensuring your content aligns with the user’s intent while being unique on the web is a crucial part of the recovery process. Here are tips on improving content:
Enhance your content: Comprehensive, well-researched content that addresses user problems is a must. Use natural language to communicate your ideas instead of cramming keywords.
Increase content length: Thoroughly answering a user’s question sometimes requires long-form content, so ensure you go deep to capture all elements of the question.
Remove thin content: If your site has thin content (content with very little substance), improve or, better yet, remove it altogether.
- Focus on Fixing User Experience (UX)
Fred gave penalties to sites that were not performing well in UX, so you cannot ignore focusing on having a user experience:
Reduce ads: Ensure that your webpage does not have an overwhelming number of ads, and if it does, consider reducing them and making them less prominent. Ensure that ads either enhance the content or do not hinder it.
Mobile optimization: Ensure that your business has a mobile-friendly site. With Mobile indexing, Google favors mobile-responsive sites, so ensuring your mobile site is optimized is very necessary.
Improve page speed: Measuring and analyzing load times with tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights can help diagnose performance issues and address them, strengthening ux.
- Reevaluate Monetization Plans
In case your website depended primarily on ads or affiliate adverts, then it is time you evaluate how you can incorporate other methods to generate revenue:
Expand Monetization methods: Incorporate services or products into your page to ensure that value-added ads and affiliate links do not overpower the webpage as a whole.
Also Read- A Complete Guide to the Google Panda Update
Upgrade Content Value: Stop attempting to monetize traffic and ensure that meaningful content is provided. Reduce the presence of affiliate links and use them where they will useful like highlighting important points of your webpages.
- Review Your Backlink Profile
Although Fred doesn’t specifically target backlinks, using poor-quality links could damage your site’s trustworthiness. Perform a backlink audit with Ahrefs or Google Search Console and remove any harmful backlinks that might be spammy or affected by edits made to your site.
- Analytics and Performance Oversight
After implementing changes, it’s best to track metrics and identify any improvements to your website:
Leverage Google Analytics alongside Google Search Console to monitor traffic volume, bounce rate, and levels of engagement.
Track vital KPI’s to measure ranking shifts along with actively reviewing your site.
Conclusion
The Google Fred Update changed the landscape of evaluating websites significantly. While the primary goal of the update was to target websites with shallow content and aggressive advertisement strategies, it showed that real value needs to be given to users. While these sites could easily recover from the penalties by improving content quality, user experience, and careful monetization strategies, the focus should always remain on user-friendly content without harmful elements. A site affected by a Fred penalty can achieve long-term SEO success if they shifts their focus toward providing valuable content.