As the world turns, the internet is getting stirred up by these new Google updates showing up all over the web. For the past few weeks people have been recording two GoogleBots showing up on their site stats.

While updates may be good for some, it also means “welcome to the real world” for others. If you are one to watch closely those high rankings that your website has been getting, you may want to revisit them again. Don’t be shocked to see that your site has dropped off the face of the earth.

Is Google Killing Over-Optimization?

The more we take a look at what is happening out there, the more we discover that Google seems to be penalizing websites that “over optimize” their sites. If you try and insert keywords whenever you can, you are over doing it. If you add “anchor text” to all your links, you are over doing it. Anchor text is a new practice but as I’ve stated before, it won't last long. Most people never get to read or even see the anchor text implemented in a website. Anchor text is the “explanation” that pops-up when you put your cursor over a link.

I tested the “anchor text” theory with my site last week. I only tested one main page that I knew that Google would re-index within 48 hours. The results were very negative. As soon as the new information was indexed, the search engine results from that page dropped down dramatically. Again, I removed the anchor text from the page and the results seem to gain momentum once again.

It's not hard to come to the conclusion that with so many of us out there seeking for “google answers”, we tend to implement anything we read in articles, newsletters, forums, etc... within our websites. With this in mind, it's no wonder the new update may be attacking those who try too hard to raise their positions in engines.

Is Page Ranking Dead?

As we where all trying finally to veer away from Google Page Ranking, we now see another change in our ranks, another update has hit our doorway and with it has brought new PageRank updates. Is it really an increase/decrease of pagerank? or is it just the result of the new updates taking a small affect to the pagerank technology from Google.

It actually seems as though pageranking is still in affect. Many of the newer pages built these days have been neglected from pageranking altogether. Now, we can see a small increase to newer pages and a possible increase to older ones as well. Lately before the commotion started, 99% of newer pages barely gave any signs that Google had indexed them and rewarded inbound links to them.

What Does The Future Hold?

Many of you might be thinking, where do we go from here? In reality there are literally 1000’s of you out there that have never gone through a Google update of this magnitude. You may feel confused, unsure, and alone. Don’t worry, you are not the 1st to get hit hard. We've all felt the wrath of Google sometime or another. The best thing to do is to NOT wait until the storm settles down. No, get out there promoting your site more than you’ve ever done. I’ve always considered a hit to my websites a blessing in disguise.

Is Google's IPO Affecting Change?

Some seriously believe that since the introduction to Google's new IPO, they have had a new found reason to working harder at delivering better results and trully proving to the world that they have what it takes to be the best out there.

How is it that so many of us out there now depend on Google to perform well? What has happened to promoting online where so many of us depend solely of Google to create success for our business? Does this not seem strange to you? In our efforts to increase rank, get better placements, increase our traffic, we have let Google become our parent figure guiding us online and holding our hands.

As we move into the future, are we going to allow only a certain amount of companies to hold the keys to our future? We need to break free and look towards making new partnerships and help smaller but also deserving search engines to plow the way.

Before this update, you may have felt comfortable with your high rankings but now they are gone. It has happened to the best of us. Take this opportunity to get back up and start promoting your site like you’ve never done before. Don’t just sit there and wonder what happened, take advantage of this “ego buster” and increase your own rank.

As for Google’s future, let Google figure that out and keep your focus on your own future. Go further than you’ve ever gone before.

Until next update, keep it up!