In a conversation about the latest algorithm update, Google’s Danny Sullivan advised web publishers worried about the broad core update to delve into Google’s Quality Raters Guidelines. He mentioned that the key to achieving better rankings is producing better content, with guidance found within the quality raters guidelines.
What Google’s Danny Sullivan suggested:
"Want to do better with a broad change? Have great content. Yeah, the same boring answer. But if you want a better idea of what we consider great content, read our raters guidelines. That’s like almost 200 pages of things to consider."
Danny Sullivan emphasized the importance of reading and understanding Google’s Quality Raters Guidelines to improve rankings.
Do Google Quality Raters Affect Rankings?
Danny Sullivan’s recommendation to examine the quality raters guidelines sparked the notion that Google’s quality raters might directly influence a website’s rankings.
Here’s the tweet to Danny:
"Too bad webmasters can’t see the results of the human rater who score their site…”
There seems to be a belief in the SEO community that Google’s Quality Raters evaluate websites and that their ratings impact these websites’ rankings. However, Google’s Danny Sullivan clarified that Quality Raters do not directly affect website rankings.
Danny Sullivan asserted in a tweeted response that quality raters do not have a direct impact on the algorithm:
"To be really clear, it doesn’t work like that. Raters have no direct input into the algorithm. There’s no ‘rater score’ or anything like that about the sample of pages they review."
Danny Sullivan confirmed that Quality Raters have no direct influence on individual website rankings or the algorithm.
Danny Sullivan detailed that the role of quality raters is for quality control testing of the algorithms:
"The data helps us understand how updates seem to be performing. It’s like having someone review the food in your restaurant. But they don’t go into the kitchen & make the food. Rater data isn’t a component of the algorithm."
Danny then reiterated that the input from quality raters is not a component of the actual algorithm. Their role is limited to assisting in measuring the algorithm, not individual websites.
Danny’s Twitter statement:
"To be super clear, in case others see out of context, they’re not writing actual reviews. I’m using the restaurant metaphor to emphasize how we use feedback overall to understand if our results overall seem good, not to actually be part of our algorithm."
Does the Quality Raters Guidelines Hold Ranking Secrets?
According to Danny Sullivan, great content is the key to ranking better. He further explained that, "if you want a better idea of what we consider great content, read our raters guidelines."
Is it a coincidence that Google’s updated quality raters guidelines were released just days before the latest update? Perhaps, but it was quite close to the update date.
In a discussion on WebmasterWorld, several web publishers shared their success stories from reading the quality raters guidelines and applying their insights to enhancing their websites.
One WebmasterWorld member reported:
"The quality of the MC (main content) is one of the most important criteria in Page Quality rating, and displays the Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-A-T) of the page.
…John Mueller isn’t going to audit my website after each and every algorithm update. The search quality guidelines is the closest I’m going to get to that. There are lots of little nuggets in there that you can find on your own.
Long grueling process but it’s the only way I made this business work for me."
Another member reported a drop in rankings and confusion about the cause. Someone suggested reviewing the quality raters guidelines.
After examining the guidelines, they realized there were a lot of aspects they had overlooked.
"…I learned some new things to be honest. I didn’t know the 404 pages give any value to quality rating. I might add a search button as well. From a brief analysis of the guidelines, I think my website is considered medium and not high quality, and the algo is struggling with where to place me on Google."
Clearly, there is value in reading Google’s quality raters guidelines. If you haven’t read it yet, download the guidelines and take a look.
Five Strategies from Quality Raters Guidelines
I published an analysis of SEO based on the quality raters guidelines. My article highlights five strategic insights found within the quality raters guidelines. I shared various tips on how to enhance rankings.
Key Takeaways from Quality Raters Guidelines:
- Google’s guidelines explicitly instruct raters to evaluate a site by how well a page satisfies a site visitor’s goals.
- Elements of a Quality Shopping Page
- User Intent is King (or Queen)
- Award and Review Cultivation Strategy
- Be Comprehensive
- Tasks on your site must be simple to complete
After reading my article, read the quality raters guidelines. You may uncover valuable tips for enhancing your site and improving your Google ranking. The document contains numerous useful SEO insights.
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