This is a summary of the 2015 Google Search Quality Guidelines. For the first time earlier this week, Google released the full 160-page version of this document aimed at helping Google Search Quality Raters rate search results for both standard and mobile viewing. It's not a fun read, but it is chock full of key SEO concepts and knowledge. To save you the reading time, here's a summary of key points:

1. Steve Sue | steve@storymanager.com | storymanager.com | rankhi.com
Google’s 2015
Search Guidelines
29 Key Tips Summary: See deck at SlideShare.com

2. For the First Time Ever...
...Google has released the full version of the document aimed at helping Google
Search Quality Raters rate search results. It's chock full of key SEO concepts,
but at 160 pages, yikes it hurts. This deck is a summary of key points.

3. Website
Ranking Guidelines

4. 1. Both Websites &
Webpages Are Ranked
“A webpage is a document which is part of the World Wide Web… A website or
site is a group of World Wide Web pages… The goal of PQ (Page Quality) rating
is to determine how well a page achieves its purpose.” ~ pg 7
[translation: both individual webpages and overall websites are ranked]

5. 2. "Your Money or Your Life"
Pages Gain Ranking
“Some types of pages could potentially impact the future happiness, health, or
wealth of users. We call such pages 'Your Money or Your Life' pages, or YMYL.
The following are YMYL pages: … Shopping or financial transaction pages…
Financial information pages… Medical information pages… Legal information
pages… etc. … We have very high Page Quality rating standards for YMYL
pages because low quality YMYL pages could potentially negatively impact
users’ happiness, health, or wealth. “ ~ pg 9

6. 3. Ads May Dilute Page Ranking
“Many pages have advertisements/monetization (Ads). Without advertising and
monetization, some webpages could not exist because it costs money to
maintain a website and create high quality content. The presence or absence of
Ads is not by itself a reason for a High or Low quality rating…However, we will
consider a website responsible for the overall quality of the Ads displayed.”
~ pg 11

7. 4. Link From Homepage to
Key Landing Pages
Pages often make more sense when viewed as part of a website. Some of the
considerations in Page Quality rating are based on the website the page belongs
to." ~ pg 11.
[Your website gains a Domain Authority rating, so using your own homepage to
link to key landing pages is one DA vote for your own content]

8. 5. Keep Your Site Fast & Clean
“Webmasters need to make sure their websites function well for users as web
browsers change… Links should work, images should load, content should be
added and updated over time, etc.“ ~ pg 15

9. 6. Build Your Website Reputation
“Look for articles, reviews, forum posts, discussions, etc. written by people about
the website… See if there is a Wikipedia article or news article from a well-
known news site… very low ratings on the BBB site to be evidence for a
negative reputation… Customer reviews can be helpful for assessing the
reputation of a store or business. However, you should interpret these reviews
with care, particularly if there are only a few. Be skeptical of both positive and
negative user reviews. Anyone can write them, including the creator of the
website or someone the store or business hires for this purpose.” ~ pg 16

10. 7. Content is Still King
“The quality of the MC (Master Content) is one of the most important
considerations in Page Quality rating. For all types of webpages, creating high
quality MC takes a significant amount of at least one of the following: time, effort,
expertise, and talent/skill… High quality pages and websites need enough
expertise to be authoritative and trustworthy on their topic… ~ pg 20

11. 8. Make Sidebar Content Useful
“Supplementary Content can be a large part of what makes a High quality page
very satisfying for its purpose. Features designed to help shoppers find other
products they might also like can be as helpful as the MC on the page. Ways to
find other cool stuff on entertainment websites can keep users browsing
happily.” ~ pg 21

12. 9. Information Design Counts
“High quality pages are designed to achieve their purpose: they are well
organized, use space effectively, and have a functional overall layout. While
every page is different, functional pages should have the following
characteristics:.. MC (Master Content) should be prominently displayed… MC
should be immediately visible when a user opens the page… It should be clear
what the MC actually is… page design, organization, and use of space, as well
as the choice of font, font size, background, etc., should make the MC very
clear… Ads and SC should be arranged so as not to distract from the MC.. It
should be clear what parts of the page are Ads, either by explicit labeling or
simply by page organization or design.” ~ pg 22

13. 10. Customer Service Info Counts
“Websites frequently include the following information:… About Us
information…. Contact or Customer Service information… Information about
who is responsible for the content and maintenance of the website.” ~ pg 22

14. 11. Update Frequency Counts
“High quality large news websites are frequently updated, often adding news
articles many times a day. High quality medical advice websites keep all of their
informational pages current. Other websites, such as websites for small
businesses, may be updated less frequently since addresses and store hours
rarely change. How frequently a website should be updated depends on its
purpose.” ~ pg 23

15. 12. Expertise, Authority &
Trustworthiness (EAT) Counts
“Highest (webpage rankings) is based on the quality of MC as well as the level
of E-A-T and reputation of the website. What makes a page Highest quality? We
require at least one of the following: Very high or highest quality MC, with
demonstrated expertise, talent, and/or skill… Very high level of expertise,
authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (page and website) on the topic of the
page. Very good reputation (website or author) on the topic of the page.” ~ pg 27

16. 13. Poor Content Quality Dings
One of the most important considerations in PQ rating is the quality of the MC.
The quality of the MC is determined by how much time, effort, expertise, and
talent/skill have gone into the creation of the page… Consider this example:
Buying papers online or getting someone else to write for them… Making things
up… Writing quickly with no drafts or editing… Filling the report with large
pictures or other distracting content… Copying the entire report from an
encyclopedia, or paraphrasing content by changing words or sentence structure
here and there… Using commonly known facts… Using a lot of words to
communicate only basic ideas or facts… Important: Low quality MC is a
sufficient reason to give a page a Low quality rating.” pg 34

17. 14. A “Satisfying Amount”
of Content Counts
“An unsatisfying amount of MC is a sufficient reason to give a page a Low
quality rating.” ~ pg 34
[It’s generally recognized that 350 good quality words per webpage is sufficient]

18. 15. Poor User-Contributed
Content Dings
“Many websites allow almost anyone to publish pretty much anything…
Contributors may have very poor writing skills or may have absolutely no
expertise in the topic of the page. However, some types of user-generated
content have a high level of expertise. There are forums of experts on topics…
User-posted content can be highly trustworthy for many everyday topics.” ~ pg
35

19. 16. Unhelpful Supplementary
Content Dings
“Some webpages are designed to encourage users to click on SC that is not
helpful for the purpose of the page. This type of SC is often distracting or
prominently placed in order to lure users to highly monetized pages… We can
consider this both unhelpful/distracting SC as well as deceptive/misleading page
design.” ~ pg 35

20. 17. Lack of Supplementary
Content Dings
“…we do expect websites of large companies and organizations to put a great
deal of effort into creating a good user experience on their website, including
having helpful SC. For large websites, SC may be one of the primary ways that
users explore the website and find MC, and a lack of helpful SC on large
websites with a lot of content may be a reason for a Low rating.” ~ pg 36

21. 18. Poor Conversion Design Dings
“Here are some examples of pages with poor page design, organization, layout,
or use of space, which should be rated Low: Many Ads or highly distracting
Ads… Repeated insertion of Ads between sections of the MC… Invasive Ads,
such as popups… A large quantity of Ads… Text ads, placed beside or within
the site's navigation links, which may confuse users. If a page seems poorly
designed, take a good look. Ask yourself if the page was deliberately designed
to draw attention away from the MC.” ~ Pg 36

22. 19. Lacking Care &
Maintenance Dings
“Sometimes a website may seem a little neglected: links may be broken, images
may not load, and content may feel stale or outdated… if a website is not being
maintained and updated enough for its purpose, that is a reason for a Low page
quality rating.” ~ pg 37

23. 20. Deceptive Pages Get Dinged
“Deceptive webpages appear to have a helpful purpose (the stated purpose), but
are actually created for some other reason… lowest rating if a webpage page is
deliberately created to deceive and potentially harm users in order to benefit the
website… A website pretends to be or mimics the look of a well-known store,
bank, online service, or social network, but instead exists to “phish” or steal
passwords or personal information… A webpage claims to be a survey, perhaps
offering money or a prize, but instead exists to steal passwords or personal
information… A webpage claims to offer an independent review or share other
information about a product, but is in fact created to make money for the owner
of the website.. A website claims to be the personal website of a celebrity…” ~
pg 41

24. 21. Keyword “Stuffing” Dings
“Pages may be created to lure search engines and users by repeating keywords
over and over again, sometimes in unnatural and unhelpful ways. Such pages
are created using words likely to be contained in queries issued by users.
Keyword stuffing can range from mildly annoying to users, to complete
gibberish. Pages created with the intent of luring search engines and users,
rather than providing meaningful MC to help users, should be rated Lowest.” ~
pg 43

25. 22. Un-Curated Copied
Content Dings
“If all or most of the MC on the page is copied, think about the purpose of the
page. Why does the page exist? What value does the page have for users? Why
should users look at the page with copied content instead of the original source?
… The Lowest rating is appropriate if all or almost all of the MC on the page is
copied with little or no time, effort, expertise, manual curation, or added value for
users. Such pages should be rated Lowest, even if the page assigns credit for
the content to another source.” ~ pg 44

26. 23. “About Us” Info Counts
“Think about the purpose of the website and the type of website information
users would expect or demand… pages where the available information is
completely inadequate for the purpose of the website (for example, an online
bank with only an email address), should be rated Lowest.” ~ pg 46
[use About Us content and personal bios to establish authority & reputation]

27. 24. Negative Reputation Dings
“Extremely negative reputation information: This business has a BBB rating of F.
There is a news article about financial fraud. There are many reviews on
websites describing how users sent money and did not receive anything in
return.” ~ pg 47

28. Mobile Site
Browsing Considerations

29. 25. Mobile Usability Counts
“phones can be challenging to use, especially compared to a desktop computer
or laptop: Entering data may be cumbersome… Small screen sizes… Some
webpages are difficult to use on a mobile phone… Internet connectivity can be
slow and inconsistent… Important: Mobile smartphones should make tasks
easy, even for mobile users with a small screen device (i.e., size of smartphone,
not a tablet). Users want results right away, at that moment, and may not be
able to spend a lot of time to find what they are looking for.” ~ pg 67

30. 26. Special Content
Result Blocks Are Key
“Special Content Result Blocks (SCRBs) appear in the search results page,
along with Web Search Result Blocks. They are frequently, but not always, the
first result on the search results page. (On mobile devices) these results help
users immediately get information or content, and may not require additional
“clicks” or page loads. SCRBs can help mobile phone users accomplish their
tasks very quickly, especially for certain Know Simple (a factoid), Visit-in-Person
(a location), and Do (an online function) queries.” ~ pg 79

31. 27. Next Steps Should Be Obvious
“A mobile phone should respond to a Device Action query and do what the user
is asking.” ~ pg 81
[Make a single point of focus call-to-action button or link]

32. 28. Mobile “Responsive”
Readability Counts
“Please assign this flag (poor) for landing pages that are so difficult to use on the
small screen of a mobile device that the usefulness of the result is diminished.” ~
pg 129

33. 29. Content Freshness Counts
“Some queries demand very recent or “fresh” information. Users may be looking
for “breaking news,” such as an important event or natural disaster happening
right now.” ~ pg 141

34. BOOM!You’re Ready for SEO Action

35. Steve Sue | steve@storymanager.com | storymanager.com | rankhi.com
Google’s 2015
Search Guidelines
29 Key Tips Summary: See deck at SlideShare.com