Vince Update

Vince Update is a algorithm change on the part of Google that affects the ranking of major brands.

General information

The Vince update was implemented in the USA in February 2009, some months later also in Germany. Apparently, the name for this algorithm change was based on a Google Engineer named Vince.

Practical relevance

The update mainly affects well-known brands which a lot of user are familiar with. Matt Cuts, however, noted the update was only a small change to search algorithms. SEO analysts, on the other hand, speak of profound changes in Google’s Results Lists. Because many Search Queries with highly competitive Money Keywords now output results where big brands as authorities or trustworthy websites appeared higher in the SERPs. There was a lot of criticism from the SEO industry, because apparently websites, which were not search engine optimized, ranked higher in the SERPs than optimized websites.

Matt Cuts explains this as follows: Google does not think in categories such as brands. Rather, the T trust, Authority, quality and PageRank are factors prioritizing the search results. He also notes that Longtail Combinations are not affected. Only generic keywords, i.e., those that are very general, would now generate changed SERPs. Eric Schmitt, CEO of Google, underscored the launch of the Vince update with the statement that brands have a fundamental value to people. The more known a brand is, the more likely it is that Google will take this as a factor in evaluating the search results.

Relevance to SEO

The first conclusion from the Vince update is explained by Matt Cutts in a video. You should work on building your brand. There are opportunities for small businesses especially in the Longtail Area. If you service a particular niche or a special interest area you’re your website you can also be perceived as authority in that area. However, in addition to conventional SEO strategies such as On-Page Optimization and Off-Page Optimization, Branding is required as well. A brand needs to be developed and established long term.

The evaluation of the search results with respect to the Vince Update concerns trustworthy websites, which not only offer high quality content, but are perceived as authorities on the Internet and are accordingly linked often because of their traffic, page impressions, and Length of Stay. This starts with the actual content of the webpages, but also includes the PageRank algorithm, which is still significant to Google for creating the Indexes.

In addition to visitor statistics, the inbound Links are an important criterion. A website that successfully builds a brand will automatically have trustworthy backlinks.

Web Links

• History of Google Updates
• Discussion about the Vince update
• Video explanation by Matt Cuts