Yep, if you didn't know, Googles Algorithm isn't the only thing that will dictate your position in the Search Results. Human checkers also look at sites, with the remit to look at it with the eyes of a visitor.
In otherwords if the content is "deemed" to be spammy, thin or irrelevant, you will be manually marked down and penalised.
So how do these checkers know what to look for?
Que the Google Guidelines Internal Document...
This document was leaked in 2011, and although Google has asked multiple sites to remove it, it is pretty straightforward to find just by searching on Google. But if you can't find it, here's a site that is still displaying it: Google Search Quality Rating Program General Guidelines 2011
Personally I don't know what the fuss is about. This doc is a great insight to the inner workings, but it's also a lot of common sense. I think Google should publically release it (and any revisions) so it's crystal clear as whats acceptable and what's not.
The focus of the doc is for the outsourced checker to be thinking with a "user" mindset, and not as a website owner. In otherwords, whatever site they land on, what's their gut feel. Is it related to the search term that got them there? Is the homepage covered in adverts? Is it a thin site with the pure intention to send you somewhere else, such as an affiliate link?
If you are serious about doing your own online marketing, then reading and understanding this doc is a must.
But having gone through it, I still think if you sail a straight path with good content, steering clear of shady practices and reign in your linkbuilding and anchor text efforts, you will be fine
Another good resource if you want to start getting to grips with some of the inner workings and understanding how Algorithms are born and developed is here:
Google Algo Changes and Google Manual Reviews - How It Works | PotPieGirl.com
So if your site was ranking really well for a particular keyword or phrase, and it suddenly disappears off the radar, you now have to ask yourself, was it Panda, was it the Penguin or was it Frank the covert googler who just thought your site was crap
So what do you think? Be interested to hear what some of our professional SEO peeps think...
