In this video Matt Cutts, head of Webspam at Google, really spills the beans on how SEO will change in the summer of 2013. While he is general and cryptic to an extent, he does tell us a little more than usual. In this video he tells us that they are taking a harder look at backlinks. This should worry all SEOs who have built excessive links over the years. He also talks about providing better rankings for more authoritative websites in their niche. This might not seem like a big deal, but trust me, this statement alone when put in practice will mean significant traffic changes for websites.
Overall, this video points to an increase stranglehold for the Penguin and Panda algorithm updates. It appears that Google is taking yet another step to categorize websites in the search index. While that is the case, Cutt’s also says that some people were hurt by Panda that should not have been. In that case, Google will be looking to lighten the impact from previous updates (for select few).
Overall, this video tells me three things.
1. If you are authoritative in a niche you could gain ground.
2. Some sites hurt by Panda may bounce back.
3. Link builders beware. Google is gunning for you.