Google’s Panda update, initially rolled out early in 2011, affected the traffic of thousands of sites across the Web, including some high-profile sites.
The search algorithm update, which was named after the Google engineer who initiated the changes, placed a greater emphasis on usability and quality than previous updates, primarily in an effort to promote the ranking of high-quality sites. In turn, the Panda update negatively affected sites considered “spammy” with little-to-no quality content, as well as so-called content sites that quickly spin articles based on previously common SEO practices.
If your website was negatively affected by Panda, or if you’re building a new site and want to optimize it for Google’s new rules, follow these best practices for dealing with Panda.
Content is King
Filling your site with high-quality, useful and unique content is the most important factor in dealing with Panda. If your site is filled with low-quality content, or content that’s essentially a clone of other content on the Web, the chances are good that Google’s Panda update will discount your site.
Optimize and revise old content and make each page count. If a particular piece is hopeless, redirect it to something similar and useful or delete it altogether. Think of a low-quality page as a virus that spreads, affecting your entire site’s rankings.
When creating new content, reference facts with links to relevant, high-quality sites, such as those appearing on .edu and .gov domains. Providing references and resources can make your site more trustworthy in the eyes of readers, which in turn makes your site more appealing in Google’s new guidelines.
Go Easy on the Ads
Google AdSense lets you have up to three ad blocks on a single page. To the disdain of webmasters, the company’s newsletters and guides often recommend maximizing the number of ads to increase potential earnings. This is a bad practice that will land you in hot water with Panda. It’s not a good idea to host the maximum number of ads on a page unless the page is features a longer, full-length article.
Even more important is the placement of the ads. If an ad is the first thing readers see when opening your page, you’ll likely be negatively affected by Panda.
Get Social
Google’s Panda update may place a greater emphasis on a site’s social visibility than prior updates. Social backlinks now appear to carry more power. If your site isn’t easy to share on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and the various social-bookmarking sites, make it so, and consider sharing your content yourself.
Take a Step Back
Put yourself in your typical readers’ shoes and visit your site with an open mind. Try to search the site for content. Is it easy to navigate? Or is it hard to find what you’re looking for? Does the piece of content you’re reading really satisfy the query? The idea behind the Panda update is to maximize the satisfaction of Google’s primary customers: the everyday users performing Google searches. Using this approach, you may find ways you can tweak your site to make it more user friendly.
Ask for Help
If your site has been negatively affected by Panda, and you’ve followed all the guidelines, you can always ask Google for help. The search engine maintains and monitors a thread in the Google Webmaster Tools forum, designed for webmasters who have questions about Panda. While a personalized response isn’t guaranteed, stating your case and explaining why your site is important could help you overcome the effects of Panda. At the very least, you may get advice from other seasoned professionals with experience.
Click here to read a thread on this topic at the Google Webmaster Tools Forum:
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