Google Panda and how it may have affected you

What is panda exactly?

Panda is Google’s new search algorithm that was launched in March. The update was to favor higher quality linked sites and to get rid of all websites with lower quality links. This approach is opposite to that of its competitors, such as Yahoo. The other competitors are looking for all the inbound links where Google now only looks for high quality inbound links. In return, this change will produce only high-quality sites.

Has Panda affected my site?

Take a look at your Google analytics or any software you use. If you have large random drops in your scans, chances are Panda has hit you. Check your charts regularly to make sure Panda hasn’t contacted you yet.

How do I stay away from the next update?

The most obvious and obvious way to keep your site clean and Panda safe is to stay as legit as possible with your SEO tactics. Trying to get a million links to your site and building link farms won’t help you in Google (Yahoo is a different story). When I started with SEO in 2004, I stayed away from link farms because they seemed sketchy to begin with. I didn’t understand why anyone would want to be on a page full of links. Originally, before SEO existed, marketers posted links on websites because they wanted to drive good, genuine traffic to their sites, not because they wanted to climb the rankings. If you keep the same old-school mindset in mind while doing SEO and social marketing, you’ll be fine.

I was caught by Panda, now what?

It is extremely unrealistic to say that you can 100% crack Google’s tactic and algorithm. I bet the engineers at Google don’t know 100% the truth behind the framework. With that being said, there are some obvious things we can figure out that could help you steer clear of the next Panda race, if not improve your ranking.

1. Re-evaluate all the content on your website. Make sure all of your content is original, useful, and unique for your visitors to read. Remember that the reason you post content is for people to read it, not for search engine optimization. Take some time to make sure no one is taking your content and copying it. If they are, change it. Promote your content so that users link to your great original content (legitimately). If your content is useful, believe me, people will use it and share it!
2. Check your analytics for high bounce rates. One of the biggest updates on Panda was that they are getting rid of sites with high bounce rates. Think of it as a marketing point of view. You want to keep your audience engaged with your website and convert them into customers. So if you have a high bounce rate, you obviously don’t keep them engaged. This is how Google thinks now when it considers who it wants in its rankings. If your bounce rate is over 50 then you are doing something wrong. Between 30 and 40 is a decent bounce rate, less than 30 is amazing.
3. Check what percentage of your site is taken up by low quality ranking pages. You do not want several of the pages on your website to be of poor quality. Again, think from a marketing point of view. If you have pages that you just need to fill out, but you really don’t want people to see, Google will notice and factor that into your ranking decision. Google would rather have a 20 page website with great quality pages and links, rather than a huge 200 page site that only has 20 quality pages.

There you have it. Hopefully Panda hasn’t affected your website rankings and if it has, then you need to do some damage control. Keep looking for all the Panda warnings and how you can maintain strong search engine results by checking in with us regularly.