So what is the impact of Google's Panda 4.0 Update On or about the 21st May 2014, Google released the first major update to its algorithm in the past 12 months and there has been all sorts of reaction and conjecture to what this really meant for web site owners and SEO. Of course the initial screams of horror stories flooded the media within days including how eBay had lost 80% of its page 1 rankings (only to be advised that this was most likely due to manual changes made within eBay). We thought we would give the market hype time to settle and analyse the real story with some sense of rationale.
We should also point out that much of the discussions around Panda 4.0 also make reference to a related update "PayDay Loans 2.0" so before we proceed any further it is probably worth while explaining what each of these updates really are.
This most recent Panda update and refresh, which took place on May 19th or 20th and reportedly impacted around 7.5% of all search queries (the largest update since Panda was first launched), is Google’s latest attempt to keep low-quality sites from ranking highly in the search results. It’s still early in terms of fully evaluating exactly how sites have been impacted, but early results seem to indicate some pretty significant disruptions in certain industries.
The original Payday Loans algorithm, which was launched last summer, received an update on or around May 16. The original algorithm was intended to improve results for search queries that typically resulted in spammy search results (‘payday loans’ being one of these queries). The original update, while targeting sites globally, impacted international search results more heavily, particularly in countries where spam is more likely to originate. While only around 0.3% of US queries were affected, it’s estimated these numbers could have been as high as 4% in certain countries.
What has become abundantly clear is that authoritative original content is paramount to your success in gaining a good ranking in Google. This latest update not only includes a change to the algorithm but also definition of the index and combined with the Payday Loans 2.0 update, Google is making a committed effort to removing spammy content, irrelevant material or any content that is aimed at gaining quick authority. As Max Cutts of Google has said, what they are looking for is "high-quality content, the sort of content that people really enjoy, that’s compelling, the sort of thing that they’ll love to read that you might see in a magazine or in a book, and that people would refer back to, or send friends to, those sorts of things".
For genuine business sites, the news is not new, after all, we have been advising clients for some considerable time abut focussing on just this type of content all along. The Payday Loans update is aimed at those sorts of sites such as Payday loans and pornography - sites which attract lots of fluffy comments, badly written content with spelling mistakes and coming from untrusted sources. There are a wide range of websites that yu can probably think of that are full of this sort of rubbish and that used to fill up yur search results.
So what steps should you take?
We will re-iterate our previous comments.Google advises you ask yourself these following questions with regards to the content in your site:
Don't set out to manipulate your Google ranking by over optimising your pages. Google specifically states that if you're optimising your site in ways that benefit the user, you won't suffer any penalties. Google gives examples that include:
The Panda has done something that is unique; unlike the past where only the offending pages would be affected, Panda penalises the entire site if low quality content was found even on some parts of it.
By way of some general tips to improve your rankings and overcome being penalised by Panda 4.0 updates we recommend the following:
https://www.topleftdesigns.com.au/my-assets/img/blogs/Panda-4.0-Algorithm-Update-to-Google.jpg
300 300
Written by: Greg Tomkins
on
https://www.topleftdesigns.com.au/_Assets/images/topleftdesigns_logo_h.jpg
379 118
We all send out 100’s of emails from our business every
week if not every day. Each one of these emails is a touch point with
your market be it direct or indirect.&...
There is no secret in the fact that in order to achieve success and grow your business, it is essential to have systems in place founded on sound business processes.
Business leaders...
I always say that there is no better way to provide a product and having used yourself first.Only then can you relate to the experience your customers will go through themselves.
Bef...
Back in 1999 I worked with a number of companies performing Y2K Audits for SME businesses and now I find that we are facing an even bigger threat. According to Damian Seaton of Read more
Right now the Queensland Government is just opened up Round 4 of its Small Business Digital Grants Program offering up to $10,000 towards the cost of purchasing hardware, software and servic...
