What You Need to Know About Google Panda
Earlier this year many sites experienced a serious drop in ranking when Google rolled out a new Algorithm dubbed Google Panda 2.2.
Panda is just one of about 500 algorithmic search tweaks Google makes each year. One thing Google addressed with Panda 2.2 is the issue of scraper sites – websites that republish other people’s content on their own site, usually making money from Google AdSense in the process – outranking content originators.
The whole aim of Google updating their algorithms and creating new ones when a new problem on the web arises, is to make sure that you get what you are searching for. There is a flip-side to this coin too – in making sure that people only get the highest quality results for their search query, Google is forcing websites to conform to good web design and marketing practices. This means that there are no shortcuts to making sure your site ranks well on search results, you just have to go through the motions, namely:
- An easy to navigate site
- Consistently updating, well written, relevant content
- A large digital footprint (ie exposure in other places online)
- Time – the longer your website has been live, the more legitimate you seem
- Backlinks – these must be from other relevant, well indexed sites with good rankings
Google’s Panda Update negatively affected 40% of websites, however 25% of websites haven’t had any significant increase or decrease in their traffic and therefore remain unaffected. 18% of websites are delighted with the Panda Update as they experienced increased traffic. If you are part of the 40%, it is time you remove the factors that are causing your website to have a low ranking. Once you do so, your ranking will return to normal.
Google Panda has received good and bad feedback from various users. If you’d like to know more then check out this blog, it gives a great run-down of what you can do to be on Google Panda’s good side.