On February 24th, the feared and anticipated Panda Update (also known as the ‘Farmer Update’) was unleashed onto Google.com. This recent update in Google rankings has given the web industry a mighty shake, with both positive and negative implications for online businesses, and now the update rolls out to the UK, impacting on all English language users.
So what happens when Google changes its ranking algorithms? This isn’t the first time and it certainly won’t be the last time it happens. Some may refer to the arduous clean-up task as “putting out an SEO fire”, but we just think that it’s a part of Search Engine Optimisation. The internet is ever changing and so is Google, and here at The Slightly Different SEO, we know how important it is to keep on top of developments. Google never puts it feet up – neither do we.
What Google Says…
Google informs us that the new algorithm is designed to improve overall search quality for web users, with its key aim to phase out hideous content farms and distasteful spam websites.
“Our goal is simple: to give people the most relevant answers to their queries as quickly as possible. This requires constant tuning of our algorithms, as new content—both good and bad—comes online all the time.” – Google Official Blog (source: googleblog.blogspot.com)
So the target enemy would be a low grade website with poor quality content or duplicate content, but it seems that there may have been some innocent fatalities along the way. High quality websites may have been adversely affected, so what is a business to do if they’ve become one of Panda’s civilian casualties? We think that essentially, it all boils down to the same key things and search marketers need to look at further improving website quality.
• High quality content – not just to attract search engines but to provide real value to audiences.
• Ethical optimisation methods – avoid spamming and apply white hat SEO.
• A linkable website – make your website a resource that audiences find valuable and to encourage natural linking.
• Use social media – more than ever, social media is making an impact on website rankings.
So Who’s Been Affected by Panda?
The content rich article submission website, Ezinearticles.com lost almost 94% of its website visibility since Panda waved its algorithm-changing bamboo wand at Google.com and Google.co.uk, and voucher code websites such as Myvouchercodes.co.uk, Promotionalcodes.org.uk and Netvouchercodes.co.uk were also hit hard.
Other sites in the top 100 Panda targets include Ciao.co.uk, Reviewcentre.com, Answers.com, Qype.co.uk, Biznut.co.uk, Twenga.co.uk and Ehow.com. But there are also some clear winners – and as Charlie Sheen would say – “it’s all about winning”.
Ebay.co.uk, Techcrunch.com, National-lottery.co.uk, Econsultancy.com and Thisismoney.co.uk are the top five winners to be rewarded for high quality content and user-friendly websites that provide value to their audiences. Maybe it’s well worth taking a bamboo leaf or two out their books?
See the complete list of winners and losers of the Panda Update here.
