All about Google Panda Update

Google keeps updating its search algorithm every once in a while so that highly relevant information gets better search rankings. Google panda is a major shift in Google algorithms that will impact your search rankings.

So what exactly is Google panda?

Google panda is a new change in the Google algorithm. It is completely out of the box in the sense that it uses, human reviewers to rank sites based on the quality of content and relevancy. Humans initially look at the sites and grade them based on the quality of the content. The parameters used for grading are then continued to be used by search engines so that results will be similar to human reviewers. So if your website was optimized for Google bots, a Google panda update might result in an instant drop in your rankings.

This update was aimed at getting rid of irrelevant results from the top pages of Google. Low-quality content with artificially inflated rankings and content farms are pretty badly hit by Google panda update.

If you plan to stay safe with the Google Panda update,

Avoid multiple pages targeting the same keyword

This is the major reason why content mils were hit hard by the Google panda. Content mills tend to have hundreds, even thousands of pages that target a single keyword. While it is highly possible that your website may have a few WebPages targeted at the same keyword, having a lot of pages target the same keyword reeks of content farming and Google panda update, makes sure that this practice is punished.

Duplicate anchor text and low-quality backlinks

Backlinks are very important to determine Google’s rank. But the quality of your backlinks is very important. Google Panda penalized sites with low-quality backlink profiles. Also, the anchor text that has the same keyword always makes Google suspect that the link is created manually. Hence it is always advisable that you use variations of a single keyword or even slightly different keywords in your anchor text.

A site as a whole

Google panda issues a site-wide penalty. Even if you have exceptional pages, SEO average pages may lead to a Google penalty. Hence you should have a site that is completely clean.

Get rid of unoriginal content

Content that includes comparison charts. Google panda marks them as original, which will affect your rankings. In case you are running a shopping site, it is not easy to get rid of unoriginal content. But adding fresh content to your site can greatly improve your search rankings.

Short length

It was a practice to use less than two paragraphs of content to inflate the number of pages. Google panda frowns on this practice and lowers your rankings. SO you should either increase the amount of content on each page or decrease the number of pages.

New content ranks higher

Google panda likes new content and ranks it higher. Pages containing new content will be given more preference to current pages, which is a good reason to update your site with new content.

Scraped content is just as bad as duplicate content. It is more difficult to reword your content if it has too many facts. But, where possible, reword your content.

Article templates can also be counted under duplicate content. If you tend to use the same blocks of text on each page, keep only the important text.

Outbound links with keywords

A lot of outbound links can be bad but when they are stuffed with keywords, it can be really bad. Outbound links with keywords in the anchor text reek of link exchange. If you have guest blogs on your website, there will be outbound links. But keep your outbound link profile diverse with varied keywords in anchor text.

Internal link structure:

An easy-to-navigate website is favored by humans and bots alike. So maintaining a good internal structure will make your website easy to navigate, which surely helps your ranking.

Be careful with Affiliate links

Affiliate links are bad. And tons of affiliate links on your webpage are really bad. Whenever you place an affiliate link, make them no-follow. The number of ads on your webpage is also bad, so only keep the really well-paying ones.

If you adhere to all these panda updates, you can continue ranking in the search results.