Google Panda vs. Google Penguin
Most people are caught in the panda and penguin buzz. These are two terms that a big paint to SEO and website owners. The primary problem is that, not many people understand the difference between the two. If you are one of them, or you just need clarification on panda and penguin, then here you will find the difference in clear to understand words.
What is Google panda? An update is designed to reduce the ranking of less useful websites. The first panda was released in 14th February 2011 and it targeted sites with thin content. Prior to then, websites could have keyword stuffed content, content copied from other websites through content scraping, and generally content that was of no use to the reader. The update came to be known as the farmer updates it is affected mostly content farming websites. The last panda update was released on the 18th of July 2013. In total, there are 18 panda updates up to date. However, Google announced that there would be no more panda updates.
On the other hand, Google penguin is an algorithm that is designed to target web spammers. The change results to decrease in ranking for these sites. some of the tactics that would be considered as web spamming include keyword stuffing and other general black hat SEO tactics, and other tactics for example, incorporating links to irrelevant content. Some of the tactics targeted by penguin might not be identifiable without intense scrutiny of the websites. The best way to ensure that yours is not affected by penguins is to stay up-to-date with webmaster tools and execute any corrections as soon as you are notified. So far, only five penguins algorithms have been released, the first was in 24th April 2012 and the latest was on October 4th, 2013.
How do you ensure that your website is safe from Google panda and penguin? Here is a brief outline on how to stay safe.
Staying safe against panda updates
- Check any over-optimized pages to ensure conformity with Google guidelines
- The single most effective strategy to staying safe against panda updates is to get rid of low quality pages, keywords, and content.
- If hit by panda, ensure that you work on brand awareness and social median networks through new campaigns.
- If only a page or some pages of the website are hit, they can be isolated from the rest.
How to ensure no harm or less harm is sustained through penguins
- abolish the use of black hat SEO techniques by using white hat SEO (penguin is smart to deal with all these strategies)
- avoid keyword stuffing, excessive link building, and irrelevant or meaningless content
- For every campaign, create new content. These include social media, web content, and blogs.
- Adopt natural keyword usage strategies and avoid any stuffing.