Google Panda, the 27th Coming
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Panda is gunning for sites with thin content. Photo credit: Nelson Minar / Foter / CC BY-SA[/caption]
Google's Algorithm updates and its cutesy sidekick, the Panda, which first appeared as long ago as winter 2011, go together like Kenny and Dolly.
This latest roll out of the newest version of Panda, confirmed by an official Google+ update, was a slow rollout that seeped into the first week of October, affecting only 3-5% of queries. From the announcement:
"Based on user (and webmaster!) feedback, we’ve been able to discover a few more signals to help Panda identify low-quality content more precisely. This results in a greater diversity of high-quality small- and medium-sized sites ranking higher, which is nice."So, what does this all mean? Why Could You Be Affected? The Panda Updates have always been about punishing websites with duplicate, thin or low-quality content.
Thin Content It's possible that if your company's website content is "thin," or "weak," you could be negatively impacted. But what is "thin" content? "Thin or weak," content is content that isn't useful or relevant. "Thin" content also includes content that is guilty of keyword stuffing. Using Google Webmaster Tools, you can view which pages fell out of Google's Index and make efforts to improve the quality and relevance of the content on those pages.
Affiliate Links If your page has a purchase function, but sends your user to an affiliate site to purchase a product, you could also be negatively impacted. This includes blank or broken pages as well.
How Do you Tell if You were Impacted? 1. Messages in your Google Webmaster Tools letting you know about unnatural links detected 2. A marked decrease in organic traffic, not explained by any other reason like seasonality 3. Loss of organic rankings, specifically branded terms
Google will continue to develop more sophisticated signals and ranking formulas, but remember, your best bet is always to populate your website with high-quality original content. Still unsure how you should stay in Google's good graces? I know some experts you can get in touch with for more information.