Google Releases Panda 3.9

It was not long ago that Google became a household name. Once upon a time they created a Panda. Not the animal but an algorithm named after Google engineer Navneet Panda. Google did this to regulate content on it's site. Basically, they wanted an automated process to determine which sites had the best content and which ones were spamming. As of July 28, Industry Experts Confirm Official Release of Google Panda 3.9. The forthcoming version is Panda 3.9. Think of it as quality control that can affect up to 12 percent of all search related criteria. Which such a defensive Panda under it's belt, Google aims to improve both user experience and returned search results through the elimination of low-quality websites on page rankings. That means that websites with poor content will drop off the map of Google's search almost immediately. This is the ninth version of the algorithm.

How will Panda's Latest affect SEO

Search engine optimization is meant to be an organic process of improving a company's website visibility within a search engine. Naturally, Google only wants the most credible websites showing up on top search results. It keeps the overall integrity of SEO intact, providing reliable information to users. The question many insiders have however, is not what Panda will do for them, but how will it affect their SEO efforts. Their are established rules and guidelines easily overlooked and un-for-told when it comes to SEO. For the purpose of saving time, we will outline 5 tips.  

Quality Control

Simply put, avoid poorly curated content! Only put the good stuff on your site. Providing helpful explanations that are well written and informed will help users find the answers they are looking for and in turn, allow Panda to rank you higher. Aside from providing your audience with helpful information, original content will help you avoid plagiarism pitfalls, which we will explain shortly . Remember, this is an offensive Panda, meant to seek and destroy all that is poorly written. 

For example, check out How To Write Winning Meta Titles. Meta titles are the first text you see after the search result. They give a preview into what the link is about.

Keyword Abuse

If you overstuff your site with keywords that anchor users to your various inner pages of services, Google Panda will indeed pull rank. They don't like to see overly self serving or ultra-promotional sites out there. It' not always about self promotion but rather contributing to a community of helpful knowledge. Remember the JCPenny controversy over paid links? Basically they placed keywords on sites that really had nothing to do with what they were selling. 

Ex: What do boat shoes and kids toys have in common? Nothing really, so why would you go and anchor a keyword on a seemingly unrelated site toy site? If you get the picture then you'll see that the best keywords are anchored within a similar subject matter. The good news is however that Google Panda rewards the good guys when the hard work has been done. If you do not overuse keywords and only anchor them to relevant content, your SEO rankings will go up.

False Information

So simply yet so easy to make this mistake. It's like being back in school and not being prepared for a test.

Ex:What happened to your test score when your tried to fake it? You didn't pass or do so well. With that in mind think of good SEO as studying up for the test. Make sure that your facts are straight before you go posting content on your web site. Google wants the high-ranking sites to be reliable sources of information. They will not take kindly to those providing False Information. Make certain and cross reference the facts before you post. Better to take some extra time than suffer the consequence of a poorly ranked website.

Be Original

Another area that might have gotten you into trouble back in school, plagiarism! Well it's not different on the web. Avoid re-publishing content that is found elsewhere on the internet. Nothing brings down SEO rankings than content that has obviously been ripped off. Be sure what you are publishing isn't offensive or a turn off to the viewer. In other words, don't link to a adult site or publish slander type material. 

Ex: Spam websites. Do your best not to look like one. Check out Webspam-What is it?

Don't Be A Spammer

Make sure you aren't running too many ads among the content featured on your site. Avoid placing too many banner type ads at the top of your site. 

Ex: If a person clicks on your home page then is immediately bombarded with an ad, they'll click on it, get taken to somewhere they don't wanna be and bounce out completely. You do not want to distract from the main content showing up in a search result. It's whats known as above the fold content. 

Check out SEO tricks to help you rank above the fold. If you do, rankings will drop. Simply avoid ads that are run alongside your blogs or articles. After all, SEO is meant to provide content answers to questions typed into a Google search. The Panda will ultimately see which is off-putting, dismiss them as credible, and move on. Take the proper precautions and remember these basic rules to avoid poor SEO rankings. You'll most likely succeed because you will have proven yourself a good guy in the panda's eyes.

For more information contact James Mulvey