In order to improve rankings, many SEO experts have always been taking advantage of different techniques. Many of them even tried to manipulate Google search algorithms, which is one of the reasons why Google regularly introduces new changes and updates to the way they rate different sites. One of the latest updates is the Google Panda update, which has actually made it difficult for sites with substandard content to rate well in search engine results pages.
A Little More about the Panda Update
Google has already defined a number of times what they think is a poor quality website, and the latest Panda Update has implemented all those definitions in a strict way. Moreover, the company has managed to make use of more human reviewers to check all those websites that have been occupying top rankings on their SERPs. Due to this human element, it has become a tad easier for Google to differentiate between a good and a poor quality website.
An interesting thing about Google is that though they introduce several updates every year, they only publish a few of them – they usually keep it below 30 a year. This is another reason why many SEO experts believe that even the Google Panda update has seen more updates in the recent months.
Dealing with the Panda Update
Different websites have been hit hard by the Panda update – the list includes websites that have been buying links or making no effort to conceal that they are spamming links. The content mills and link farms are also out of the picture now. In order to stay afloat, you need to take care of a few important things. For instance:
- The first thing you should do is remove all low quality pages you may have on your website. You can update those pages, or simply have them removed to ensure you don't fall prey to the Panda update. In case you don't have enough time to update those pages, you can simply delete them or leave them blank – you may want to leave a "page under construction" sign. Just make sure you come back and update these pages later with good quality content.
- Make sure your website doesn't have several pages with the same keywords. It applies on the keywords in your content, but you should also be careful with keywords in the Meta tags and anchor text. While it is not possible to change all of them, just try not to have so many of them.
- You should also spend some time eliminating duplicate anchor text on your pages. It is fine to have a few of them, but you should not have too many of them. Many SEO experts believe that when you have several links pointing to a particular page, you will have no other choice but to use the same anchor text. However, you should avoid using the same anchor text to describe different pages, or else Google will hit you hard due to their Panda Update.
- You will find your website in serious trouble if it has spun content. After the latest Google update, there is no place for auto-generated or spun content. In order to survive, you will need fresh content. It means you have to say no to news reels that generate content automatically – also avoid using any tools that simply rewrites your content. Having spun content on your website is an old way of improving your rankings. Yes, it may still fool the search engine, but you will eventually be caught – that's mainly because now Google uses the help of human users and reviewers to rate websites.
- Find all those pages that have been published with little text on them. You should remove all of these or edit them carefully. What it means is that if you have a page on your website that only contains a paragraph or two, it will make Google suspicious of your website – they will take it as a poor quality website, even if other pages on your website contains high quality content. While it is fine to leave a page with little text if it is a product page and has videos or images, you should not leave it there if there are no images to describe the purpose of that page.
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