What Is Google Panda Update for SEO
First released in February 2011, Google’s Panda update for its search algorithm sent shockwaves all over the Internet. According to the official press release, Google was ‘looking for more high quality sites in search.’ Some online publishers gained on search engine traffic while others were forced to shut their shops within days. Since then, the panda updates have been pouring in at routine intervals.
What exactly is Panda Update for SEO?
Put simply, it’s a ‘search filter.’
It’s Google’s way of filtering out poor quality web pages from top of the SERPs.
The sole purpose behind the Panda update has been to eliminate low quality content that seeks to climb the search pages by tricks of their own.
Google is, therefore, effectively encouraging original and high-quality content over the one that had been just manipulated smartly to get better ranking.
The Effect on SEO
As a result of Google’s Panda update, the landscape of SEO has changed quite a lot over the last 4 years.
Now, it is more important than ever to produce high quality, unique and original content. You fail to do that and your SEO campaign can come crashing down in no time. If the old Google Panda update did not get hold of some Blackhat SEO techniques, the new one most certainly will.
Final Words
Here’s what we recommend you should be keeping in mind now (if you have been reading any of the old SEO guides that are no longer useful but may in fact prove disastrous):
- Avoid duplicate content at all costs
- Spun content is a strict NO
- No keyword stuffing
- Deceptive content? Google Panda is watching
- Using content farms for link building should be strictly avoided
- Poor quality back links should be dis-owned
- User experience is as important as the content; do not ignore the ‘design’
- Optimize each one of the active pages on a website