Source: markcijo.com via Larry on Pinterest
SEO and various linking techniques have been the main target of most website owners for years because the dual combo enabled a website to climb to the top of Google’s search engine rankings. After becoming frustrated with the poor quality content that was rising to the top of the list, Google’s programmers developed an algorithm entitled Google Panda. Initially launched in February 2011, Panda changed everything about the way Google assigns search engine rankings.
What exactly does Panda Focus on?
Panda’s main focus is on demoting thin content and promoting quality content. Although the exact formula behind Panda’s ever-changing algorithm is a closely guarded secret, there are some things about Panda that we know with absolute certainty. Panda assigns a quality score to each webpage on the Internet. If you have a website that has even one page with thin content, your site’s overall score will be lowered. The determination of thin versus quality is determined based on the number of words that are in an article, plus the total number of quality outbound and inbound links. Panda penalizes bloggers that participate in blogging networks, and it also seems to prefer articles that are a minimum of 300 words.
What is Google Penquin?
Google Penquin is an algorithm change for Panda that was introduced in late April. The original basis of Panda revolved primarily around thin versus quality content, but the Penquin update placed a stronger emphasis on links and the presence of spam like activities. Penquin analyzes all incoming and outgoing links to determine if they are likely to be legitimate or simply spam. In the past, individuals and businesses could use simplistically worked Google AdWords to drive traffic to their website, but now even those ads are being factored into a website’s search engine ranking. Although most AdWords campaigns will not have a negative impact on your site’s performance, placing any ads that are poorly written may result in a lower search engine ranking.
Source: donhalbert.com via Larry on Pinterest
What can Bloggers do?
Bloggers are definitely one of the hardest hit groups by Google Panda. If you run a blog that has been suffering from decreased traffic, then the updates in Google Penquin have most likely reduced your search engine ranking. In order to bring your ranking back up, you should remove your blog from any blogging networks and deactivate any AdWords campaigns that are light on content. Next, you should go through your blog and remove any links to other websites that have a lot of thin posts. Finally, you should also remove any thin or duplicate content that is on your blog. Remember, each page of your website has the ability to drag the entire site down, so it is important to either remove or improve each thin post.
Preparing for the Future
Google Panda currently utilizes approximately 200 different points of criteria within its algorithm. Google has announced that they expect this number to reach 500 by the end of the year. Although they are not going to announce exactly what should be expected with each algorithm update, it is fair to assume that they will continue to reward high-quality content with higher search engine rankings while pushing the ranking of low-quality content increasingly lower. Now is the perfect time to remove all low-quality content from your website or blog and begin focusing on posting only well-written pieces that are at least 300 words long.
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i am agree with your info, panda relates for content and penguin for keyword.google panda derive content from every webpage.so i think your info is good on the matter that how we can safe our webpage from google’s eye.
Thanks Bhushan
Penguin seemed like it was mostly about overoptimized anchor text. Sounds like there is a major Penguin update in the pipeline though. It’s been a while. Been awfully quiet. I’m guessing it’s the calm before the storm.
Hi Derek, thanks for commenting!
Funny you said that I was thinking the same thing 🙂
Hi Rivera,
I am agree with you, Google Panda is an algorithmic change that check for quality content and unique content etc. whereas Penguin Update is a web spam filter that checks for over optimization.
Thanks.
Hi Larry,
Panda and Penguin are two best things happening in the SEO world.But most of the people underestimate them both and keep on saying negative words about them.
I hope people will understand the main motive of these algorithm and start following the right techniques.Its all about increasing the standards.
This post is a good example to differentiate between both and explains the exact information one should know about Panda and Penguin.
Thanks for sharing this Larry.
Hi Aditya, I agree with that. I love blogging and like every other marketing outlet online people abuse the heck out of them. Including blogging!
I am glad google slaps people and keeps them on their toes. They are getting better at rewarding quality content.
You are absolutely right, these updates and changes are for the better, and are ridding the internet of spammers who are trying to cheat the process and make it to the top. Quality and original content should always be the means of achieving greater success in SEO, not the ability to spam links across a million websites in an instant with a spamming program.
Hello Larry,
Read so many posts on Google’s Panda and Penguin Updates in the last two months. Most of them have given very good and positive reviews. Both are best. They have been created for SEO. Unless you learn more about them, you cannot comment.So, Panda enables to figure out good content while Penguin is an algorithmic change as said above. I am really happy to know about these two creations of Google.
Regards,
Rajkumar
Hi Rajkumar , thanks for stopping by and commenting
Hey Larry, nice breakdown on our friends Penguin and Panda. No doubt a lot of people suffered from these updates. But it was all for a good reasons that I agree with.
Sometimes it’s not if you win or lose, but how you play the game. If other bloggers are smart they will follow the advice you have given here.
Thanks for the update.
Have a great weekend,
Galen~
I have to agree Galen..
..Winning or loosing is irrelevant it’s how you play the game 🙂
Good point and it is what blogs should really be about: the spreading of useful information for the benefit of others. Simple as.
Hey, Larry! Thanks for explaining this stuff – it’s the most understandably explanation about Panda and Penguin I’ve ever read. In the past two months one of my websites had its rankings improved, but soon after, everything have gotten worse, I’m trying everything I can to improve them again.
Hi Christian, I am glad I helped clear things up a bit 🙂
..Also
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
Hey, Larry! My pleasure 🙂 I’ll come back daily, even if I might not have enough time to say my opinion on every article.
Good stuff, use the search on this blog there are a lot of articles with great information…
Thanks reading 🙂
Hi Larry,
Yes , It is quite common for people to mistake a panda hit for a penguin hit when it comes to a drop in website traffic – the truth is a lot of people don’t know the major differences and what to look for if your site has been hit by an algorithm update.
I am well understood the actual fact of panda and penguin updates whose ultimate aim is to remove duplicate content the best way, systematize the alignment of content, lines, page size and all.
I am well understood the actual fact of panda and penguin updates whose ultimate aim is to remove duplicate content the best way, systematize the alignment of content, lines, page size and all. Internet Marketing Guru @www.myspace.com/peter.zmijewski
I deal with small businesses who are simply trying to survive. Their business is local…about a 30-40 mile radius. They use web sites as a means of keeping existing customers updated and giving prospective customers and idea about what they have to offer together with contact information….ususally in the form of a telephone call.
These people do not have time to spend on complex SEO campaigns designed to beat the algorithms.
It sounds to me like Panda and Penquin mean that these people should simply follow good business basics when it comes to the design and maintenance of their web sites. Make the content relevant to customers and prospective customers using words they are most likely to search on and organize the content in a logical way…that customers would most prefer.
Bottom line, if you keep the focus on customers Google is bound to catch up in a design of an algorithm that gets to the same thing. Until then, it just isn’t cost effective in time and money to try and outwit Google.
That is just my take on it. But, I sense that with a little time spent thinking about what customers are after, you can make sure that these key words are used in the text, headings, and other areas of the web site that SEO tends to focus on in a legitimate way. It also makes it easier to build legitimate links. BTW, these links work all on their own to refer traffic to your web site (because they are legitimate). You can also use Google Analytics to track the traffic and discover information about your customers (such as what key words they use) that help you refocus the content of your web site, even the products and services that you offer, to respond better to customer desires. Google Ad-Words is particularly helpful in this regard.
This isn’t complex and it costs very little in terms of time and money.
I think Panda and Penguin seem to fit quite nicely with this focus on customers.
Did I misunderstand something
Seriuosly i am fed up with these new alogrithem ….now it has created a disturbance for all those who are full time blogger like me and i tell you no one can understand what google actually wants
Great post here. Panda and Penguin about wiped out one of my websites. I learned a lot from the experience and learned not to have all my eggs in Google’s basket. I’ve since diversified my traffic sources and have explored into paid advertising with some success.
Great post. Thanks for sharing.