What Is Google Panda?
The Google Panda Update was first launched in 2011 and named after Google Engineer, Navneet Panda, when content farms rose in popularity. It was developed to decrease the number of low-quality websites appearing in SERPs and boost the rankings of websites that adhered to guidelines. It is now integrated into Google’s core algorithm.
What Triggers The Panda Algorithm?
The Panda algorithm targets any factor that will undermine user experience and reduce the quality of a web page.
Below are some of the main factors:
1. Content Farming
The Panda update was initially created to combat 'content farming'. This is when a website produces lots of content with the core purpose of fulfilling SEO for algorithms.
2. Low Quality Content
Low quality content is a big trigger for Panda. This includes keyword stuffing, thin content, poor grammar and spelling, poorly researched content, and content from unverified sources, to name a few.
3. Pages That Aren’t Optimised
These pages completely overlook the importance of SEO and aren’t user friendly. They have usually completed no keyword research, their content is poor quality and they have no meta descriptions.
4. Lots of Ads
Another factor that will see a Panda penalty is a high ad-to-content ratio. Panda cares about high quality content.
If your site is bombarding the end-user with a large quantity of ads that distracts from the content, then things aren’t looking good for you.
Why Is the Google Panda Update Important?
Although the Panda Update is now part of Google’s core algorithm, which means there won’t be any Panda-specific updates, it is still important because it assesses content the same way. It also has the same consequences.
A Panda penalty works on a domain level, which means that a whole site will be penalised for the poor content of one page. Much like a Penguin penalty, Panda reduces rankings which leads to less traffic to a site.
How to Recover from a Panda Penalty?
Recovering from Panda is a difficult task. This is because it derives from a quality issue with a website. So, sometimes a whole website overhaul is required to fix the issues.
Below are some of the ways that websites can bounce back from Panda.
- Make sure that your content is useful, unique and free of errors
- Remove any content that is copied from other sites, or duplicated on other pages of your website
- Review the amount of advertisements and affiliate links on your website and their arrangement. Ensure that your content shines through
- Avoid any cloaking techniques
- Review old content - remove it if it is no longer relevant, or optimise it if it still adds value to your site
What Tools Can Help You Bounce Back?
There are some tools to help ensure your site is full of quality content.
- SEMrush
- Google Keyword Planner
- Spyfu
- WooRank
- Ubersuggest
- Keyword Finder
How Can We Help?
Have you been penalised due to the Panda Update? Something is going wrong!
Contact us to get matched with a team who can look into it for you and make sure you don’t fall victim again.
Meanwhile, you should check out our training courses to learn effective techniques to boost your SEO without any fear of Google penalties.
