Panda Updates
Google has recently updated their search engine algorithm with the
latest Panda update. They have applied the changes in the US and it has
created controversies and havoc in the internet industry. Now the
question is, how will this change affect your site’s SEO once it is
released all over the world?
A big question mark
I for one am excited and at the same time a bit anxious on how it
will affect some of my blogs. There have been some civilian casualties
in the US such as Cult of Mac (which is a blog that discusses about Mac)
and other seemingly innocent websites that do not practice content farming at all.
The question we need to ask ourselves is ‘if there have indeed been
any civilian casualties, what are the chances that I might be one of
them when the change is implemented in my country?’ The bigger question
you need to ask yourself is, ‘how does this change affect my site’s
SEO?’
The purpose of the Panda
The change is implemented in order to eliminate ‘low quality’
content, or in other words, spammy content trying to rank in the search
engines. You have to understand that Google is only trying its best in
eliminating results that are not relevant or not useful because its
users have requested it.
The Panda update has affected sites like Mahalo, Ezine articles,
Wisegeek and a lot of other websites. I was personally surprised that
Ezine articles was affected because they do look over and edit their
articles (they even reject some) – although perhaps quite loosely. Now
they said that they’ll be more strict with the articles they are
accepting.
Some websites that were affected are: (taken from wisestartupblog.com)
How does this affect your SEO?
Publishing content just for the heck of traffic is not a good idea.
This is the main reason why Google made the update – because a lot of
sites take a lot of content just for them to attract more visitors from
the search engines to go to their site and give some impressions and
clicks to the ads.
They don’t really care about the quality of the content as much as
the traffic they are getting from it. We have to always keep in mind
that people want real, useful, quality content – and Google is just
trying its best to deliver us that which we desire. True, there may have
been some unforseen and perhaps unjust casualties, but that’s why it’s
called a ‘change’ I’m sure Google will try to patch things up in due
time.
You should be more mindful of the things that you publish. Make sure
it’s unique, original and helpful to people. Don’t make articles just to
suck-up to search engines as some people do. If you have local content
farming websites, try to look at which keywords you could grab from them
when the Panda update is implemented in your country. Perhaps you can
be the one to rank first for that keyword phrase that you want since
they’re getting kicked off the picture.
In the end, SEO is a zero-sum game. If the content farms are getting
kicked off the SERPs, then the content producers get to rank higher.
Take this opportunity to do so.
Tips for Keeps: Start looking out for local content
farms in your country. Look at some of the articles they are ranking for
in your niche, create content that will allow you to rank for the same
keyword phrase and wait for the Panda update to come around.
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