Beginners Guide To Google Panda Algorithm

Although Po from Kung Fu Panda realizes that “There is no secret ingredient…” When it comes to Google Algorithms, the updates are often shrouded in mystery. Focusing mainly on the quality factor, Google Panda was first released in the month of February 2011 targeting to lower the rank of low quality sites. Google Panda hits the ranking of complete website rather than the individual pages. Few pages of duplicate or poor content are more than enough to bring down the ranking of any website. This change affected ranking of almost 12 % of overall search results.

The name of algorithm “Panda” is the name of the engineer Navneet Panda from Google who created the technology so that the algorithm can be implemented.

Matt Cutts, head of webspam at Google for sites having original content but low quality content said that those sites which are not bringing additional value, but are not duplicates, are bringing nothing new to the table.

How to Stay Protected From Panda:

Use Original Content: The world of internet is all about Content. Content has to be unique and original. Google doesn’t like presenting stale content to its searchers.

Use Quality Content: Simply posting original content will won’t work either. The content posted must provide some value to the user. This is Google’s main aim. To give people what they are searching for.

Don’t Over Advertise: Sites with extra advertisements and poor navigation were also hit with the Panda Release. Sites which only aim to show ads and provided poor user value were seriously impacted. Google simply aims to provide better user experience.

Google officially released some points on their blog to help site owners to decide if their website is a high quality site or not. Following are the points:

• Would you trust the information presented in this article?
• Is this article written by an expert or enthusiast who knows the topic well, or is it shallow in nature?
• Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations?
• Would you be comfortable giving your credit card information to this site?
• Does this article have spelling, stylistic, or factual errors?
• Are the topics driven by genuine interests of readers of the site, or does the site generate content by attempting to guess what might rank well in search engines?
• Does the article provide original content or information, original reporting, original research, or original analysis?
• Does the page provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results?
• How much quality control is done on content?
• Does the article describe both sides of a story?
• Is the site a recognized authority on its topic?
• Is the content mass-produced by or outsourced to a large number of creators, or spread across a large network of sites, so that individual pages or sites don’t get as much attention or care?
• Was the article edited well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?
• For a health related query, would you trust information from this site?
• Would you recognize this site as an authoritative source when mentioned by name?
• Does this article provide a complete or comprehensive description of the topic?
• Does this article contain insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious?
• Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
• Does this article have an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?
• Would you expect to see this article in a printed magazine, encyclopedia or book?
• Are the articles short, unsubstantial, or otherwise lacking in helpful specifics?
• Are the pages produced with great care and attention to detail vs. less attention to detail?
• Would users complain when they see pages from this site?

The Purpose of the Panda Update:

Main purpose of the release was to remove low quality sites from the search and bring forth high quality sites. Google wants to give the best results to the end users.