Google Panda Protection Tips

My days are consumed with doing research on Google updates at present. Feb 23, 2011 seems like yesterday when Google launched its farmer=Google Panda. Since then it has rolled out updates upon updates so as to improve the quality of its search.

I have to present a paper on Panda on 28 Jan 2013 at work, I thought I had turned no stones unturned in my research of finding the latest change in Google algorithm. Not anymore. Although not the last person, I was also not the first in my SEO department to know that Google twitted only yesterday announcing that they pushed out yet another Panda refresh making it the 24th version.

This brought me face-to-face with the reality of this virtual world called the world wide web where things keep on changing at the blink of your eye!

As someone who has worked as a reporter for an English-language newspaper in Nepal, I did not have to deal or, say, be aware of the concept of search engine algorithm changes in the past. However, now as I work as a content writer for a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company, it has become a must to know of these updates. And hence my paper and hence this blog.

A lot of businesses, almost all, depend upon the internet for marketing and hence have their own websites. The past year has brought about a massive decline in the traffic of sites that were previously ranked high in search engines like Google. Kudos to Panda. Popular sites like suite101.com have been slapped rendering a steep decline in their ranking. The latest algorithm update has affected 1.2% of English queries, thus making it absolutely necessary for SEOs to seriously think of where they are headed.

Here are some tips SEOs can apply to prevent their websites or projects from being Panda-slapped.

• Remove low quality content

Avoid keyword-stuffing and adding duplicate content to your websites. Be aware if your site has the same or similar pages with slightly different keywords or phrases.

• Give out unique content

Be as creative as you can be. Avoid becoming a copy-cat. This is something Google and all other search engines simply hate. Be original. Be yourself.

• Focus on trust and authority

Trust and authority matter. Your visitors have a multitude of questions before deciding on actually ordering your service. They may ask to themselves, “Can I give this website my credit card? Can I give my kid the medicines the site prescribes?”

Think like your visitors before you build or work on your website. Is the content credible?

• Keep advertisement-to-content ratio healthy

Maintaining a healthy ad-to-content ratio is essential to preventing your business from losing popularity. It is not only good for Panda but also helps visitor’s user experience.

• Identify and track Panda updates

Be aware of Panda updates and save your business from loss. If you are actually hit by Panda then report it to Google immediately to restore your rankings.

Well, these are basic tips to avoid yourself from becoming a victim of Panda. This is what my research and my work experience tell me. Whatever you do, win confidence and trust of your visitors. Google will follow suit.