Everyone uses the Google search engine. But who has heard of Google Panda?
There are two kinds of people on Google: people seeking information, and content pushers, trying to reach them.
You may not know this, but Google uses powerful search algorithms. In essence, they help arrange, manage, rank, and track all of the data input and output Google handles.
For example:
Google slightly changes their search algorithms about 600 times every year, to better manage their data. Of course, most of the changes are small and go unnoticed. However, when they make major updates to their Google Panda and Google Penguin algorithms, people notice.
The average search engine user won’t notice these changes. However, the content pushers, who are the web’s marketers and SEO experts, will always notice these changes. After all, they are the ones these Google updates affect the most.
This post is for the content pushers of the world. We’re going to discuss What is Google Panda, and how you can work with it to write better content and get more traffic. All in all, you will learn their search filters’ rules, and tools you can use so that you can increase your ranking on Google.
Google dominates the search engine market, and they offer email, cloud storage, online ads, cloud computing, and many other services. The company developed the Android mobile operating system, the Google Chrome web browser, and Chrome OS, a lightweight OS based on Chrome.
What is Google Panda?
Surely, you know that most people today call searching for something online “Googling“. In February 2011, Google made major revisions to how their search engine works. Called the Google Panda update, this changed their displayed search results, filtering out documents and pages that rate low on their scale.
The best part?
It forced marketers to rethink how they create content for the web.
Google set up the Panda algorithm to rank and filter pages.
Google Panda Scoring System
In effect, the algorithm scores each page on the basis of certain standards which Google thinks define text and page quality.
To improve Panda scores, writers and bloggers across the web are changing their writing styles to fit Panda standards.
In general, they rate all text, based on their standards, and better written pages gain prominence. Of course, nothing Google does is without critics. Some point to their rules as possibly dumbing-down content and stopping longer, more nuanced subjects to be handled. So, What are their rules? How are they changing the way we write?
Well, keep reading and you’ll find out.
Google Panda Rules & Bad SEO Tactics
The rules with Google Panda are simple. In brief, you just have to create quality content.
However, the Panda algorithm looks for certain red flags and will penalize you, so here is a list of areas they’re looking at:
Content Issues
- Thin Content: Posts and pages that consist of less then 500 words.
- Duplicate Content: If you have content that appears elsewhere on the internet, such as plagiarized articles, or multiple pages with little variations.
- Low-quality content: Sites providing little or no value to people, lacking information and leaving readers looking for more on the subject.
- Lack of authority/trustworthiness: Content produced by sources that are not considered definitive or verified. For example: Do you trust the content you are reading?
- Content farming: Sites that aggregate content, using search algorithm data-creating articles, videos and other media to rank high in search engines. However, most aggregated content is low-quality, and not honored by Google Panda.
- Low-quality user-generated content (UGC) – An example of this would be a blog that publishes guest posts that are short, full of spelling and grammatical errors, and lacking in authoritative data.
- High ad-to-content ratio – Pages made up mostly of paid advertising, rather than original content.
- Low-quality content surrounding affiliate links – Poor content around links, pointing to paid affiliate programs.
- Websites blocked by users – Sites that actual users are blocking, either directly in the search engine results, or by using a Chrome browser extension to do so, indicates low quality.
- Content mismatching search query – Pages that “promise” to deliver relevant answers if clicked on in the search results, but then fail to do so. For example, a site offering “money saving tips”, had better have them, not only advertisements. This will disappoint users.
Technical Issues
- Page Speed – Pages that load slower are ranked lower.
- Clean Design – Sites have to look professional and aesthetically pleasing, be easy to navigate, legible and useful.
- Canonical Redirects – While sometimes necessary, forced redirects to identical content will not be tolerated.
- Grammar & Spelling – Poor quality content reads poorly. Rewrite weak articles and combine shorter ones.
- Unique Meta Data – The quality of your meta-descriptions and title tags is important.
- Clear Site Architecture – Clear and intuitive architecture is vital. No page should be more than three clicks from the homepage. Also, no page should have more than a hundred links.
- Cross-Browser Compatibility – Design your site’s features to bow out or degrade seamlessly, when features are absent or lacking on different browsers and computers.
- Broken Links – Get rid of any 404 errors or broken links. It ruins the surfing experience, and hurts indexing efforts.
- Rich Snippet Implementation – Writing better snippets will improve your ranking.
- Title Tag Over-Optimization – You can’t overstuff keywords into your title tags, or promise too much and not deliver.
Do any of these, and you are almost guaranteed to get a penalty from Google.
We are getting this info from Google’s Panda recovery guidelines, which has guidelines sites must adhere to if they want to be considered high quality.
What is a Google Penalty?
A Google penalty is the negative impact on a website’s search rankings. They base these moves on updates by Google’s search algorithms and/or manual review. The penalty can be a by-product of an algorithm update, or an intentional penalization for various black-hat SEO techniques.
Google penalizes sites for engaging in bad practices that are against its webmaster guidelines.
Here’s the deal:
Google penalties can result in a drop in ranking, for every page on a site, for a specific keyword, or for a specific page. Any decrease in site ranking results in a big decrease in site traffic.
To find out if a website has been affected by a Google penalty, website owners can use Google Webmaster Tools. They can also analyze the timing of their traffic drop, compared with the timing of known Google updates.
How to Recover and Protect your Site From A Google Penalty
To prevent a Google penalty and protect your ranking, you should frequently conduct an audit of your website’s content. Any red flags detected by Google Panda could cause a penalty. This is why you need to audit your site for every possible penalty cause. In this way, you know exactly why your ranking dropped, your bounce rate increased, and profits went down.
Maybe you have duplicate content, or a poor page speed score. This recovery audit will save your traffic.
Most importantly,
Make sure you follow the rules we listed above.
Other Algorithms That Work With Google Panda
Google Penguin
Google Penguin was the codename for a Google algorithm change that was rolled out in April 2012. The change was designed to decrease rankings of pages and sites that weren’t following their rules. Google’s Webmaster Guidelines banned black-hat SEO tricks which artificially increased webpage rankings by creating false links pointing to the site. These tricks are also called “link schemes“.
This major Google algorithm focuses solely on link quality. Penguin affects those sites with low-quality backlinks. (You know who you are.) Google will not acknowledge them, nor rank them in their search engine, either. So, don’t waste your time and money, if you aren’t going to build quality backlinks.
Google Hummingbird
Google Hummingbird is a component of the Google’s main search parameters, and was one of the largest shifts since 2001. Unlike earlier changes, Hummingbird is not targeted, but instead ensures the best results for specific queries. Hummingbird is more about being able to understand search queries better. This is particularly vital with the rise of conversational searches due to Alexa, Suri and other voice-activated systems. It is believed that Hummingbird is improving traffic for sites that provide high-quality content. Links that read well and provide clear answers to questions are ranked higher. Google wants to provide high-quality search results for bigger questions.
SEO for more conversational search queries may sound difficult, but it isn’t. Make sure your content is highly readable. Your pages have to be more complete, answering longer tail queries as well as shorter ones. Like RankBrain (another Google algorithm) Hummingbird was released for a period before it was announced. In fact, most people in the SEO industry didn’t notice anything different regarding the rankings.
Google Pigeon
The “Pigeon Update” was launched on July 24, 2014 for U.S. English search results. This new algorithm was designed for more accurate local searches, tied more closely to traditional web search ranking signals. Google stated that this new algorithm improves distance and location ranking parameters.
Now,
Let’s cover Google Panda Best Practices, and Increase Your Traffic and Rankings.
How to Write Google Panda-Friendly Content
These tips, along with the rules and guidelines above, will keep your site Panda Approved and Penalty free. There is some overlap between our lists, but you should keep all of these tips in mind when writing Google Panda Friendly Content.
Quality Control Google Panda Checklist:
Content Issues
1. Well-edited Content – Make sure your content is free of typos, spacing and format errors.
2. Unique Content – Create content that isn’t anywhere else on the web. Google hates duplicate content and treats it like spam. Use a plagiarism checker, and rewrite any text that isn’t original.
3. Trustworthy Content – Make sure you create content and brands that others can trust. Also, NO spam content or false leads. Your content should match the search query keywords.
4. Focused Content – Make sure the topic of your article is clear, so readers can understand your content. Minimize or leave out distracting elements, such as ads, so readers can focus on your content.
5. Thick and Substantial Content – Make sure all of your pages and posts have a balance of quality, rich, thick content. Thin content can hurt your whole site ranking, and Google Panda penalizes you for it. Again, make sure your word count is over 500 words per post or page.
6. Value Comments – Mange your comments. Keep the high-quality ones and remove the low-quality comments. Low quality comments can hurt your site rankings, so weed them out.
SEO Issues
7. Eliminate Technical Issues – Even though they don’t cause a penalty, having technical issues on your site can still impact Google Panda and your rankings.
8. No Tricks – Do not try to trick Google Panda to rank higher. Google Prohibits Black Hat SEO Tactics so stay away from them. Again, if you’re using these tactics, and you know who you are, Don’t. Google Panda’s purpose is to reward those who are naturally creating quality high-ranking content. Just follow Google’s rules, and you’ll be greatly rewarded.
9. Quality over Quantity – Don’t focus on the amount of articles your site has. Focus on their quality. Google Panda has made it easier to rank in Google with little content, because its focus is quality. Most importantly, create content that is likely to be shared, because it’s useful, interesting and informative.
10. Bold and Italics – Your most important text should be bold or in italics, especially keywords but not every keyword. This will help Google Bots understand what your content is about.
11. Reader Targeted Content – Keep your readers in mind when writing. Maintain high quality, and don’t forget about optimization. So, make sure you create content around your readers needs, rather than Google’s wants.
12. Make Sure Headings Match Paragraphs – Use the right label for the article title, any subtitles, and for paragraphs headings.
13. NO Plagiarism – Write original content. NEVER steal articles from other sites.
14. Credit Sources – Like in a high school term paper, you MUST credit any sources you use. Just attribute others words to them in the text.
Back End Improvements
15. Images Improve Trafficand SEO – Pictures will make your site more attractive, and it has the added bonus of making your pages more SEO friendly.
16. Adding Social Media Buttons Adds Shares – Having social media buttons improves SEO, so add them soon if you haven’t already.
17. Easier to Read – All of your content should be easy to read. Posts with a lot of complex jargon could hurt rankings. Google Panda measures pages to see how easy they are to read. Like the Flesch Reading Ease Test, they demand shorter words and sentences to improve the readability score. So make sure you text is easily understood.
18. Active vs. Passive – Keep your passive voice to a minimum when writing because it can make your writing less clear to the reader. Furthermore, the problem with passive voice is that you risk conveying to your reader a sense of uncertainty or imprecision. Because of this, Google Panda also frowns on the use of passive voice, and encourages a greater use of transition words. So, write actively to keep your readers engaged and coming back.
Final Points
19. Be Brief – Furthermore, shorter articles get higher ranking from Google Panda. To repeat, make sure your articles are at least 500 words. While the reading public seems to favor shorter articles, that doesn’t negate the need for in-depth writing. Readers need intricate subjects and issues explored in media. So get to the point, but fully explain your topic.
20. Use SEO Tools – Search Engine Optimization ensure that you are following Google Panda Best Practices. Additionally, they will help you avoid content errors and penalties. Not only do they help you write high-quality content, but they help increase readers engagement. You rank better in Google and Bing, which gets more traffic. Furthermore, they help you maintain optimal site health. We recommend that you find an SEO tool that you like, and stick with it. Keep reading to see our list of highly recommended SEO Tools.
Well, there’s our list. Remember that there ARE ways to fight a low ranking. It may seem like a lot to worry about, but most of it falls under the category of good writing and good webmaster habits.
Now,
Let’s talk about those helpful SEO tools.
If our Google Panda Writing Guide is too much to digest, there are some great plug-ins and tools that will walk you through top SEO tactics and tips, automating the review of your website’s writing.
SEO Tools for Google Panda
SEO tools help you to improve your site’s quality and traffic, and rank higher in search engines.
Here are a few SEO tools that we personally tested and reviewed. We highly recommend them all, but you should consider one that’s going to best suit your needs.
Check them out:
Yoast SEO
Yoast SEO: Most of you probably have heard of Yoast, and know that they are the #1 SEO plugin. It’s a great plugin that we recommend for beginners, because it has a lot of helpful functionality, however there are other viable alternatives out there if you’re a seasoned SEO vet looking to upgrade.
Pros:
- Free Version
- Beginner friendly and easy to use
- Flexibility over content (titles, meta descriptions, and social sharing information on a per-post basis)
- Sitemap generator
- Premium features in paid version.
Cons:
- Readability recommendations may be helpful, however some find their recommendations often fall flat
- Encourages keyword stuffing
- Doesn’t recognize the importance of LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) keywords
- Dings you for other silly things, like a single “stop word” in your URL
- Falsely identifies passive voice when the sentences don’t actually contain passive voice
- Some features add bloat
Bottom Line:
This is a great plugin for beginners. Just don’t put so much emphasis on their readability recommendations, or else you will find yourself quickly annoyed. Other than that, Yoast is a great plugin. Their prices start at $89.00 for one site.
All in One SEO Pack
ALL in One SEO Pack: Compared to Yoast, All in One SEO is the second most popular WordpPress SEO plugin, Contrarily, it is the number one most downloaded SEO plugin, it just doesn’t get a lot of press. However, it’s a great alternative to Yoast. We love using it, and highly recommend that you use it, too.
Pros:
- Free Version
- Tons of unique features
- Auto-generated description tags
- Canonical tag support and a “bad bot” blocker
- Bloat-free interface
- XML Sitemap support
- Easy Google Analytics integration
- Support for custom post types
- Canonical URL support
- Free WooCommerce integration (most plugins make this a premium feature)
- Automatic or manual meta information
- Beginner friendly and easy to use
Bottom Line:
This is a great plugin worth investing in. We don’t have any complaints using this plugin. We love it and use the premium version on many of our sites. Not to mention, the pro edition is also usually one version ahead of its free companion Yoast. Their cost begins at $39 a month, and only $10 more for tech support, and they charge even less, if you’re charged biannually or yearly. If you’re interested in this plugin, please go though our partner link here, so that we can get credit for referring you to this great resource.
The big advantage: You can use the plugin for as many sites as you want, compared to Yoast. Every license is valid for unlimited usage. This is much more generous than Yoast SEO. You’ll also have access to other great and useful features by going pro. At least give it a try.
SEOPRESSOR
SEOPressor is a great premium SEO plugin that we also highly recommend. Similar to All in One SEO it operates on a monthly billing cycle.
Cons:
This plugin doesn’t have a free version like Yoast and All in One SEO. However, their premium fee is worth it.
Pros:
- Unique on-page SEO features
- Keyword over-optimization check
- LSI Keywords Engine – suggests latent semantic indexing keywords
- SemantiQ Density Analysis – tries to predict if your content is semantically related to your keyword
- Smart linking – A feature that lets you automatically link keywords in your content
- Broken link checker
- Site-wide SEO audit
Bottom Line:
These features go beyond All in One SEO and Yoast SEO’s focus keyword functionality and mesh more closely with Google’s approach to semantic search.
Of course, SEOPRessor also includes more standard SEO plugin features like Yoast and All in One SEO. That is, you can:
- Control titles and meta descriptions
- Add a variety of structured data for local SEO, social media, and more
- Generate XML Sitemaps
If you think you’ll make use of SEOPressor’s on-page recommendations, it may be worth it to spring for the monthly fee, especially if you’re over the Yoast extreme readability recommendations. Click here if you’re interested in SEOPressor.
Free tools that will help you check for technical errors and Google Penalties.
- Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix: Both of these sites allow you to check your site’s loading speed. The difference is Google checks the code on you site, to help you improve speed, while GTmetrix actually loads your site and judges your speed in real time. I use both of these sites when determining my page speed, and find each useful in its own way.
- Google Search Console – loaded with helpful SEO tool, that lets you check for security issues, site errors, and more.
- Plugin SEO – Lets you check your site for errors and offers recommendations on how to fix them.
- SEO Site Checkup – We love this plugin. It’s a great SEO analysis tool, that offers great insight into your site.
- Penguin Tool – This free tool will let you know if your site got dinged by Panda, Penguin or another Google penalty. This SEO tool will help figure it out. To use this tool you need to link up Penguin with your Google Analytics, and the tool will show if your organic traffic dip happened at the same time as a major Google update.
To that end, you should use at least one of the SEO tools we mentioned if aren’t. And make sure you follow our links to start. Also you should be using at least one of the analysis tools to check for technical errors. Use both of these tools to make sure your site health is well maintained.
Now You’re Ready to Make Your Site Panda-Friendly
Ultimately, the Internet is a repository for all human information, good, bad, incorrect and badly written as well. Could Panda standards be attention span shortening? Is Google trying to make text more legible and clear, or are they making people more dumb? How can there be less room for analysis and debate? Social media sites are full of people arguing about issues that matter to them in real time. Does this promote superficial discussions?
The answer is yes, and no. Perhaps for some, this will be the case. In other cases, the web has allowed people opportunities unheard of before. People can transcend their community, their family, their nation, and seek their true selves. While this may be scary for governments, religions and the people in power, it is an uplifting force for humanity. Certainly, the resulting world will be the one we build together. In conclusion, Google has changed the way we write, but change is a constant in the world.
When you make sure you have high-quality content, you will automatically rank better. Most importantly, look at you site content as food. Quality content is healthy and poor content is junk food. Always feed Google Panda with healthy, quality content.
Let us know what you think in the comment section below.
How are you going to make your site Google Panda Friendly?
Are you going to use an SEO plugin to write better content? Or are you going to check for technical errors?
Either way, let us know in the comments below.