Google’s recent “Panda” update is getting plenty of notice and discussion on SEO and web marketing sites. This is an algorithm update, the formula Google uses to rank sites—using a variety of areas of your web site.
It’s clear that one of the biggest goals for Google’s algorithm update is to provide higher page rankings for quality, rather than quantity, content. The biggest sites hurt in the change seem to be the “content farms”. A content farm (according to Wiki…) “employs large numbers of often freelance writers to generate textual content which is specifically designed to satisfy algorithms for maximal retrieval by automated search engines”. In other words, spammy content designed to fool Google into better results.
While your site may not be a content farm, you could be adversely affected by this update if your site contains:
* Relatively high amounts of advertising on the site
* Duplicate content (either on your own site or other domains)
* Page headlines that don’t match their content
You can improve your site’s ranking with:
* Authoritative and useful content
* If your site is currently light on verbiage, more words per page may be an asset
* Content that provides value to your visitors
* Social network visibility via comments and sharing
Google constantly looks at their search methods, and modify them to help you bring you the results you want. Good content—relative content—is always the proper way to build your site. Force 5 tries to stay abreast of the latest search methodologies – contact us if we can be of assistance as you update your site.
