So Google’s Panda update has finally hit the UK, but what does it actually mean? We’ll take you through some of the winners and losers and some of the ways you can make your site Pandaproof.
Background
The Panda update has been introduced by Google in a bid to rid its results of ‘low quality’ content. The recent JC Penney debacle has highlighted the need for the search engine to police its results, in order to penalise sites which deliberately attempt to manipulate its algorithm.
The results
The following are some of the winners and losers of the recent update, based on research carried out by the good folks at Search Metrics.
Winning
The following are the 10 biggest winners in terms of page impressions following the update:
#Winning
1. youtube.com
2. ebay.co.uk
3. telegraph.co.uk
4. guardian.co.uk
5. bbc.co.uk
6. yahoo.com
7. blogspot.com
8. wikipedia.org
9. apple.com
10. dailymail.co.uk
No major surprises here. These are all authoritative, user-friendly sites with lots of original, regularly updated content.
Losing
Top losers
1.reviewcentre.com
2. myvouchercodes.co.uk
3. ciao.co.uk
4. dooyoo.co.uk
5. promotionalcodes.org.uk
6. about.com
7. brothersoft.com
8. everydaysale.co.uk
9. answers.com
10. pocket-lint.com
Above are the 10 biggest losers in terms of page impressions. So, why have they lost? James Perrin at Impact Media suggests that the reason could be that many of these sites are mainly image based, with little original or unique content. He seems to be on to something, as Google has previously threatened to take action against this.
The knock-on effects
A surprise casualty of this update has been Play.com, who saw page impressions decrease by almost 9% following the update. One of the reasons for this could be the volume of links the retailer has from 10th biggest loser pocket-lint.com, as demonstrated below:
Poor links?
So what will the impact of this update be for you? Well, if you’ve been implementing an SEO strategy that’s centred around article marketing, this could be very bad news indeed. Articlesbase, Ezine Articles and Squidoo are among a number of sites which have been hit by Panda. This means that links from these sites could be de-valued.
5 ways to make your site Pandaproof
1. Make sure that your site has 100% unique and original content and update it as often as possible.
2. Don’t rely too much on imagery, get a good balance between images and text.
3. Don’t link excessively from your pages, either internally or externally.
4. Don’t rely on article writing and distribution for SEO, get a mix of links from partners, directories, blogs and press releases.
5. Use your loaf! Google rewards good user experience, build a site that is user-friendly and you’ll be fine.
Its good to see that Google are starting to recognise the more honestly popular and helpful websites.
But I thought people didn’t read anymore, they just like pretty pictures.
If anyone wished for me to send them an image of our analytics then please contact me. Our traffic levels have not changed.
I am pleased to say that our staff and customers are no longer worried. After Search Metrics published some false data I have had to calm fears. Maybe their data is not what they are stating. Check your facts guys.
Regards
Doug Scott
MD
http://www.discountvouchers.co.uk
Hi Doug,
Thanks for commenting. I think there will always be some discrepancies when it comes to reporting on such data, glad you haven’t been affected.
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The Panda update penalizes those sites that exist simply to attract visitors and make money via click through. They do not in themselves offer any added value to the Internet.
I have hear it argued that Google is being somewhat hypocritical given that it in itself is simply a large directory which makes money from advertisements. It’s easy to slate Google but we all know that Panda is a good step as it gives more Authority to those sites that that do genuinely add value to the Internet and penalizes those that don’t.
It raises the bar for SEO consultants who now realize that they have to do more to earn their keep.
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