Have you been hit by the surprise Google Panda algorithm update back in January? Perhaps you’ve noticed a drop in the ranks and you’re now working hard to repair some of the damage and climb back up the search engines? Thankfully, Google decided to share some valuable Panda information with us all, and this transparency will help SEOs to make some sensible actions to improve rankings. Here are a few ways you can begin to make improvements and to keep your website content healthy in the eyes of the search engine.
Your Content Delivers What is Promised
Google doesn’t like to see pages that promise their users one thing and then fail to live up to those promises. Your content needs to match the search query, giving users the results they’re looking for. Use Google Search Console Search Analytics to see the keywords people are searching, and then check that the page that is being linked to is actually delivering the expected content. Make changes to the content if necessary, add some extra information, edit a few sentences or add a paragraph or two to bring the content in line with the search query.
Improve the Content Rather than Deleting Your Work
Some of your content may be under-performing. You might be tempted to delete numerous pages of content, but you’re better off going back to the content and making improvements. Google likes to see websites that work hard to show that they are making improvements and taking the right steps to deliver quality content, and you can’t do this by deleting everything. Revisit the content and work out how you can improve it. Focus on delivering quality, check the facts, add more information that supports the information, and perhaps add an infographic, image or video too. Build up the content so it delivers quality to the reader. If improving the content isn’t possible you can remove it or noindex it.
Duplicate Content Woes
Duplicate content is not a good thing as it will affect your SEO. However, duplicated content isn’t a major concern if you’re working to recover from a Panda blow. Sure, removing and replacing duplicated content should be on the list of things to do, but you don’t have to put the job on the top of the ‘to do list’. Focus your main energy on improving quality and delivering on search queries before you begin searching for duplicated content.
Advertising Overload
Some websites try to make money by adding advertisements and affiliate links. There’s no law against this and it can be a great way of monetising a website, but you have to be careful. The Panda algorithm doesn’t care for those websites that fail to deliver value to the visitors, so it’s important to balance monetisation out by adding lots of quality content. Your website should be set up to bring value to the reader and not just value to you.
The Panda algorithm is all about content, and it’s officially part of Google’s core ranking algorithm, so ignore it at your peril. The content on your website can be tweaked and reworked to satisfy Panda’s demands. Begin working through the tips above if your rankings have suffered at the hands of the update, and give us a call if you need help with your SEO.
