Site Affected by Panda Update? Here is What Matt Suggests You to Do!

After more than 2 years since the Google Panda update was launched in Feb 23, 2011, many webmasters are still confused as to why their website’s search engine rankings are going down? Some blame it on the Panda update while others think it might be because of a Penguin update? It can sometimes be so irritating for a site owner to specifically find a reason for a drop in rankings.

Our friend, Matt Cutts has recently uploaded a video explaining the steps you should take if your site is being affected by the Panda update. Well, for those of you who don’t know what this update was about, here is quick summary:-

Panda was an algorithm update that targeted sites having low quality content, thin content targeted around specific long tail keywords, content full of ads serving less value to the user etc. Basically, it filtered the quality sites from the low quality ones. Panda has recently being integrated into the main Google search algorithm.

Now, have a look at this video:-

Althought Matt has refrained himself from going into the details but still “quality content” comes out as the lone factor in making your site Panda friendly. At least, this is what the video is suggesting. So, for those of you whose sites have been affected by the Panda update, here are a few steps that you must follow:-

Making Your Site Panda Proof

• Check the entire site for any form of content duplicacy. No form of scraped content should be present on the site. 

• Identify boiler plate content (similar text present on the entire site) and reduce it.

• Make sure your content adds value to the user.

• Increase social shareability of the content. Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus etc, all can help in this regard.

• Make sure the content does not starts with an ad. The ad to content ratio should be reasonable and must not irritate the users.

• Identify similar pages that are focused on a single topic and either merge those pages together or remove the too much similar ones. 

• Add comprehensive content on the pages. The best way is to update them with new content on a regular basis.

For more tips, read the SEO Checklist to Panda Proof Your Website.

Hope this will make your site Panda friendly. Best of luck!

Also See:- 

Seo After Panda and Penguin Update
Infographic on Google Panda Update
Google Panda Update 22
Google Panda Update 21

Google Panda Update Number 20
Google Panda 3.9.1
New Google Search Quality Updates
Importance of Content for Seo in a Post Panda World
What is Good Content?
Seo Content Copywriting Basics
3 Seo Fundamentals Every Webmaster Should Follow
Seo Secrets
Seo Lessons and Tutorial
How to Make Your Website More User Friendly
How to Create Compeling Content?