Google Penguin and Google Panda Explained

Penguins? Pandas? Is the internet turning into a zoo? 

If you've looked into how to improve your website's rankings, then you have probably heard of Penguin and Panda updates and wondered if the internet is going animal crazy? Still bamboo-zled? Here are some facts which might help you break the ice.

pandaguin

About Google Search

Using the Google search engine and finding quick relevant information at our fingertips is something we take for granted. What you may not realize is that Google is continuously updating their searches to provide internet users with the most accurate information.

Google Panda and Google Penguin are two of the most popular updates Google has implemented in order to improve their search results for visitors.

Google Panda 

Google Panda was first introduced in February 2011 to stop sites with poor quality content from ranking high in the Google search engine results. It mainly focuses upon two areas:

  • Websites which were creating a significant amount of poor quality links and rankings in the top pages.
  • Websites with low levels of original content and websites which plagiarise other original content -  Numerous pages like this would be flagged by Google and subsequently your website would be penalised. This meant that sites which contained higher quality content were rewarded with better rankings within the search results.

Google Panda Latest Plans

  • To focus on additional signals of quality - to redefine sites in grey area.
  • To address the "cluster of results" from the same domain name. This means that a site which has dominated a page of results is less likely to be shown in later pages of the search results.
  • To provide more help and advice to the webmasters. For example how they can diagnose their sites if they have been hacked.

How Can I Avoid being Pandorised?

  • Choose strong links which are best suited to your brand - Avoid the temptation to create links which have lots of traffic but are not connected to your website.
  • Always be creating fresh original content - As domains are constantly being re-ranked, it's important to create new content to maintain a consistant level of traffic to your site.
  • If the majority of your pages contain poor quality content your whole site will be affected.

Google Penguin

Google Penguin was first launched in April 2013 and is an algorithm which primarily targets sites which purposely intend to reach the top rankings by spamming the search results.

  • Whilst spamming has been around for years, the Penguin update has been created to better target spamming sites which fall through the net.
  • Targets advertorials - Whilst Matt Cutts has said there is nothing wrong with using Ads, but ads should be clear and distinct so the user realises that the link is paid.
  • Provides a more detailed link analysis.

What Can I Do to Avoid Penguinisation?

  • Ensure your anchor text is "natural" to the Google Search robots.
  • Make sure you include a disclaimer and or use “not follow” links for any content which does not originate from your site.
  • Remove any backlinks of spam origin.

On a Final Note 

We have found that with a little knowledge and expertise, you can avoid the wrath of the Pandaguin and keep your website ranked within the top search engine results on Google. Our friendly team can give you some excellent advice on how to improve your website's search engine rankings.

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