Google Panda Updates
Introduction
Google panda update is a change which is made by google to improve the quality of search result. The main purpose of this google update is to check whether a website has useful, original and meaningful content. In simple words we can say that the panda update checks if a website is helping users or not.
If a website has any copied content, very short information, too many ads or low quality articles then google gives it a lower ranking. But it the website has helpful content, clear information and original articles then google gives it a higher ranking.
So, we can say that the main goal of the google panda update is to reduce the ranking of the low quality websites, to promote high quality content and to improve the search experience of the users.
What is the google panda update?
In Google’s search algorithm the google panda update is an important change. It was first introduced in February 2011. The main aim of creating this update was to control the websites that publish low quality content.
The websites can be affected in a negative way if they repeat the same content again and again, shows too many advertisements and provide very less useful information. Panda works like a filter. It helps google in showing better quality websites at the top of the search result in the googles search algorithm.
The main purpose of the google panda update is to make sure that the users can see the most unique content, get useful information and relevant websites. Because of this google update the good websites move higher in ranking, poor quality websites move lower in ranking or disappear from results.
So, after this google update websites owners must create useful and original content to improve their ranking.
Why was the panda update introduced?
Before the google panda update, many websites were ranked high on google even though they had copied their content from other websites, the articles were very short, too many advertisements on the website and the information on the websites are low valued.
These websites were called content farms. They created many low quality articles just to get more visitors. Because of this users were not getting the right and helpful information. Google introduced the panda update to improve the experience of the users and provide them better information.
Main features of the panda update are:
1. Focus on content quality- The main focus of this update is to check whether the content of the website is useful, informative and original.
2. Penalty for duplicate content- The penalty for the websites that copies content from other websites may lose their ranking.
3. Reduces thin content- The pages which has very less or low value information get lower rankings.
4. Promotes high quality websites- Websites which has unique and helpful content gets better ranking.
How websites can avoid panda penalties-
To stay safe from the penalties of the panda update, websites should:
• Write contents which is original- This means the content on the website should be own written, not copied from other websites.
• Providing information which is useful- This means the content should help users to solve their problems or give answers for their questions.
• Avoid copying from other websites- The contents which are copied from other website are called duplicate content and panda does not like it.
• Reduce too many advertisements-If a website shows too many advertisements on their pages, users get irritated and leave the website quickly which is not good for the website.
• Maintain high quality articles- High quality article means content that is easy to understand, properly explained, well structured, informative and useful for readers. Long but meaningless content is not helpful. Simple and valuable content is always better.
Impact of the panda update
When the google panda update was introduced many websites were affected around the world. The websites with duplicate or low quality content lost their ranking. Websites with helpful and original content improved their ranking. The google panda update encouraged many website owners to focus more on the quality content and user experience. For example:-
Suppose there are two websites who writes about the same topic- Website A: Which has copied content and too many ads and the Website B: Which has original, helpful and clear content with fewer advertisements. Then the google panda will rank website B higher because the contents of the website B is unique, useful and create more value and it also contains few advertisement .
Conclusion
The google panda update is an important step taken by google to improve the search results. It teaches the website owners to create the contents which are original, contents which are useful and informative, write articles which are high quality.
For students who are learning SEO and digital marketing, understanding the google panda update is very important and useful because it shows that the content quality matters the most. Earlier some websites use shortcuts and different tricks like keyword stuffing to rank higher. But now this is not possible because of this google panda update which focuses more on useful and meaningful content. That is why the google panda update is very important in SEO today.
