Last week Google released their latest algorithm update, dubbed Google Panda 4.1, it’s aim is to identify low quality website content more easily. It will affect up to 5% of search queries but the upside is that smaller and medium-sized sites with good quality content will rank higher.
What does Google Panda 4.1 really mean for your company website?
Well, if you have been focusing on offering great content, that is of real value to your website visitors, then all is well. If your website has pages with little information or just images, then you’ll need to re-consider your content marketing strategy.
Sites that have too much ‘thin’ content will eventually suffer what we call Panda’s ‘slow death phenomenon’. Thin content is often defined as pages that have very little body text, but can also be caused by;
- dynamically generated pages
- scraping from content other sources
- low quality guest blog posts
- doorway pages
What will happen to pages with thin content?
Pages with low quality content will gradually lose visibility over time and eventually disappear from Google altogether. This is why it is vital to your digital marketing strategy to build a Panda proof site now rather than later.
So what is Google looking for to determine low quality, thin content?
Very simply there are two content signals that Google is looking for on your website … quantity and quality.
Quantity is the amount on content on your website.
Quality is whether that content is unique and is valuable to website visitors. If it is, then they will spend more time on your site digesting the content and ultimately, read more content throughout the rest of the site. This signals to Google that your content is ‘of value’ and will push that content higher in the search engine result pages. These signals are termed ‘user signals’ and Google weighs up these signals against other KPIs.
It pays to keep an eye on your competitors’ online strategy
If your competitors are creating unique content that is generating a lot of interest, either directly on their site or via social media, then it will be a natural result that they will rank higher on Google.
When a site has too many ‘negative signals’ then the whole website can disappear out of rankings. It’s no longer just about optimising for keywords. The way users interact with your site, how long they spend there and the social activity on your site (sharing, comments, etc) all play a major part in the Panda equation.
Gone are the days where just having a website is enough to generate interest in your products and services. It’s now essential to have a comprehensive digital marketing strategy that incorporates SEO, Content, Social and Usability in the mix. Then continue to provide good quality content designed for your visitors and grow your company website into a real asset to your customers and ultimately, your ‘potential customers’ who are seeking the help, assistance and advice that you offer.
Our advice to you … value what you know and get it out there in a way that fits your audience!
Or get in touch with Site Reach to help you put in place a comprehensive digital marketing strategy.
Photo Credit: https://flic.kr/p/nKN5Lh