Since 2011, Google initiated some changes that . This was the result of two major updates, by Google, known as Panda and Penguin. The consequences were that many saw it as the end of SEO, and that optimization was no longer valid.
However, what it simply meant is that Google was clearing their “inventory” of low quality content and spammy keywords. It was a matter of making sure that the top ranking pages contained higher quality content and less keywords. In the process of clearing out, though, they have inadvertently lowered rankings of some sites with high quality as well. In some instances some of these sites have also been removed form the database as well.
Issues with Panda and Penguin
The major issue around these updates was that the content contained too many forced keywords resulting in what is known as spammy techniques. The content, in many cases, had no relevance to the sites either. In light of this, the usual techniques used for search engine optimization were no longer valid. Those who persisted, and did not adhere to the warnings, were dropped from the search engine database.
It is important to appease Panda with excellent and quality content. On the other hand, your SEO Company should also appease Penguin by not stuffing your content with too many keywords.
The importance is to create content that is of high quality, unique and related to your website. It is to make sure that the content fulfil the requirements of Google to obtain the rankings you are after. Thus, the aim of your content is to have your visitors find what they are looking for.
The Content Issue
The content needs to be created in such a way that the reader is able to read it. The keywords should be part of the flow of the reading. Above all, your content should be unique. In other words, you should not be able to find the same content on any other site around the Internet.
Panda, Penguin and many of your potential visitors would not be very happy with this duplicate content. The main idea behind the content that you need to create is its uniqueness. This lies in the fact that it should be well written and provide substantial information regarding your industry or the products you have for sale.
Your content is what drives people to your site, which increases visibility of your site in the search engines and improves your brand awareness.
Some Ideas to Make Your SEO Work for You
The Panda and Penguin updates have made improvements to benefit everyone. What this means is that businesses are forced to improve their websites, their content as well as their optimization. This, in turn, leads to improvement in visitor experiences, and increased business opportunities for these businesses.
- The title of your content should be descriptive and should motivate readers to share it.
- The Meta description that you would add should be a motivation for visitors to want to read more.
- You want people to read your content and therefore you should aim it at them. Focus on what would interest people that would search for information regarding your services or products.
- It is important that you also share your website through social media, hence, you should allow people to have the ability to do so (by adding social badges to your site).
- You should have a website that is easy to access, navigate and quick to load.
- With the Panda and Penguin updates, blogs have become a necessary part of all websites. This is where you would add interesting information that would draw people in to visit your website.
The Good that Came out of the Updates
The most important motivation for Google is the fact that it, in turn, motivates Webmasters to create quality content and quality websites. Furthermore, ownership of content has become an important factor as well. What this means is that your claim to authorship of the content on your site, would increase your ranking as well. Most importantly, it will give your site more credibility.
What has also become quite important is local SEO. This is a means of gaining higher rankings and visibility. The reason is that it would include most of your website information, with reviews on local information sites.
