Google Algorithm updates have undergone massive evolution over the last few years. To its credit, Google has based the updates regarding its algorithms on two of the world’s most endangered animal species – Panda and Penguin. It is interesting that while these two species face the possibility of extinction in the real world, in matters regarding SEO, they are the most active and creating a lot of havoc. Any person or organization that intends to engage in SEO practices without involving Panda or Penguin faces the possibility of extinction. Panda is about 4 years old now while Penguin is celebrating its third year, but the two are just as effective as ever.
When Panda entered the world of Google Algorithms, it had an earthquake-level influence on the quality of content that websites featured. Low quality and shallow contents no longer had a place. Panda immediately proved that it was against the content farms and scraper sites and that were responsible for churning out low quality content and huge volumes of duplicate content. Henceforth, all content had to contain unique information that adds value to the lives of every person who reads it. Panda ensured that all SEO practices would focus on producing excellent content at all times. Panda affects site rankings.
Initially, Penguin had an effect on only 3.1 percent of all search results. Google has updated Penguin more than three times, thus ensuring that it remains alive and vibrant and does not have to worry about extinction in the world of SEO anytime soon. Penguin’s focus was and remains on the activities regarding web spamming. A site that engages in over-optimization of its content faces the wrath of Penguin through some severe penalties. Since Penguin has never been a manual penalty, sending reconsideration requests would only be a waste of time, as these will not be of any help.
Any website that has flouted the rules and suffered the wrath of either Penguin or Panda can still redeem its reputation. The first step involves studying Webmaster Guidelines published by Google to check the rules that the site has flouted. Use SEO professionals in this regard. Ascertain that all contents on the site are fresh, unique and of a high quality. Remove all duplicate, shallow and low quality content from the site. Keyword stuffing as a way of over-optimizing the content on the site would never help escape notice by Panda or Penguin. Keep off the temptation to buy cheap content. Hire excellent writers to produce high quality content.
Lastly, articulate internal linking properly. Avoid linking any content to sites that Google has banned or are renowned for the low quality content they produce. Relevance and quality must be at the center of the off-page promotions. Google Algorithms updates now pay more attention to relevance and not PR. Request for the removal of all site-wide links that appear on low quality sites. Avoid making anchor texts meant for inbound links too full of keywords. If none of these sites helps the site to achieve a higher ranking, design a fresh site and focus on doing everything right from the beginning to avoid annoying Panda and Penguin.
Other noticeable google algorithm update types are the Pigeon and Hummingbird updates.
Check out our list of Google Algorithm updates sorted by year:
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