When you hear the words “Panda update,” your heartbeat likely increases as you begin to picture your website’s rankings plummet. But don’t worry; this latest update is actually going to be good for you. Well, as long as you took the last update to heart.
On September 25, Google announce that it began the slow rollout of what many are referring to as Panda 4.1. It’s not a huge change, so it doesn’t qualify for 5.0 status, yet it is enough to at least gain one point on the scale. If you are keeping track, this is actually the 27th Panda update that has been confirmed by Google. But if you know Google, there were probably a lot more secret ones that worked quietly behind the scenes.
This update has one mission, and one mission only: to penalize poor content. Essentially, they added on a filter that is proficient at figuring out which content is boring, poorly written, or all fluff. The point—as always—is to give the searcher the best information out there when their keywords are entered.
As mentioned, if you paid attention to the 4.0 update four months ago, then this change is what you have been waiting for. If you were penalized for having less-than-desirable words on your website, and you worked hard to improve them, now is your chance for redemption. In fact, Google believes this update will help small and medium sites rank better than before, as long as they are still putting the priority on the quality of their content.
On the contrary, if you didn’t notice much of a change in your rankings after 4.0, you many need to watch out. What was considered decent content before may not meet the requirement anymore. That’s not to say you won’t still rank high; you just need to be on the lookout for a change, and realize that if you drop it’s probably because of your content.
Like always, it’s all about the content. Make sure your blog postings are at least 400 words in length, have proper grammar and spelling, and are enjoyable to read. Add new content regularly and remember that quality it just as important as quantity. If you can master those requirements, this new update may very well be the break you have been hoping for.