Google lifts the veil on PANDA.

On the 23^rd of February, Google’s PANDA update dealt a severe blow to content farms all over the Internet and impacted countless other websites in terms of rankings. Matt Cutts recently posted on the Google blog with a lot more details surrounding what exactly Panda took and continues to take into account when determining a site's rank. As is standard procedure for Google, the 23 criteria were purposefully vague but together they attempted to create a baseline for everyone to use in building a coherent, Google-friendly site.

The 23 criteria focused heavily on the idea of quality content, a concept Google has been pushing for years. Some of the more straightforward instructions on the list included posting only original, researched content, posting content that’s been edited thoroughly and includes no obvious errors, and posting no duplicate or “scraped” content. Seems simple enough, but many of Google’s suggestions are overly general and quite subjective, so creating a successful online marketing campaign is still a challenging task.

Now that the veil has been lifted on PANDA the real question is, what do you do with all this information? Most of you aren’t running content farms, so how, exactly, do you respond to Google’s largest overhaul in years? The answer to that question starts by determining what type of online presence you have or are managing: new or established. Panda means totally different things for each type of site and here are some thoughts on the best way each camp can respond…

If You Own A New Site:

Whether you’re just starting out on the web or are adding new sites to a growing portfolio of online marketing presences, Panda has changed the game. The good news is you’re in a better position than most to make the necessary tweaks to your content that will keep your site from sinking like a stone or never rising in the first place. Here are a few things to remember as you fill out your site:

Content, Content, Content: Of course, content is the driving issue behind the Panda update and if you’ve been online in the last few months you know that it’s all about “quality content.” Sounds easy enough, but what exactly is quality content? In a nutshell, quality content means original writing, researched information, appropriate syntax, correct spelling, and no grammar errors. As Google asks, “How much quality control is done on the content?”

Get Validated: Let’s say you’ve got content you think is quality, but you’re not sure what Google will think. The easiest way to bypass the spiders’ judgment is to get your content validated elsewhere, namely through social media. The more your content is clicked through and shared (think Facebook and Twitter) the more Google sees it as valuable. The takeaway? Post content people want to link to and market it like you would a tangible product – give it out for free, talk about the benefits and approach influential bloggers and web-celebs to help you promote it.

Blend Well: Google says your site needs to be “deep,” which is another way of saying you shouldn’t have 2,000 individual pages with ten lines of content each. Create a site that gives and takes, as in, gives users valuable content while asking them to take a look at ads or promotional offers. Simply put by Google, “Is this article written by an expert or an enthusiast who knows the topic well, or is it shallow in nature?”

If You Own an Established Site:

The people hit hardest by Panda were site owners who have been in the game for a while and have hundreds or even thousands of pages on their sites that were developed over time. When rankings drop in these cases it’s much harder to determine which element of a site Panda is penalizing. Here are a few thoughts for cleaning up your content in hopes Panda notices. And remember, even Google’s search guru Matt Cutts has made it clear that rankings won’t come back overnight. Make the right changes and be patient...

Evaluate Your Strategy: Have you been plugging away at the same keywords for months despite the direction your audience is pointing you? A better plan, and one that Panda favors, is to craft your content around what readers want – check out blogs, comment sections and even chat rooms to find relevant and related topics to talk about. Links and visitors come in more naturally this way and you won’t have to force them using keyword targeting.

Fix Your Title Tag: Make sure your title tag make sense. If your title tag says your page is about cheap balloons and it’s actually about leather bound books, Panda is probably going to deem your content less relevant and less “quality.”

Get Original: Don’t scrape content. Make sure everything on your site is 100% original and you’re off to a good start. As Google directs, ask yourself, “Does the article provide original content or information, original reporting, original research, or original analysis?” Removing old copied content may help get your rankings back and adding only fresh content in the future will be a step in the right direction. Remember that Google loves new, useful content and your readers aren’t getting any value out of your site through content they can find elsewhere.

Whatever your reason, the Panda update provides a good incentive to pick through your site or sites and remove any bad content. Even if it’s old, if it’s not relevant now it has no place on your site. Algorithms change daily so what worked then may not work now…changing your content strategy to keep up with Google is one of the only ways to stay relevant as an online marketer.