Google Panda's Impact on SEO

Written by Ian MacOlive Thursday, 05 May 2011 02:00

Google has never made a secret of the way it has made a number of changes to its search algorithm throughout the years. In some cases those algorithm changes have been subtle, but in other cases they have had a dramatic effect on SEO. The most recent change is closer to the latter, and search engine optimization has been affected in ways that many think are not for the better. However, the real significance of this change is how it will impact you - or rather, how you will let it impact you, both now and down the road.

Google has never made a secret of the way it has made a number of changes to its search algorithm throughout the years. In some cases those algorithm changes have been subtle, but in other cases they have had a dramatic effect on SEO. The most recent change is closer to the latter, and search engine optimization has been affected in ways that many think are not for the better. However, the real significance of this change is how it will impact you - or rather, how you will let it impact you, both now and down the road.

Search engine optimization has long been one of the best ways to advertise and drive traffic to websites, so it's not surprising that so many have taken advantage of various SEO techniques. In fact, effective search engine optimization has permitted many small businesses to successfully operate throughout the world by helping them achieve high rankings in relevant Google searches. That's a wonderful thing for those businesses, but what about others who want to abuse the system?

The Internet has had "content farms" full of duplicate content for years. The problem with these content farms is the duplicate content they host. Much of that content is produced with article spinners which create several articles from the same source article. A spun article might seem different when you first see it, but once you find some of its spun siblings you'll recognize it right away as being spun from the same source.

So, what impact has Google Panda had on SEO? Well, Google is now coming down harder on people who use black hat search engine optimization techniques to increase the popularity of their websites, but it also cracking down on those content farms that host duplicate content. Properly written, unique content has not been affected. In fact, websites with informative, unique content are rising in the search rankings and receiving additional traffic.

As a suggestion for those who wish to find themselves at the top of the rankings, or at least near the top, it would be best to use unique content from real writers. This is not to say that spun content is a terrible idea, but you need to make sure that the content is well written, and that it meets the standards set forth by the internet community.

There's no reason why Panda's new policy should crush your website, but if you want a positive outcome you'll need to put in some effort and learn more about SEO, particularly if you've been depending on copied or spun content. No one can predict what will happen tomorrow, but we know the future holds an improved experience for people surfing the Internet.