Google algorithms updates
Google Algorithms
Penguin
The Penguin algorithm update came the following year, in 2012. While it shares a central tenet of Panda in that it seeks to show users better, more useful results, it does so by attacking a different strain of unsavory sites. Specifically, it focuses directly on the backlink profiles of the sites it is ranking.
Generally, links have been a major aspect of SEO since the beginning of the industry. As Moz smartly puts it, “A link is like a vote for your site. If a well-respected site links to your site, then this is a recommendation for your site. If a small, unknown site links to you, then this vote is not going to count for as much as a vote from an authoritative site.
What does Google Panda target?
The simple answer is that Google Panda aims to reward quality content and prevent low-quality or deceptive content from showing in the SERPs. Of course, algorithmically measuring the “quality” of content is difficult but, even in 2011, Google managed to pinpoint a number of issues that suggests content shouldn’t rank in high positions:
- Thin content: Pages with very little content or technical issues preventing Google’s bots from seeing content (e.g. hidden content, dynamic content etc).
- Keyword stuffing: Forcing or hiding keywords within content in order to boost search ranking.
- Irrelevant content: Content that doesn’t match the keywords, titles and other elements you’re optimising for.
- Content farms: Websites that publish high volumes of low-quality content, often taking content from elsewhere on the web and compiling it on a domain that offers little original value.
- High ad-to-content ratio: Pages that prioritise ads over content (high ad-to-content ratio, ads above the fold etc).
- Low-quality or excessive user-generated content (UGC): While user-generated content (UGC) in itself isn’t a problem, it needs to be relevant to the topics covered in your domain/pages while adding value to the overall experience.
- Excessive affiliate links: Again, there’s nothing inherently wrong with affiliate links or affiliate websites, but your content must have something to offer besides promotional links.
- Lack of authority: Panda changed the way Google looked at website and page authority – something that has continued to evolve to this day (more on this later).
- Deceptive content: Content designed to deceive users – for example, making ads look like regular content in order to generate more clicks.
- Deceptive links: Links that don’t take users to the promised location.