SEO Tips after Panda and Penguin
The field of search engine optimization is every changing and developing, thanks to the regular frequent updates that Google makes to its search engine algorithm. Each Google update is designed and aimed at improving the search results that Google delivers to those who use it. While the Panda, the first of which was released in February 2011, is targeted towards making sure that websites provide high quality unique content on their spaces; the Penguin, which was first released in April 2012, targets websites which tend to engage in webspam and black hat SEO.
Because of the Panda and the Penguin updates, many SEO tactics and strategies were changed quickly. Some of what used to be done just two years ago or earlier, some even just a year ago, are not so welcome anymore nowadays when it comes to SEO strategies. To help you ride out the Panda and Penguin updates that might have affected your website rankings, below are some tips.
- Be original. Being unique pays off especially when it comes to content. Never duplicate content from another website. Instead, write high quality unique content for your website or hire a good writer to help you. There are quite a lot of good SEO companies nowadays that have their own in-house writers. Hiring an SEO company to also do the content work will ensure that the writer is aware of the type of content that is good for your website.
- Avoid thin content. In Google world, there is no place for thin content. These are content that are short and have very little informational value. Many of the articles written pre-Panda and pre-Penguin seem to be obviously written just for SEO purposes because they were usually around 100 words only. In post-Panda and post-Penguin time, content such as research, analysis, in-depth reports, and the like, earn good rankings.
- Go white hat. It is very important to stick to white hat SEO tactics from now own especially since Google seems to be bent on cracking down on websites that engage in black hat SEO. It is not an excusable if the SEO company you hired is the one engaging in so-called black hat SEO strategies because your website is the one that will be affected by these bad SEO strategies. So make sure that the company handling your website’s SEO does not use black hat SEO.
- Say goodbye to bad links. This is something which should have been avoided even before the Panda and Penguin updates. So make sure that all your past and future backlinks are in good-quality websites as well.
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