So you’ve probably heard about the Google Panda and it’s serious panda slap. For those of you who haven’t, here is a small insight to the panda. As of 22th Feb 2011, a major update by Google on how it ranks sites was introduced! Statistics show that 12% of search results have being affected and halved many sites’ visitor numbers. Are you one of those victims?

Some points why you could be a victim:  (points summed up form wordtracker.com)

• Conduct qualitative research (that’s speaking with individuals and not a big questionnaire) to find out which of a sample of sites they considered to be low quality and why.

• Use the results to define low quality sites with the factors that Google can measure. This gives Google a mathematical definition of low quality.

If we start here, we can think of a number of factors that Google might be able to measure to define low quality, including:

• A high % of duplicate content. This might apply to a page, a site or both. If it’s a site measure then that might contribute to each page’s evaluation.

• A low amount of original content on a page or site.
• A high % (or number) of pages with a low amount of original content.
• A high amount of inappropriate (they don’t match the search queries a page does well for) adverts, especially high on the page.
• Page content (and page title tag) not matching the search queries a page does well for.
• Unnatural language on a page including heavy-handed on-page SEO (‘over-optimization’ to use a common oxymoron). Eg unnatural overuse of a word on a page.
• High bounce rate on page or site.
• Low visit times on page or site.
• Low % of users returning to a site.
• Low clickthrough % from Google’s results pages (for page or site).
• High % of boilerplate content (the same on every page).
• Low or no quality inbound links to a page or site (by count or %).
• Low or no mentions or links to a page or site in social media and from other sites.

So here is some advise to the panda slap!

Track the links to your site as well  and request the low-quality sites to take down their links. It’s a matter of negative association, and it’s not worth the backlink!

In the same vein as #1, focus your attention on cultivating backlinks from very high-quality and reputable sites in your niche, and register with directories with well-chosen keywords.

Continue with your content creation. Do you have a blog? It’s surprising how many small businesses don’t have a blog attached to their websites or store fronts. Blogs are one of the best ways to keep your site fresh and continually updated with new content.

Social Media marketing: learn it, live it, love it! Social Media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others are where your audience is now. People would rather connect with a friend online and build relationships with new people than be sold on a product. Share value!

Share us your ideas and sites that have being effected by the panda slap!