How Your Website Design May Be Causing Google Panda Penalties

Google Panda debuted in February of 2011, and was said to be an adjustment to Google’s legendary algorithm that would reward high quality sites, and punish “low quality sites.” The world definitely felt the virtual earth shake, as some websites (including Associated Content, Demand Studios, and EzineArticles) were knocked out of the top search results for very popular keyword searches. As CNET explained, “[SEO firms] had learned how to game the earlier algorithm to make low-quality writing more visible than quality content.” Google struck back and forced the industry to follow its lead, by promoting better quality writing sites and “demoting” sites that farm content and or carry excessive advertising.

It’s been almost a year since this panda invaded and destroyed all of this virtual real estate, and the only thing that has changed is a heightened effort by websites to produce better quality content. On the subject, how is your website faring amid all of this competition?

If you have noticed your search traffic dropping then you may be experiencing Google Panda penalties without even realizing it. Make sure you are not violating any of Google’s new rules or “standards.” Start by deleting any duplicate pages and duplicate URLs. Next, delete any “near duplicates”, as in text pages that have been reworded slightly. The Panda algorithm is not impressed by rewritten paragraphs (oh yes, it can tell) which is why “content farms” felt the panda’s wrath.

Additionally, add more unique content while also eliminating unnecessary ads. Pages packed with an abundance of banner or text ads will also feel the heat, particularly if the content is minimal or only moderate. Be careful about putting so much “structure” into a web page (as in handy navigation, pictures, widgets and multimedia content) that you forget to add paragraphs of text.

Lastly, attempt to remove the “lowest value pages” from your site. Try combining weak pages (pages with very little unique or informative content) with other weak or medium-quality pages, so that every page on your site has a high amount of readable content. Google Panda is a good thing, and will motivate webmasters and companies to “up the ante” when it comes to producing high quality copy and objective educational information.

Now the web comes this much closer to matching magazines, newspapers and TV broadcasters in professional standards. The web is growing up and assuming its role as the world’s most important medium.