If you did, don't worry. You aren't the only one.
In case you weren't aware, Google oozed out its latest search algorithm update, otherwise known by some observers as the "search update that could destroy your business," popularly known as Panda 4.0.
How can such a cute fuzzy animal be such a unmitigated ass? is the question of the day. But before you decide to take the plunge off one of the Ohio River bridges, try the Zen thing. An ice cold beer is good, and a shot of Maker's Mark over ice might even be better. There's no need to panic. But I know you will anyway because that's what people like us do:-)
"Panda 4.0 affects different languages to different degrees," Google spokesperson Jason Freidenfelds told CMSWire in a recent interview. "In English, for example, the impact is 7.5 percent of queries that are affected to a degree that a regular user might notice."
The Web Marketing community is still reeling from the first Panda release back in March, 2010, when brick and mortar icons like JC Penney and Sears Web presences were heavily traumatized by Google's crackdown on the games (some unscrupulous) people play when it comes to search engine rankings.That release significantly affected certain sites to the point that some webmasters reported traffic declines so bad they said it drove them out of business. Google wanted to lower the rank of "low-quality sites," and return higher-quality sites near the top of the search results.
Ever since, experts in the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) world have been struggling to understand the potential impact of Google's power grabbing madness. And even four years later, not many analysts can quantify the effects of the Panda update. In reality, Panda 4.0 may just be another overhyped move by the all-powerful Oz Google.
Google drew more attention to this particular Panda update, for whatever reason, even though the search giant's content algorithm is updated at least monthly. The latest Panda update is designed to cut spam in links, hone in on high-quality, niche content, and stop people from gaming search engines with low-quality or duplicate content. But this has been part of Google's search goal for a while, and now it's clear, despite some sensationalistic stories, that the latest Panda is just a step further in that direction.
So what do we do now? Drink more? Find an empty corner and hide? Maybe yes on both. But as far as your website is concerned, don't BS anybody, especially search engines. Be honest and true - like a Cyber Boy Scout. Create great content and title the page accordingly. Link stuff - outbound, internal and reciprocal - but don't be silly about it. Your mother would be so proud.
