Back in February 2011 Google announced a significant shift in the way it organises search information, and this was called Google Panda. Shoot forward one year and numerous updates later, Panda is here to stay and today it’s more important then ever.
So what is Google Panda?
Panda is the latest update to the way Google categorises and sorts through the vast amount of information online when you enter a search query in Google eg ‘management training’.
This update has seen many websites with low quality and little content lose their positions in Google meaning lower volumes of traffic and loss of revenue.
Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land says: “Panda — like PageRank — is a value that feeds into the overall Google algorithm. If it helps consider it as if every site is given a PandaRank score. Those low in Panda come through OK; those high get hammered by the beast.”
But more importantly Panda has changed the way Google ranks information forever. Google is an information tool, and people use the service to filter out irrelevant information to find what will help them, quickly. Because Google is competing against social networks such as Twitter and Facebook which provide real time results on the very latest information, Google has simply had to adapt.
What has changed?
Panda also means that Google now puts greater importance on websites that provide up to date, useful and valuable information – which is all great news for users who want information their searching for provided quickly and logically.
But it also means that the old way of ranking in Google, ie stuffing keywords on your website, building as many backlinks as possible and writing a couple of articles has changed… And it’s changed for good.
However, this plays perfectively into the world of training and development because of the wealth of topics that can be written about. Though, it’s not just about writing one keyword article a week and getting your intern to create a few spammy backlinks, because Google know that people demand quality and that they want to know what their peers are thinking and recommending. A personal recommendation is far more powerful then an unknown company telling you what to buy.
How can you build a content strategy for Panda?
Creating content comes in many formats which enables you to use articles and blog posts to create different marketing materials to support your company website in Google and online.
Some of the types of content you can create from just one article include:
- Pdfs; turn them into ebooks, whitepapers and
- Videos; Use Powerpoint and then screen capture to create simple effective videos for YouTube
- Blog posts
- Email marketing newsletters
- Social media; Twitter updates, Facebook and Google+
Google Authorship, your voice found…
Another new tool that feeds into this new quality social content philosophy, is Google Authorship, which means individuals who generate good quality content are highlighted and ranked highly in the search engines.
This means growing your social media profile is also suddenly more important then ever before.
It also means individuals are getting great coverage in the search engines and most importantly, something that we preach at GoldSand Digital, it means great quality content, provided constantly, is vital to your future success online.
Take a look at this short video showing how it works:
Although Panda isn’t currently run continuously it does show that a content strategy is now not a luxury for companies wishing to succeed online, it’s an essential part of growing your business.
GoldSand Digital provide a complete Panda solution that includes:
- Unique and professionally written articles
- Link bait content
- Keyword optimised
- Tracking
- Book marking submission
- Automatic web 2.0 submission
- Twitter, Facebook and Google+ updates
- Google Authorship set up
Call us today on 0207 269 9885 to talk about how we can set this up for your business.