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Google Reveals Panda 4.1 Update
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In the past few days Google has released a “slow rollout” of its latest Panda 4.1 update for the current algorithm which is said to be hitting sites gradually over the course of the following week as opposed to the more direct actions taken on by other Google algorithm updates of the past.
This particular algorithm (Panda) tackles and penalises websites that display low quality content. The most recent update is believed to have affected around 3-5% of rankings associated with queries. Whilst this is only a small amount of total queries on the internet, the effect on the sites that were hit were both advantageous and catastrophic, depending on which side of the coin you fell on. Many sites saw huge decreases of up to 500% of web traffic, whilst others gained 300%. This surely, if nothing else, shows the huge influence new and engaging content has on your websites rankings and how important content marketing is for SEO.
What are Google Trying to Achieve by Releasing the Panda 4.1 Update?
According to Google sources, the Panda 4.1 is a continuation of the work completed by Panda 4.0 Panda 4.0 looked for pages with thin or no content that were indexed in particular, and targeted these pages with a penalty or simply removed the index from the search engines.
How can you avoid being hit by Panda 4.1?
The simple answer is regular engaging content. Keeping content fresh as well as interesting to a reader is important. Sites that have little, no or non-recent content will be the first to be hit by any Panda updates. One way in which you could improve the amount of content you post on your website is by installing a blog. This will allow you to keep your viewers interested with regular updates about your business.
When should I expect Panda 4.2 to arrive?
According to sources within the industry it is believed that there has been a trend which displays a quarterly cycle for the Panda 4.1 update. Unlike other algorithms this means sites can expect a regular hit depending on the state of their content.
