Another major upheaval in the world of SEO. Google recently confirmed two algorithm updates. Two for the price of one: the Payday Loan 2.0 and the major Panda 4.0 update. And there we go... These updates are currently affecting as much as 7.5 percent of search results in the United Kingdom. Figures for the Dutch market are not known, but it is likely that we will also see major shifts in the Netherlands. What are we in for this time?
Payday Loan update 2.0
The Payday Loan update generally targets spammy search results. In the US, the search query “payday loan” is an example, hence the name of this update. The Payday Loan update focuses on both content and the link profiles of websites in these sectors. Websites with poor content or low?quality link profiles will therefore rank lower in the search results.
Panda update 4.0
Over the past three years, there have been roughly 25 confirmed Panda updates. The first seismic Panda update took place on 24 February 2011. This update targets websites whose content is low quality. Websites with so?called “thin content” and “duplicate content” receive lower positions in the search results. Thin content is often short content aimed at scoring in the search engine rather than providing valuable information to the visitor. Duplicate content arises when content from other web pages is copied or partially copied.
The first Panda update affected nearly twelve percent of US search results. Less than half a year later, the Panda update was rolled out internationally, affecting nine percent of non?English results.
In the Netherlands
Various analyses have already been published on the consequences for US search results, but what shifts can be seen in Dutch search results?
Google appears to value certain content less because it does not align well with the user’s search intent. This development is in line with last year’s Hummingbird update, which also focused on context and answering the search query.
How to deal with this?
With these updates Google is showing its users more relevant and higher?quality search results. How can you, as a website owner, ensure that your website remains highly visible online in light of these updates?
Publish high?quality content on the website that answers visitors’ questions. Make sure the content contributes to context and keep what, where, and when in mind. Avoid keyword stuffing. Google is getting better at understanding the context of a text. So it is unwise to cram a text full of search terms. This is more harmful than helpful to positions in the search results.
As always, you must avoid duplicate content. There are numerous tools that can help you check. So do not copy texts from other websites; write unique content yourself.
Conclusion
The Payday Loan and Panda updates do not come as a surprise. With them, Google continues the trend of showing web users more relevant, higher?quality results. Websites with quality content focused on visitors will not suffer negative consequences from these updates, but will actually move forward.