Panda is one of Google’s most well-known algorithms. Its main task is to check the quality of the content and identify the level of user satisfaction with the text on the page. Many think that this algorithm focuses only on duplicate content while its performance is much more complex.
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What is the Panda Algorithm? Complete tips for Google Panda algorithm!
Panda is the official name of Google’s algorithm created to combat short, low-quality content. This algorithm reduces the chances of displaying poor quality, short and worthless content in search results and gives quality, attractive and unique content a better place in search results.
The Panda algorithm was released when users complained about the proliferation of useless content and spam in search results.
With the introduction of this algorithm, Google published a standard for classifying the quality of pages. This quality criterion was considered based on user satisfaction and quickly became one of the key factors in ranking search results.
With the introduction of the Panda algorithm, websites that were at risk of being penalized for poor quality content, by adding quality content, removing redundant words and improving the user experience and readability of the page content, modified and rebuilt their pages.
Before examining the Panda algorithm, it is not bad to mention an old Chinese legend. Legend has it that pandas were originally completely white, one of the Chinese emperors had a daughter who was very fond of pandas. After the death of this girl, panda bears blacken a part of their body as a sign of mourning and remain the same forever.
Why was the Panda algorithm created?
In 2010, Google’s search engine suffered a major crisis. This fundamental crisis was created by the increase in poor quality content and the sharp decline in the quality of search results. The crisis posed a serious challenge to Google’s business model, which is based on customer satisfaction with search results.
Following these problems, in 2011 Business Insider published a headline that made Google feel more threatened:
Google search algorithm has become a ruin. It’s time for treatment!
Undoubtedly, the use of such titles in reputable newspapers was a serious threat to Google and had a negative impact on the company’s reputation and stock. Eventually, however, the alarm went off and Google responded with the introduction of the Panda algorithm.
Google Panda Algorithm Updates
The first version of Google Panda algorithm was introduced on February 23, 2011.
The next day, on February 24, Google published a blog post about the Panda algorithm, explaining that it had released a major algorithm to improve search results, which significantly changed 11.8% of search results. The following is an important part of the text of this blog post:
This update follows the downgrading of websites that have poor quality content, their content does not add value to the audience, their content is copied from other websites or their content is not useful and usable. At the same time, this algorithm improves the ranking of quality websites, and sites that use original, high-quality, unique, useful and research content on their website will be ranked in the best rankings.
The founder of the Search Engine Land website referred to this update as the “Farmer” update. However, Google later revealed that the algorithm had been known as the Panda algorithm since its inception.
Following the release of this algorithm and its update, a study called “Winners and Losers” was conducted by Search Metrics, which showed that the sites with the highest rankings really deserved it. Some popular websites like WikiHow tried to follow the correct instructions and improve the quality of their website after this update.
The most obvious change that came with the introduction and development of Google’s Panda algorithm was the complete destruction of the Content Farm. Content farming was a way in which webmasters published worthless or low-value articles in large numbers and made malicious links on those pages.
According to statistics, most of the websites that were downgraded had at least one of the following problems:
- Improper and ugly design
- Annoying ads
- Excessive repetition of keywords on the page
- Failure to follow editing and writing tips
- Use repetitive phrases and combinations
- Low value and quality of content
- Panda fines waived; A heavy price to make a panda angry
If the Panda algorithm has penalized your website, it will be very difficult to fix it. As long as this algorithm improves the performance of sites with respect to quality content, the best solution is to produce unique, new content and improve the quality of previously published content.
In many cases, it has been observed that a website has been able to get rid of Google’s penalty by removing low quality content and producing useful content.
In the beginning, some of the penalized websites produced new pages by combining the content of pages that were thematically similar to each other. Also, by editing the content and structure of these pages, they were able to perform well in restoring rankings and removing fines.
The Panda algorithm has changed a lot over the years. At first, this algorithm looked at the whole site and the quality of the content on all pages, but then it turned its attention to each page of the site.
Panda may remove only one or more pages from your site from Google results, but if the number of pages penalized by Panda is high, all pages on your site will be downgraded.
My site has been penalized by the Panda algorithm, what should I do?
If your site has been penalized by the Panda algorithm and you are sure that this drop was due to this, you will have a complicated process to get rid of it. In the first step, you have to decide whether this site is worth the time and money or not?
Sites that publish worthless content fall into two main categories. The first category is those who, in addition to their specific and valuable content, collect a large number of articles or news from other sites and publish them on their site. The second category is sites that have no valuable content on their site and are, after all, manually or automatically collected from other sites.
If you are in the first category, we suggest removing extra pages and low-value content from your site. Do this using the Remove URLs tool in the Google Search Console.
If you are in the second category; You have nothing to lose. You have not put much effort into producing these pages or launching this site, and losing it can not be a major problem. We suggest you forget about this site and domain altogether and launch another site with the right strategy in SEO and content production.
Now that we understand the importance of content, it is better to learn standard methods for producing quality content.
How do I generate valuable content?
The answer to this question is simple and it is very difficult to implement! Producing valuable and exclusive content requires a lot of time and money. If you are used to copying content, it will be difficult to start writing. But do not despair, there are many people who have started and succeeded in this path.
To produce valuable content, keep these points in mind:
1- Do not sacrifice quality for quantity
It does not matter how many articles you publish per day or how many thousands of words your articles are. It is important that the content you publish is valuable to the user. If you set a certain rate for the production of content, you have practically affected its quality.
It may take up to two weeks to produce a dedicated piece of content, but be aware that it is worth more than 5 routine articles.
2- The criterion of your success is not only Google ranking
We are accustomed to quickly checking an article in Google results after it is published. Our goal in content marketing is not just SEO or ranking.
Our main goal is to satisfy the audience
The main criteria for measuring your success in content production should be the number of user comments, sharing on social networks or direct feedback from friends and users.
3- Think about the needs of the audience before you start writing
Instead of focusing on the number of word searches and targeting short, general phrases, focus on the actual user needs and long phrases.
Currently, 75% of Google searches are phrases of more than 3 words.
When writing content, try to explain a specific concept and topic to the user instead of focusing on a specific word or phrase. By doing this, instead of constantly repeating a word, we will deal with all the related phrases and topics.
4. Know Google’s standards for understanding page content
Content is written for the user, but for more success, Google bots must also understand it properly.
Content marketing means producing content for the user in compliance with SEO standards
Google uses a variety of algorithms to identify the subject of a page. If you know them and follow the standard writing structure, the content of the page will be valuable to both Google and the user.
What factors does the Panda algorithm examine?
Matt Cutts (former Google Spam Director) spoke about Google’s Panda algorithm; Before designing and developing this algorithm, we designed a questionnaire. Then, according to these questions and their answers, we started to build and develop this algorithm. With the knowledge of these questions, you can program the content of your website in such a way as to satisfy the users and, of course, the satisfaction of the Panda algorithm.
These questions included:
- Do you think this site is valid?
- Is this article attractive enough to be a bestseller?
- Has this website used annoying ads?
- Can the information displayed on this page be trusted?
- Has duplicate articles or articles with the same content but different keywords been used on this site? (Duplicate Content)
- Would you like to provide your credit card information to this site if necessary?
- Are there any writing or editing problems or errors in this article?
- Is the content of the site based on the needs of users or to gain ranking in search engines?
- Does this page offer significant and compelling added value in search results compared to other web pages?
- Has this article examined the subject from different aspects?
- Is this site known and specialized in its subject matter? (Authority)
- Does this site produce a lot of content per day that is not worth a lot of content?
- Is the content well edited or skipped?
- Has this article provided a complete and conceptual explanation of the subject matter?
- Does this article include logical analysis and interesting information?
- Is this article so valuable that you need to tag it or share it with your friends? (Social Signal)
- Is there any distracting advertising on this page?
- This article is too short and its content is not useful and practical? (Thin Content)
- Was there enough sensitivity to detail and attention in preparing this article or not?
- Aren’t users upset or annoyed when they see these pages?
The Panda algorithm tries to distinguish quality content from duplicate or low-value content. To do this, it examines many factors. As a result, Panda is not only looking for duplicate pages or content, it is also able to check the quality of the content.
Even if the content is completely proprietary, it may not be relevant due to incorrect spelling or lack of clear message delivery.
Google has never published a specific checklist of factors that Panda examines, but answering the above questions is exactly what determines the value of your content.
False beliefs about the Panda algorithm
Usually due to the multiplicity of Google algorithms, some people make mistakes and can not recognize the difference in their performance. In the following, we will introduce some of the most important misconceptions about the Panda algorithm.
1- Panda only pays attention to the copy of the content!
The first and most important misconception about Google’s Panda algorithm is that some people think that Panda algorithm is just about duplicate content. Google employees have repeatedly stressed that while the Panda algorithm encourages websites to create unique content, it goes beyond preventing duplicate content.
The duplicate content issue is a separate issue independent of the Panda algorithm. What Panda Algorithm seeks is to provide content with unique and valuable information to the user.
Google is looking for pages that are different from other web pages and bring new content or concept to the user.
2- Content produced by the user is low value!
Another misconception is that Panda does not value user-generated content. This belief is incorrect. The Panda algorithm has no problem with user-generated content and only ranks sites with poor quality or poor content.
For example, if user-generated content on your website is worthless or low-value content, it may be worthless to Google, but that does not mean that Google has a problem with user-generated content as a whole. It does not matter if the content is a comment, an article or any other type. The only thing that matters is the quality, the added value and the fact that the content is not spam.
3- Panda algorithm does not pay attention to the technical issues of the website!
Some people mistakenly think that this algorithm also pays attention to the technical issues of the website. Panda algorithm only pays attention to content. Although technical issues are very important in SEO, Panda does not pay any attention to the technical issues of your site, including site speed.