[It’s not news that Google is constantly tweaking its ranking algorithm. But, from time to time, the search engine giant does a full-scale overhaul, the latest being the Panda Update.
With Panda, Google has made its objective very clear: remove poor quality pages and websites from the top result pages. So, how does this affect SEO strategies? Simply, it’s the end of unethical SEO practices, such as keyword stuffing and wild link building. The new criteria concentrates on website quality, authority, trust, credibility and social media.
Companies need to change their SEO strategy to coincide with these updates. We recommend the following.
1. Design now matters. Good web architecture and design are the foundation of a positive user experience. It’s important that you find the right balance between usability and aesthetics.
2. Fresh content is key. Your website’s content needs to change on a regular basis. Blogs are one of the best ways to keep your site fresh. Make sure to update your blog often – we recommend at the minimum, once a week.
3. Share value. Social media is a great way to share valuable content. If your post is shared by other users, Google can “see” that, and will identify that page as relevant.
4. Semantically related terms. As search engines are now able to “see” related content, they attribute less importance to exact keywords. There’s no more need to force keywords into sentences.
