Was your website affected by either of the two major updates (called Panda and Penguin) that Google made to its search engine algorithm within the past year? If so, you may have become an unwilling expert in new search engine optimization (SEO) strategies out of necessity. Even if your website wasn’t hit with any penalties due to the updates, they have changed the way that we look at optimization.
We updated our ABC’s of SEO – Architecture, Backlinks and Content – with an additional set of guidelines to help your search engine optimization efforts meet the Panda and Penguin standards. Presenting the GPS of SEO:
Great Content = Google’s goal with Panda is quality over quantity. It is still important to post lots of fresh content, but it’s just as important that this content is valuable and incites people to share it, bookmark it, engage with it and spend time with it.
Panda = Advanced artificial intelligence programs reward well-designed, high-quality websites that are visually appealing as well as trustworthy. Basically, your website must be attractive on the inside and out. Luckily, tools like WordPress offer simple and quick solutions for posting a website that is both easy to use and easy on the eyes.
Social Signals = These are equivalent to virtual votes for a website or web page. Google used to use the number of links to determine the value or quality of a page, but it was too easy to simply buy links or use other unscrupulous methods to fake your links. Social signals are “Likes” (Facebook,) “Tweets” (Twitter) and “+1’s” (Google +.) These votes are much harder to fake and, thanks to the Penguin update, much more valuable than a link.
Following the GPS of SEO will help your website get “found” in the vast World Wide Web. Good Luck!
