Whats Panda got to with it?

Did anyone read the article “Ranking in Google Now That Panda Has Gone Global” by Chris Crum of webpronews? Loved it! Our webmasters and publishers have gone to school on this qucikly for our clients.

Following the initial launch of the Panda update by Google, webpronews looked at some things that are known and some things that are possible, with regards to what publishers and webmasters should take into account.  They said, “Given Google’s specific reference to their quality guidelines in the latest announcement, this seems like the best place to start”.

Here’s Google’s list of eight “specific guidelines” that Chris uncovered:

  1. Avoid hidden text or hidden links.
  2. Don’t use cloaking or sneaky redirects.
  3. Don’t send automated queries to Google.
  4. Don’t load pages with irrelevant keywords.
  5. Don’t create multiple pages, subdomains, or domains with substantially duplicate content. (emphasis added)
  6. Don’t create pages with malicious behavior, such as phishing or installing viruses, trojans, or other badware.
  7. Avoid “doorway” pages created just for search engines, or other “cookie cutter” approaches such as affiliate programs with little or no original content.
  8. If your site participates in an affiliate program, make sure that your site adds value. Provide unique and relevant content that gives users a reason to visit your site first.

They also get into “basic principles,” which deal with avoiding obvious black hat techniques. I’d suggest reading this whole page of webmaster guidelines, which deal not only with quality, but also design/content, and technical guidelines.

It’s important to note that what rules you’re following today in regards to over all optimization of your web sites through articles and other content can change on a dime.  Also when researching this be aware that not everyone will be quick to comment on how their traffic has been impacted since no one can cotrol a Google releaseand when it happens.  EzineArticles was hit hard and has made changes to its content approach.  So that’s what Panda has to do with it.  How about a little love next time Google and give us a heads up? Follow me on Twitter for more info