Google recently began implementing a new update to its search algorithm known as Panda 4.0. Google created this update in order to help remove “thin content,” or low-quality search results, from its search rankings. Low-quality to Google means duplicating content, key word stuffing, content that’s not useful, or poor engagement metrics, such as low time on site or high bounce rates. Panda 4.0 will sit on top of the previous Google algorithms, but this one will filter through results to uncover these low-quality pieces. With this new algorithm in place, there will be some PR implications that will be important for PR pros to note as they seek traffic and visibility for their clients.
Barry Schwartz, founder of SERoundtable.com and news editor at SearchEngineLand.com, found that major wire services have experienced a large decrease in visibility and traffic to their sites. On Search Engine Roundtable he reported PRWeb, PR Newswire, BusinessWire and PRLog are all losing between 60 and 85 percent of their SEO visibility, the results of which appear to have come right after the Panda 4.0 update.
These numbers prove the importance of Google’s update and the need for PR pros to take action. Carrie Morgan of B2C has some tips for PR pros to help mitigate the effects that may be felt by the launch of Panda 4.0.
First, watch carefully for duplicate content. Panda will penalize content that is too similar to past content, so it is important, now more than ever, to create fresh and creative pieces.
Morgan also emphasizes the importance of never publishing blog posts that you find on other sites. Duplicating content, once again, will be penalized. Instead, summarize the article and include quotes, putting an original spin on the piece.
Another suggestion is to create long content opposed to short content. Longer pieces allow for better understanding of the content and will help Google have more to work with when it comes to their search engine quality ratings, which determines where your piece will be placed in the search results.
Finally, writings should be focused on quality and not quantity. Instead of trying to push as much as possible onto the Internet in the hopes of more hits, focus on creating quality pieces. Quality pieces will be rewarded with Panda 4.0.
Google’s desire is for websites to produce high-quality and relevant information that is worthwhile reading for users. Panda 4.0, they feel, will help create the best user experience by preventing low-quality information from ranking well in search results. It essentially creates a quality scoring of the content. Therefore, PR pros should focus on assisting their clients in creating fresh, high-quality and helpful content. Higher search result rankings should follow.