It sounds all too familiar and quite frankly a bit depressing at this point.  For anyone that has a website presence recent changes to Google’s algorithm have caused quite a bit of havoc in the SEO community.  For the sake of formalities let’s clarify first what Google Panda exactly stands for to get everyone on the same page.  Over the course of the last two or three weeks the might search engine giant Google has been making tweaks to its indexing algorithm.  The reflection of this impacts visibility of your domain in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) but more so the algorithm which GoogleBot uses to crawl your website url.  These particular changes have been code named Panda or recently known as Google Panda.

Why does Google’s Panda update impact your website domain?  There’s many reasons why you should care about this change and take necessary actions to prevent your website from dropping in PageRank.  As of 2011 the Google search engine now holds over 65% of market share therefore maintaining its heavyweight title for several consecutive years in a row.  Depending on the size and traffic activity of your website this percentage reflects largely on its performance and visibility.  Additionally consider the amount of organic visits and leads your domain may be generating from the Google Search Engine alone.  Now that I have your attention perhaps the below details will make more sense.

What is Google Panda 2.0 Anyway?

As I briefly touched on this above here’s more on that.  Google Panda 2.0 is the code name for algorithmic changes that Google has made to its indexing capabilities in the way that it crawls domains on the web in addition to the ranking factors it keeps into consideration when doing so.  According to the SERPs these particular changes date back to April 2011 when Google engaged in such activity.  There are several great articles available on the website that discuss Google PageRank & Algorithm changes in addition to Panda 2.0 updates in more detail.

What To Do If You’ve Been “Pandalized”?

If you’ve noticed a drop in your website’s PageRank over the course of last few weeks in particular than chances are you’ve been “pandalized”.  That’s the industry term in particular that has gained some not so popular steam across the interwebz in reference to those that have been affected by Google’s recent Panda updates.  Here are a few things that you should keep into consideration if in attempt to avoid any future PR drops in your website domain.

1. Content is king!  Imprint that in your mind and obide that single rule.  How is the content on your website?  Have you updated it recently?  Considering freshening up static pages of content on your website by either updating it or rewriting it.  Google does not like stale or old content in its SERPs.
2. Are you engaged in any social media channels?  Twitter and Facebook are two of the most popular social media platforms available to internet users.  Google’s algorithm factors in content sharing capabilities and looks at the amount of activity surrounding the content on your website.  Consider implementing these channels into your website if you haven’t done so already.
3. Does your domain have any website linking back to it?  Visibility is an important factor to Google.  Ensure that content from your website links up with other websites to provide some cross-linking.  Keep in mind though that these should be authoritative domains relevant to your website theme as well.
4. Navigational structure says a lot about the overall layout of your content.  Clear navigation links in the top and bottom areas of your pages provide easy access for your visitors.  If you haven’t done so already consider revising these vital sections of your website.
5. Meta Data does reflect your organic rankings although in Google’s case it’s more about contextual targeting than anything else.  Even though it’s now a high priority you should consider having relevant Title, Description, and Keyword tags on each individual page of your website.  These sections should correspond with the content area by providing descriptive outlines and compelling details.

Making drastic changes to your domain in compliance with Google’s Panda Update won’t solve your nightmares.  Consider working in individual changes over a short period of time.  It will give the GoogleBot an opportunity to crawl your domain once or twice therefore signaling new changes and modifications you’ve made to your domain.