Google Releases Panda 3.9 Update
On Thursday, July 26th, Google released its latest update to the Panda content-ranking algorithm, version 3.9 to much anticipation.
Each Panda update shakes up the search engine landscape as websites face up-and-downwards mobility. This update should be no different, with webmasters at Google claiming that around 1% of websites will be affected, which is a low percentage, but represents a large number of actual websites.
The changes that accompany this announcement are not known for certain, but will probably continue to punish black hat marketing and darken gray hat strategies.
Spammy Link Building Strategies
It is safe to assume that Panda 3.9 will continue to attach web marketers who use spammy link building campaigns to artificially boost their search ranking. Google has already sent emails to some web builders, either warning them to cut off these links or informing them of their impending penalties for blatant black hat SEO. These include paid links, blog spam, excessive article directory and linkspam.
Google has stated that websites receiving these warnings may not see their entire site drop, but will lose traction for certain keywords.
Even links from high PR websites are getting knocked, because the posts are garbage and the backlinks are over abundant and exact match keywords. These sorts of posts indicate the use of paid links or artificially generated content meant for link building. Google is now taking actions to repudiate the businesses using these article directories improperly, rather than punishing the directories themselves. This sort of action indicates a better understanding of black hat SEO and a commitment to deter those foolish enough to use it.
How will Panda 3.9 affect my website?
Did you get a message from Google warning about illicit activities? If not, don’t panic.
As Google continues to hunker down against websites artificially boosting their search ranking, it will move the impetus back to using solid web design and valuable content in creating a website. It also means that companies should expect to wait for SEO-increased rankings, rather than trying to manipulate them from the start.
Generating easy-to-use layouts and informative writing will establish long-term results and search engine success.