What is the Google Panda Algorithm and could it Affect Your Website Ranking?

If you have any interest in website rankings over and above traditional pay per click advertising, you will probably know about – or will heard of – much-feared Google Algorithms. Yes, one minute your website could be right at the top of page one without advertising and the next, it could vanish off the face of the earth.

But why is this and how can you prevent it? Can you foresee when Google will change their Algorithm and stop it from happening?

In a word: no. Google decide when it wants to change its algos and also decides what it is looking for. Here is what you need to know about the Google Panda algorithm that has recently been updated – make sure that your website doesn’t get caught out this time around!

What is Google Panda?

A few months ago, Google told us that it would be updating the Penguin algorithm to go real-time? It is likely that this is happening now, but website publishers should also be worried about Google Panda, which is different algorithm that forms part of the search engine's mission to update itself on a constant basis.

Panda has actually been around since February 2011 – when it was introduced it did indeed cause a lot of “low-quality” websites that relied on spam-type “keyword-stuffing” to drop right down from, in many cases, high Google page rankings.

Panda’s aim is to ensure that high quality and relevant content is at the forefront of Google searches – poor content will be punished by being pushed down the rankings, or even in some cases, excluded completely.

The main reason for this is the Google is aware of the increased competition in the search engine market. For example, Bing is taking up a bigger share of the market year-on-year, so Google has to be known for reliable results when people are browsing.

We will be bringing you more information on this topic in next week’s blog, with our Top 5 tips for good Website Content guide.

In the meantime, stay up-to-date with all of the latest computing and SEO news by following us on Twitter @AceComputerSup; we would love to hear your feedback!