Mickie E KennedyBy now, you’ve heard of – and perhaps panicked over – Google Panda. Google Panda is the name Google gave the algorithm change which was designed to separate the spammy online content from the crème de la crème.
While content marketer and SEO experts may have let out a collective shout of rage over Google Panda, Google had its reasons for making the change. After all, their duty is to their customers – the people who use Google to search the internet. They want to ensure that when someone enters a key term into Google.com that they get what they’re looking for, not a piece of poorly written and executed spam that just happens to hit all the right keywords.
So now that we live in a Panda world, how do we ensure our content stays relevant?
Some guidelines for writing genuine and valuable material include:
- Timing – Make sure that whatever you are sharing is up to date and provides new It is more likely to get picked up on multiple websites.
- Significance – Will the effects of your news story reach many people? The higher the significance, the more likely it is that your story will get pulled to the top.
- Proximity – Having a story that is local makes it that much more important. It’s hard to get excited about news from far away.
- Prominence – If your information features well known personalities or topics, it is more likely to make the headlines.
- Human Interest – Everyone likes having the inside dirt and nothing sells more than stories that are a little bit salacious.
In essence, Google wants to rank material the way you would rank it. The technical stuff like tagging and metadata still matter, but utilizing social media to show that you are a credible source is gaining ground. The best rule of thumb is write something that you’d actually want to read.
Do you have questions about Google Panda? Ask us in the comments.
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