Your website must be Panda and Penguin compliant if you wish Google to send you clients. Penguin refers to rules set up by Google for page design of your website while Panda are the rules pertaining to the entire website. Some of these rules are simple to apply, but most are time consuming if you have to make changes because you already have a low score.
It is not just a matter of ‘getting it right’ – you are actually penalised if you get it wrong! Google gives you a score and unfortunately you don’t have the option of knowing what your score is; so you can’t compare it. Basically, Google is looking for quality information that is unique and added manually (not via software that is available to do it for you). You must personalise your content.
When designing your individual pages (Penguin) make sure that your title is specific and descriptive of the topic. You can use one keyword here, and perhaps repeat it in the first 30 words of your content and once at the end of your article, but do not add more, or you will be penalised. Never use bold or italics for your keywords – they are to look as though they are a natural word in your content. When setting your heading and subheadings (H1 and H2) don’t repeat keywords.
Highly ranked content (pages) includes anchor text to link viewers to another page on your own website or to another high ranking website e.g. Wikipedia. But make sure that you do not use the same anchor text again and again.
For example, if you are promoting a book you have written, and you make the title of the book anchor text (leading to further information on your book) e.g. “Thank God I Had a Stroke”, next time you might say “You can see more information on an interesting book on this topic” or “Read how this woman recovered from both a stroke and a brain tumour”. Each time the anchor text can lead to the same page you want the viewers to visit.
With Panda, Google is scoring according to how long someone remains on your site (is it interesting enough to keep their attention?); how fast does the site take to load (under 4 seconds is desirable); and do viewers find what they are looking for (or do they continue searching?).
Use dynamic navigation, readers need to be enticed from one page to another. If Google likes your website they will actually send people to it. Google measures the success of your website via:-
- analytics;
- if image sizes are small enough to be quickly downloaded and are on the right hand side of the page;
- if the main information (without ads) appears in the first fold (you may need to adjust the size of your header to allow for more space for the text in the first fold);
- YouTube is considered to be an all important link for you to use (especially if it is to your own unique video).
If advertising, keep the ads below the first fold; quality, personalised information should be the priority. However, if your website is a catalogue, then the rules are less stringent, but try to keep unique and quality information in the description of your product.
NOTE: If you require assistance with developing your website as a marketing tool, then contact me to see what I can do for you.
Video
Here is another way at looking at how Google uses Panda and Penguin to assess your website. The video just touches on the beginning – but it does give you an idea of just how Google looks at your website.
These videos are used under the You Tube Public Licence agreement
Written by Ven Grollmus
A very interesting post. It seems as though I am back at school, with Google ‘punishing’ me if I do something wrong. What a cheek! I like the nice easy way you explain just what Panda and Penguin mean. Thank you.