It is well known that Google continuously modifies its ranking algorithm. The effects of these are usually easy to overlook. But every once in a while, a major change comes along and the Panda is one of them.  The Google Panda update in June 2011 is a ranking factor rather than an algorithm update.  Interestingly, this “update” brought along a lot of ranking changes for many websites and big surprises for some.

Filtering through content

The main premise behind the Panda update is that if your content is low-quality, Panda flags your site and dumps you.  The good news according to Google’s Matt Cutts is that the Panda filter does not run continuously.  Four updates have run between February and June 2011 and the filter’s focus is to reduce the ranking of low quality pages. The goal of a search engine is to deliver relevant results to searchers.  Often the search results include sites that offer no value and these were targeted in Google’s Panda update. Sites like these are usually full of ads and feature too little content or copied content.

If yours was one of the sites that has been negatively affected by the Panda update, the obvious sign would be a decrease in organic traffic and perhaps also a drop in ranking.

Recovering from the Panda update and protecting yourself

Google suggests that websites should focus on adding valuable and original content that is useful to readers and remove duplicate and useless content from the web pages. The search engine will now concentrate on identifying and getting rid of low-quality content featuring in the search results. So what best practices can you follow to protect your site? Here are some tips:

• Continue to create good content – on a regular basis. Affiliates and resellers must rework the content offered to them by manufacturers and invest in publishing original content.  User-generated content through social media marketing is an effective way to do this.
• Avoid stuffing web pages with content for ranking. If it is low quality it will affect the ranking of the good content too.
• Generating quality back links or incoming links is seen as a sign of value by Google.
• By optimising content for social media (i.e. making the content shareable via social media buttons) you can distribute the content across social media sites which are indexed faster by the search engines and perceived as valuable content as they are user generated.
• Take care to avoid an overdose of ads on web pages as this is seen by Google as a way to mask bad quality content.
• Ensure that users find your content valuable and contextual.  Google is keeping track of its Chrome site blocker plug in used by users to block sites from featuring in the search results.  If users don’t want your site, neither does Google.

Ultimately, the bottom line is that original and quality content that users feel like sharing and recommending will keep you in Google’s good books. Content will always be king. Ignoring this fact is the fastest way to be phased out of the World Wide Web.

Has your site felt the impact of the Google Panda update? What action did you take? What difference did you notice? Share your thoughts in the comment section!

 

Once you’ve got your website up and running, you will naturally be keen to know who your visitors are and how they’re engaging with your website. Attracting the kind of target market is the basic goal of any website for a variety of reasons.  The reasons can range from building the business’ prospect base, converting visitors to buyers and to keep in touch with visitors who can eventually become customers. Whether your website is for an online or offline business, measuring metrics is mandatory – only the modus operandi varies. Let us take a look at a website’s metrics – which ones should you track?

To begin with, you would certainly want to know:

• How many page views were received over a given period
• Which browser the visitor is using
• The visitor’s behaviour on the website
• How much time they spend on the site
• Which search engine they used to find your website
• Keywords and key-phrases that brought them to your site

Most of the web analytics programs like Google Analytics (a free analytics package) offer a dashboard with basic information. The latest analytics service on the block is Woopra, which is similar to Google Analytics, but offers real-time data with additional features such as live chat with site visitors. Woopra’s statistics is useful as it offers real time streaming data of even the minutest activities on the website.  Below are the most common metrics that can be measured via web analytics.

Operating system and browser

You will need to know which browsers and operating systems are being used by visitors so that your website can be optimised to their needs. Test your site with the most popular browsers and operating systems (OS).

Statistics related to referrer

Referrer statistics relate to the origin of your visitors and the pages that link to your site.

Unique visitors

This gives you an idea of the unique visitors to your site and the number of times they visited during a particular time frame.  While tracking data may not always be a 100% accurate, you can use cookies to track visitors. It is best to watch for trends rather than numbers so that you can tweak your website accordingly.

Location

Visitor location and geo tagging information helps you to know where your visitors are coming from. For businesses that are targeting a particular geographic location, this can be valuable data to design their campaigns effectively.

Entry and exit pages

Which pages do your visitors land on, and which pages do they leave from?  While a majority of websites see a lot of visitors accessing their site via the home page, it is possible for other pages to receive more visitors. These pages must be identified and designed to give visitors easy access to other pages on the website.

Link popularity

You can track links to see which external links are popular, besides tracking your internal links. It also helps you find out which areas of your page receive the maximum clicks, so that you can put vital information there.

Search engine stats

Getting search engine statistics can help you design a successful SEO campaign. When you know which search engines are sending people to your website and which pages they bring them to, you can focus your search engine optimisation efforts accordingly.  This information is available from referrer reports.

Keywords

You need to know which keywords are bringing people to your website and capitalise on them. If there are keywords you are yet to optimise for, then now is the time to do so by creating content and landing pages related to those keywords.

The idea is to structure your website and other elements of your online business to give your visitor the best experience possible, while achieving your business goals. By spending time analysing your Analytics data you can optimise your website to achieve optimal results.

 

How well is your website performing? Is it easy to use? You might think your website is intuitive and easy to navigate but do your visitors agree? If you are considering a website redesign, why not ask the people that are using it how they feel you can improve the current layout and content? They will be able to tell you from an objective point of view the areas they feel you can improve on. On the other hand, if you only want to make minor changes, below are a few simple tweaks you can make to improve the overall usability of your website.

Install Analytics software
As discussed in a previous post, analytics software like Goole Analytics will give you an idea of how people interact with your website. The statistics derived from an Analytics package can be used to improve the overall performance of your website. For instance, analytics data will indicate which page has the highest exit rate. How can that page be improved in order to provide visitors with more information and ideally convert them to a lead?

Update your website’s content to include clear calls-to-action
Do visitors know what you want them to do on each page of the website? Even if you have well-optimised copy, make sure clear calls-to-action are included on each page and continuously monitor the website’s conversion rate to determine which pages can be improved.

Newsletter sign-up button
If you have newsletter, make sure the sign-up button is clearly visible – ideally above the fold with a clear call-to-action.

Search function
Can users search your website for the specific information they are looking for? If not, consider adding search capability to your website.

Contact page
Make sure all the information listed on your contact page is up to date. If you have an online contact form make sure it is working and ensure that whoever is responsible for replying to emails from the contact form is doing it promptly.

Maintaining a website requires an investment of time and the most successful websites are the ones that are updated and tweaked on a continuous basis.