Google Panda 4.0 and what it really means

The new Google Panda 4.0 update is designed to reward sites that Google deems to be offering visitors good and unique content.

Sites that  get the thumbs down from Google are those which have too much duplicate content, or which have very little content.

In the case of the latter this can be sites that are just stuffed with affiliate-related links, but which have no original content. So what’s it all about?

Google’s Guidelines

Analyzing Google’s webmaster guidelines is one way that websites can be aware of what Google doesn’t like. Websites that offer consistently high quality content shouldn’t be affected by the Google Panda 4.0 update. However, if the quality of the content drops then that website’s fortunes can change for the worse, and it can fall down the search query lists.

Sites that offer free material, such as Wikipedia, may seem like a good idea to utilise for website content, but using this type of content comes at a cost. The Google Panda 4.0 update is not designed to boost traffic to sites that use a lot of duplicate articles. Indeed, why should it? Google may just as well point only at the direct source of the material – Wikipedia itself.

Google Influence

Though website content obviously isn’t controlled by Google, it’s influence on the performance of a website can be enormous. If a site does not feature high in relevant Google search queries then it will struggle to attract the type of audience that it’s looking for.

Google is aiming to provide a good user experience for the people who use its search engine. Consequently, the Google Panda 4.0 update wants to help sites that put the work in, and which provides its visitors with content that is unique and informative.

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