John Borkowski, October 13, 2011
Ever since the initial release of the Panda Update in February, 2011, search engine marketers have been adjusting their strategy, and even capturing opportunities (and clients) to fix problems that other SEO firms committed. Since the original release there have been 4 updates including 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, and we await Panda 2.5. Google has done a great job in keeping the release a secret. Search marketers notice the day it comes out, however, when noticeable sites take a dive. The last update included TheTodayShow.com and PR Newswire getting flagged, while FOX News and YouTube climbed the ranks.
Many SEO firms and experts are trying to determine what Panda 2.5 will aim at, but most experts agree that Google may be targeting keywords that have lost relevance or have been dominated by poor quality sites. That may have been the case with TheTodayShow, as keywords including “television” and “news” may have been badly abused on other black-hat domains.
One thing’s for sure, Google’s Matt Cutts tweeted last week the following:
Weathering the storm can be a bit of a challenge, as we’ve seen Google take aim at different SEO methods that didn’t use to be much of an issue before. For example, targeting keywords that have been abused in majority will affect sites that aren’t trying to conduct dishonest SEO. (We can’t imagine NBC Universal, parent company of TheTodayShow, entered into black-hat SEO).
The update does, however, call for search marketers to innovate their strategy. Ethical SEO firms can adapt to the change that Google is setting forth, and essentially renovate keywords that may have been taken advantage of. Only the best SEO services firm will take the time to do this.
