SEO: Understanding How Google Panda Works
Google Panda is the software which is used by Google to index different pages of websites, which are accessible through the internet. This innovative software was launched in the month of February, 2011. After its release, the rankings of a lot of websites were affected. A survey conducted by the US based media firm CNET found that social media and news sites saw a huge improvement in their rankings, once Google Panda was launched. On the other hand, the survey conducted by CNET also found that those sites, which included a lot of advertisement, saw a huge decrease in their rankings.
In order to make sure that your website has a very favorable rank in Google, you have to understand Panda, the indexing software of Google, works. When you have a fair understanding of Panda’s functions, you will find it easier to develop SEO strategies that will be liked by it.
The 4 most important functions of Google Panda are as follows:
1. Scan Websites – it scans the content of millions of websites on the internet, looking for relevant keywords. Based on the keywords, it categorizes the sites so that they can be displayed in relevant search results. For example, if the content of a site deals with buying and selling products, it will be categorized under ecommerce and will be displayed whenever an internet user searches for information about buying any products, which are sold by that particular site.
2. Index Web pages – after scanning the sites and looking for relevant keywords, Google Panda indexes the sites based on their quality of content. If the content is unique and error-free, it will index the site on a regular basis. Also, when the web pages have different content from each other, they will be individually indexed making the site more popular and improving its ranking.
3. Check links – the software then checks the links given in the site. It follows the links to ensure that they have information relevant to the site and its keywords. It also checks if the linked websites are active or not. If the links are in good status and contain relevant information, they help the site in getting indexed more frequently by Google Panda.
4. Measure popularity – it also measures the popularity of the site by checking various social media sites to see if the site has been featured there. Sites which are frequently featured in social media rank higher in Google.