How Panda 4.1 Should Change Your Content Strategy

When Panda “4.1″ – another iteration of Google’s algorithm aimed at low-quality web content hit on September 25, some brands saw upward of a 90 percent loss in their organic search footprint, according to initial research conducted at BrightEdge.

What it could mean for your website’s content strategy?

Although Google closely guards its algorithmic secrets, here’s what we know about Panda historically, based on what Google representatives have said about it and on other data analyses shared amongst the web marketing community:

• Panda targets “thin” content on sites, which often equates to a general lack of content
• Panda targets duplicate content, usually when a site has a large volume of it
• Panda targets machine-generated content (what marketers often refer to as “spun content”)

Google hasn’t opened up on the specifics of this latest iteration on the algorithm, but based on initial findings from others around the web and at BrightEdge, we can share data on what types of sites have been impacted positively and negatively. From that, you can make some inferences about how it might affect your site and how you should adjust. For all the details, check out my full post on Marketing Land.