What the Panda Update 3.9 means for Your Web Business

Panda Update 3.9 : What it means for your business? Google’s new PageRank system calls for another shake-up to the SEO community. The recently-released Panda Update 3.9 PageRank algorithm aims to add another layer of sophistication to Google’s automated website quality-checking program.

Panda Update 3.9

This one is called Panda update 3.9 but will only affect 1% of websites. Google’s Panda update started in 2011 to help them produce better search results. The effects of Panda update 3.9 may not be as huge as the first ever Panda update implemented in February 2011, which affected 11.3% of search queries.

While you may be tempted to refine your web offerings in light of this update – focusing more on ‘quality material’ (more on that in a moment), stop for a moment to think about the general trend in the progression of the algorithm. Google’s release notification – delivered via Twitter – linked back to an older document clearly classifying the precise meaning of ‘quality’ for SEO purposes.

Since its release a little over a year ago, Panda has affected an estimated 12% of all search results – and it’s this document that gives a guide as to how it’s going to play out in the future. Check out the Google’s Algorithm Improvement Curve, it’s not included recent release of Panda Update 3.9.

The challenge of the algorithm is to build an automated system for establishing semantic meaning within web links. That’s no easy task, but as Google refines its program adhering to a more complex understanding of what ‘quality content’ is will become essential to the success of your SEO division. The good news is that you can start now. Read some of the following articles about Google Panda to know more about it.

• 10 Simple Steps To Recover from Google Panda Updates
• Google Panda Update : Three Steps To Building A Better Website
• New Google Algorithm Update: Above the Fold Ads

Google’s ‘quality’ constraints are not pitched at upending the practices of SEO companies. In fact, Google says that SEO can be ‘constructive’ – anything that’s pushing the quality agenda on web items is going to be good for web users overall. And with that in mind, here are a few tips:

• Make sure your content is written by people who really understand the topic. Are they offering a perspective that you could just as well dream up yourself, or do they bring specialist knowledge to bear?
• Make sure their analysis is more than skin deep. Do they just bring up a point-by-point rehash of what their main source says, or are there useful questions designed to provoke deeper understanding?
• Check for originality. Are your content writers simply blending extant news sources and changing a few words? Is their research original, and accompanied by their own analysis? Are their perspectives new?
• Trustworthiness has received a big boost in influencing SEO through Panda. Is the article factually correct? Does it make wild assumptions, or is the information genuinely useful?
• Stylistic elements – spelling is a given, and syntax an obvious necessity. But Panda is reaching in to the essence of articles and examining them for stylistic – get this – originality. What on earth is that?

‘Stylistic originality’ means a number of things. First of all, does the article progress well, or is it jumbled? Can you follow the author’s train of thought? Are claims substantiated, or are you left dangling? Is jargon inserted with little to no explanation? Is the structure of the piece presented clearly? These are questions that academics have been struggling through for years when marking undergraduate essays – and there is no reason why the same level of rigour should not be brought to your SEO efforts.

Here’s a quick example

Bad: A number of printer manufacturers have been increasing their manufacturing efforts of late: this is probably because of the increase in paper costs. Paper is as I’m sure we all know very expensive and you can spend a lot of money on it if you aren’t careful.

Good: Among other manufacturers, Dell printers have been increasing their manufacturing efforts of late – up from (x) units to (y) units per year. Sources have suggested that this is in response to either consumer demand or a lessening in the per-unit cost of paper (due to increased efficiencies in the pulp-processing stage of paper manufacture).

However, at current there is little research available to indicate which of these it might be. This article is going to look at recent trends in consumer demand for printers, and compare it with the trend in paper manufacture costs. Let’s look at consumer demand first.

Hopefully that’s given you a few tips for the sorts of questions you should be asking about content submitted to your blog – or, if you are a Digital Media Agency, the kinds of questions you could be asking of your copywriters. Ultimately, low-quality content is far more likely to drive down your PageRank, rather than up – quantity of content is becoming less and less important.

Investing in high-quality copywriters may cost more, but slapdash, unoriginal works count for (less than) nothing against well-written, highly-organised and specialist analysis pieces. I think after Panda update 3.9, Google will make some big changes in the Panda update 4.0. What your views on recent Google Panda Update 3.9?