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If Your Site is Light On Quality Content, Google’s Latest Algorithm Update, Panda 4.0, Should Motivate You to Re-think Your Web Strategy

In the newsletter we send out to our clients every month, content is a recurring topic. While we started out by recommending to our clients that they make regular blogging a focal point of their web strategy going forward, we’ve now resorted to a much more blatant form of suggestion, otherwise known as verbal assault, in an attempt to urge them to step-up their content creation efforts.

I get it, not everyone likes to write and most business owners don’t have extra time to devote to blogging. But, if writing and posting quality content on a regular basis was an important factor for ranking well in Google before, Panda 4.0 will ensure that all those who drag their heels and don’t incorporate regular blogging and other forms of content creation into their online strategy won’t have a hope in heck of ranking well in the future.

What’s Changed with Panda 4.0?

With every update that’s rolled out, Google is attempting to better their users’ experience by providing search results that best match keyword searches. Now, content that’s considered spammy or just plain low-quality has always been on Google’s hit list, but Panda 4.0 seeks to reward those sites that contain lots of quality content by moving them up the rankings, and to punish those whose web strategy has neglected content creation with a bump down in the search results.

Now, while I’m sure there are many who have seen a drop in rankings since Panda 4.0 was unleashed, the opposite could also be true; a site with an online strategy that’s particularly strong on the content front, but that may have ranked lower in the past because of other factors, such as on-page issues, could actually see a nice boost in rankings from Panda’s update.

Whatever side of the coin your site is on, the fact of the matter is that Google continues to make it abundantly clear that a web strategy where content doesn’t play a big role is destined to fail.

Panda-Proofing Your Web Strategy

Even if your site’s rankings have suffered a blow, there’s no time like the present to revise your web strategy and to bring it more in-line with what Google continues to make clear–content is, and will continue to be, king.

Here are a few points to consider:

• Commit to adding at (the very) least two new posts to your site’s blog, every month. If your site still doesn’t have a blog, your web strategy is in major need of an overhaul–get blogging!
• Posts that are less than 500 words in length aren’t as valuable as longer, quality posts.
• Use a good mix of the best keywords for your market in the content you post on your site, only wherever it makes sense to do so. Statements like the following will get you nowhere but down:  ‘With coffee roasters Brisbane, the freshest beans are at…’
• Consult with a team of professionals to see where it is that you lack, as far as quality content goes. With a thorough audit, you may discover that it’s not just your site’s blog that’s lacking content, but that what’s missing from your web strategy are additional site pages packed with the content your visitors are looking for.

If your site’s rankings have been rocked by Panda 4.0, get in touch with us to learn how to improve your online strategy so that future updates feel more like bumps in the road and not bottomless potholes.