Google’s 10 Day Panda Update

Hold on to your cotton socks, Google has released a 10 day panda update party! Historically, Google launches updates over a day or two; however, for one reason or another, Google decided to spread out their latest updates in a “soft manner” according to the Search Engine Journal.

Google’s distinguished Engineer, Matt Cutts, indicated that Panda updates will be released over 10 days each month to “lessen the impact that it has on webmasters”. The downside of this is that it’s much more difficult for webmasters to determine updates versus normal fluctuations. Google is always keeping us on our toes!

Here’s the lowdown on Google’s latest Panda update:

1. Informational sites such as Wikipedia have seen a substantial impact. Accordingly, authority sites are getting higher placement in search engine results.

2. Some webmasters have indicated that Google+ has had a positive impact on their search engine rankings.

3. There has been an increase in the number of impressions; however, there has been the same amount of CTR’s. Visit Google Webmaster’s Tools for detailed information on your sites.

Here’s what you need to do if you haven’t done so already:

1. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. It’s time to enable Google Authorship if you haven’t done so already. This is a very simple process and if you’re not doing it, you’re missing out in a big way.

2. Create a Google+ account and a Google+ business page and get social. Add people to your circles, post meaningful content and become a trusted source of information relating to your industry. Nobody knows (yet) how Google+ truly affects your search rankings but it’s definitely not a bad thing.

The 10 day Panda update started rolling out on July 18, and although it seems like a “softer impact”, we still have six days left! As always, if you’re not dabbling in black-hat SEO practices, you shouldn’t see much of an impact this time around.

If you’re wondering how the Panda Update affected your website and search rankings, please feel free to contact us anytime. We look forward to hearing from you!