Google's Second Attempt At Panda Relief Advice

Google's head of search, Amit Singhal, on Friday afternoon posted the second batch of advice for those webmasters harmed by the Google Panda/Farmer update. The first advice from Google was about two months ago and Google now, after a month since theinternational roll out and almost three months after Panda was unleashed, Google submitted their second batch of advice.

Most webmasters are not happy with the set of advice, but first let me quote it and then let me share some webmaster thought.

Google's Advice:

• Would you trust the information presented in this article?
• Is this article written by an expert or enthusiast who knows the topic well, or is it more shallow in nature?
• Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations?
• Would you be comfortable giving your credit card information to this site?
• Does this article have spelling, stylistic, or factual errors?
• Are the topics driven by genuine interests of readers of the site, or does the site generate content by attempting to guess what might rank well in search engines?
• Does the article provide original content or information, original reporting, original research, or original analysis?
• Does the page provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results?
• How much quality control is done on content?
• Does the article describe both sides of a story?
• Is the site a recognized authority on its topic?
• Is the content mass-produced by or outsourced to a large number of creators, or spread across a large network of sites, so that individual pages or sites donât get as much attention or care?
• Was the article edited well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?
• For a health related query, would you trust information from this site?
• Would you recognize this site as an authoritative source when mentioned by name?
• Does this article provide a complete or comprehensive description of the topic?
• Does this article contain insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious?
• Is this the sort of page youâd want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
• Does this article have an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?
• Would you expect to see this article in a printed magazine, encyclopedia or book?
• Are the articles short, unsubstantial, or otherwise lacking in helpful specifics?
• Are the pages produced with great care and attention to detail vs. less attention to detail?
• Would users complain when they see pages from this site?

SEO Guru Feedback:

There are two primary threads, that I have found, covering the Google advice. One at WebmasterWorld and the other at Google Webmaster Help.

Google Panda Update

Google Panda Update: Say Goodbye to Low-Quality Link Building

A while back, I wrote about how to get the best high volume links. Speedy forward two months and Google has made two major changes to its algorithm -- first to target spammy/scraper sites, followed by the larger Panda update that targeted "low quality" sites. And, Google penalized JCPenney, Forbes, and Overstock.com for "shady" linking practices.

But The Competitors Are Doing It' Is not an Excuse

What's it all mean for link builders? Well, it is time they say goodbye to low quality link building altogether.

This may be hard for some link builders to digest, if you are coming from a research standpoint & you see that competitors for a specific keyword are dominating because of their thousands on thousands of pure spam links.

Perhaps it is not the links that got the competitor where they are today. Perhaps they are a large brand with a nice reputation to be where they are for that particular keyword.

But here are two things you must think about about finding low quality, high volume links in your analysis:

Maybe it is not the links that got the competitor where they are today. Perhaps they are a large brand with a lovely reputation to be where they are for that particular keyword.

If the above doesn't apply, then perhaps it is a matter of time before Google cracks down even further, giving no weight to those spammy backlinks.

Because, let's face it. You don't need to be the SEO company behind the next Overstock or JCPenney link building gone wrong story!

How to Decide a Valuable Backlink Opportunity

Lots of ads- If the site is covered with three blocks of AdSense, Konterra text links, or other marketing chunks, you may need to steer away from them.

How are you able to decide whether a site you are trying to gain a link from is valuable? Here are some "warning" signs as to what Google may have or finally deem as a low-quality site.

Lack of quality content- In the event you can get your article approved immediately, chances are this is not the right article network for your needs. If the article network is approving spun or poorly written content, it will be hard for the algorithm to see your "diamond in the rough." Of coursework, when a site like Suite101.com, which has one hell of an news story system, gets dinged, then extreme moderation may not necessarily be a sign of a safe site either (in their case, ads were the more likely issue).

Lots of content, low traffic- A weblog with a Google PageRank of 6 probably looks like a great place to spam a comment. But if that weblog doesn't have lovely authority in terms of traffic and social sharing, then it may be put on the list of sites to be de-valued in the future. PageRank didn't save a quantity of the sites in the Panda update, thinking about there's several sites with PageRank 7 and above (including a PR 9).

Where ought to you focus your energy? Content, of coursework!

Lack of moderation- Kind of goes with the above, except in this case I mean weblog comments and directories. In the event you see a ton of spammy links on a page, you don't need yours to go next to it. Unless you think about it a spammy link, and then more power to you to join the remainder of them.

What Ought to You Be Doing

Nine in 10 organizations use blogs, whitepapers, webinars, infographics, and other high quality content to leverage for link building and to attract natural, organic links. Not only can use your content to build links, but you can use it to build leads as well by proving the business knows their stuff when it comes to their industry.