Google Latest Update

Latest Algorithm update by Google - Panda 4.1

Thursday, October 10, 2014

Google, the biggest search engine giant across the globe has already started rolling out the latest Panda Algorithm Update – Panda 4.1- a filter that aims at penalizing poor or low quality content in an Endeavour to restrict it from getting higher rankings in the search engine results. As per various sources, Google claimed that depending on the locations, nearly 3-5% of the search queries are going to be affected by this update shortly. Launched on September 25, 2014; Panda 4.1 will be a “slow rollout” expected to fluctuate rankings to a great extent.

WHY ARE WE CALLING IT PANDA 4.1?

Panda 4.1 is the 27th update introduced by Google ever since it launched its algorithm update by the name of Panda. But, you might be wondering why this new update is introduced with the number 4.1

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only. Well, this is because the earlier Panda update that launched in May 2014, just a few months ago was Panda 4.0 and that was a major update by Google. In fact, it affected close to 7.5% of the search queries, the biggest till now. And, since it is very difficult to remember random names, Google decided to number the updates sequentially, just like a nomenclature is used for naming upgraded versions of software. Good, isn't it?

How many Sites are going to be affected by this update?

The big Panda update 4.1 is expected to impact many websites across the web. Nearly 3-5% of the search queries are going to be touched down by the revised algorithm. As per various sources, some sites including yellow.com, exactarget.com, theepochtimes.com, healthcentral.com, office365.com and ehow.com etc have lost considerable amount of traffic(>60%) due to this update. In all, there are more than 100 websites revealed by Search metrics that’re seeing a significant loss in their organic SEO visibility making them big time losers. However, there are some websites that are benefitted by this update and have gained a lot of traffic. Some of the biggest lucky winners include hongkiat.com, babble.com, comdotgame.com, mediamass.net, hotelguides.com and yourtango.com.

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So, how different is Panda 4.1 from the earlier Panda 4.0?

Yes, we all know that Panda 4.1 is just a continuation of the previous update Panda 4.0, which was released about 4 months ago in May 2014. But, most of you might be unaware about the fact that Google has completely re-written the Panda algorithm in its previous version- Panda 4.0 and this latest update (Panda 4.1) is just a refreshed version of the same algorithm to filter the thin content from the organic search rankings. One more interesting thing to know is that this newest update will be pulling out some websites from the grey zone (sites hit by the earlier Panda) who have taken serious steps and have corrected the issues with their websites.

List of Previous Panda Updates

Previously, 26 Panda Updates were introduced by Google before it announced Panda 4.1. Here I have compiled a complete list of all previous Panda Updates –

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Panda Update 1 – Rolled out on Feb. 24, 2011, affected nearly 11.8% of the queries and was announced in English in US only.

Panda Update 2 – Rolled out on April 11, 2011. Around 2% of the queries were affected and the update was announced in English internationally.

Panda Update 3 – Rolled out on May 10, 2011, though it doesn’t create any impact and thus it was not announced by Google despite the confirmation

Panda Update 4 – Rolled out on June 16, 2011. Again no change was seen, was confirmed but not announced by Google

Panda Update 5 – Rolled out on July 23, 2011. Confirmed but was not announced due to zero impact

Panda Update 6 – Rolled out on Aug. 12, 2011 and affected nearly 6-9% of the queries. This update was announced in many non-English languages also

Panda Update 7 – Rolled out on Sept. 28, 2011. Brought no change and so was not announced despite the confirmation.

Panda Update 8 – Rolled out on Oct. 19, 2011. Nearly 2% of the queries were affected and so it was confirmed by Google.

Panda Update 9 – Rolled out on Nov. 18, 2011, nearly 1% of the queries were affected.

Panda Update 10 –Rolled out on Jan. 18, 2012. Confirmed, but was not announced

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Panda Update 11 – Rolled out on Feb. 27, 2012. Confirmed, but was not announced

Panda Update 12 – Rolled out on March 23, 2012, nearly 1.6% of the queries impacted.

Panda Update 13 – Rolled out on April 19, 2012. No change given.

Panda Update 14 – Rolled out on April 27, 2012. Again, no change given but confirmed

Panda Update 15 – Rolled out on June 9, 2012, nearly 1% queries were affected

Panda Update 16 – Rolled out on June 25, 2012, nearly 1% of the queries were affected

Panda Update 17 – Rolled out on July 24, 2012. Around 1% of the search queries were affected

Panda Update 18 – Rolled out on Aug. 20, 2012, affected about 1% of queries

Panda Update 19 – Rolled out on Sept. 18, 2012, less than 0.7% of queries were affected

Panda Update 20 – Rolled out on Sept. 27, 2012. Around 2.4% English queries were impacted

Panda Update 21 – Rolled out on Nov. 5, 2012. Nearly 1.1% of English-language queries were affected in US and 0.4% worldwide. Though it was confirmed but not announced by Google.

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Panda Update 22 – Rolled out on Nov. 21, 2012, affected nearly 0.8% of the English queries. Was confirmed but not announced

Panda Update 23 – Rolled out on Dec. 21, 2012, affected nearly 1.3% of English queries.

Panda Update 24 – Rolled out on Jan. 22, 2013 and affected nearly 1.2% of English queries

Panda Update 25 – Rolled out on March 15, 2013. It was confirmed as coming but not confirmed as having happened.

Panda Update 26 – Also called Panda 4.0. This was the biggest Panda update that rolled out on May 20, 2014 and affected nearly 7.5% of the search queries.

How to recover from the Panda Effect?

If you’re hit by Panda 4.1 & are seeing a huge traffic drop & low search engine rankings, you must take quick action to recover your website as

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soon as possible. Here I’m giving some instructions that you can follow to pull out your website from this Google Penalty.

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1. Enhance the user experience of your website. This includes improving the navigation to make it easy enough for visitors & search engine crawlers to find relevant information fast. Remove the unnecessary clutter and create a user-friendly layout that pleases search engines as well.

2. Generate high quality content for your website. Hire professional writers and update all your website content. Also, keep posting relevant content in the form of blogs and make a content calendar to improve the content quality of your website

3. Integrate social media accounts and promote your content within the targeted audience. Allow people to comment, share, like and tweet on what you post by integrating social media icons like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, Google+ etc.

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4. Reduce the bounce rate of your website. Try to retain visitors for maximum time by engaging them wisely. Make sure people don't leave immediately when they land up on your website. After you follow necessary actions, don’t forget to submit a reconsideration request to Google. Ideally, you should get a reply within 1-2 weeks from Google else submit the request again. If Google thinks your website is good enough, you’ll be able to rank even higher amongst your competitors on the search results.

After you follow necessary actions, don’t forget to submit a reconsideration request to Google. Ideally, you should get a reply within 1-2 weeks from Google else submit the request again. If Google thinks your website is good enough, you’ll be able to rank even higher amongst your competitors on the search results.

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