Google is rolling out an update of the Panda algorithm

Google reports that the rollout of the updated Panda 4.2 algorithm has begun. 

As the developers themselves say, for several months nobody will notice any changes on their sites, because the update happens slowly and gradually. Even so, changes will be seen at the level of individual pages. 

Exactly what share of search queries will be affected by the Panda algorithm is not yet known. Whether the update works out well or badly for a site depends on the site alone.

Over four years there have been more than 20 official updates of the algorithm. On top of that, another 50 unannounced updates have been noticed. 

We remind you that the main goal of the Panda algorithm, launched on 23 February 2011, is to raise the quality of search results. As soon as it appeared and started working, thousands of sites lost the positions they had built up in Google. 

Unfortunately nobody knows exactly which factors Panda takes into account when ranking. So to avoid falling under the algorithm's filter it is worth heeding the general advice: make your site as useful and interesting for users as you can. The closest attention should be paid to these problems:

• Useless content. Do not fill a site with meaningless scraps of text. The information presented on a site has to be useful and valuable to the user.
• Content that is not unique. If a site has similar pages, or a lot of repeated text, or if the lion's share of the content is downloaded from other sources, it is worth setting aside time to make the site more original.
• Links to poor-quality resources. If a site has a bad neighbourhood, links to suspicious or simply poor sites and receives links from them, that affects its ranking badly.
• Poor content. Publishing every day is considered good tactics. But the material has to be interesting and useful, otherwise you will waste your time and effort for nothing.

And what should you do if your site has fallen under the Panda filter after all?

If that misfortune has happened and you have made changes to the site, improved the material you publish, started writing more often and more interestingly and solved the problems with your content, then after the next update of the algorithm — and they happen regularly — the search robots will look at the site again and its positions will improve. But bear in mind that this will not happen sooner than several months from now.