Google has declared time and again that it strives to provide a superior quality search experience to users. All these Panda algorithm updates focus on enhancing the Google rankings of high quality sites, while poor or low quality websites are pushed down the SERPs.
Though Google officials said that this is only a minor update (a data refresh), webmasters noticed alterations in their search rankings. The recent Panda update is only one of 500 ranking algorithmic changes that Google makes every year. So, you can hope to see more of such updates, usually at the interval of every 5-8 weeks.
Previous Panda Updates
Counting the recent one, Google has updated its Panda ten times till now.
Take a look at all of these updates between 2011 and 2012.
Panda Update 3.2 : January 18, 2012
Panda Update 3.1 : November 18, 2011
Panda Update 2.5.3 : October 9, 2011
Panda Update 2.5.2 : October 13, 2011
Panda Update 2.5.1 : October 19, 2011
Panda Update 2.5 : September 28, 2011
Panda Update 2.4 : August 12, 2011
Panda Update 2.4 : August 12, 2011
Panda Update 2.3 : July 23, 2011
Panda Update 2.2 : June 16, 2011
Panda Update 2.1 : May 10, 2011
Panda Update 2.0 : April 11, 2011
Panda Update 1.0 : Feb. 24, 2011
What a Few Webmasters Noticed
Though I didn't notice any impact on my own sites, there are webmasters who pointed out rises or drops in their organic search traffic. Many webmasters said that they retained the traffic that was lost during November Google Panda update last year. Many declared a 30% - 40% increase in their daily organic traffic. There are others (including me) who didn't notice any big change though.
Looking for Panda Survival Tips?
Many more Panda updates will be your way this year. You really need to make sure that these updates by Google don't do any collateral damage to your website organic traffic. If your website was Panda-slapped, given below are few essential tips that you can follow.
Diversify your website traffic
Use actionable KPIs to calculate success
Devote time to building a community around your brand
Fix the usability issues on your website quickly
Conduct a content audit (and remove useless content)
Say a firm 'No' to low quality link building
Understand that good quality content is still the king
If a higher percentage of your website's traffic comes from Google's organic searches, you need to become even more vigilant. Start implementing the necessary changes to your website right away, because therer's no guarantee that the next Panda algorithmic update will also be minor one.
