Panda 2.5

[Why9999]

Am I the only who got hit by Panda 2.5. It took my traffic down by about 10-20%.

Anybody else get bit?

Also, if anyone has any guesses as to what they did algorithmically, I'd love to hear it!

Btw, considering some of the big boys that got hit, I feel pretty good:

http://blog.searchmetrics.com/us/201...sa-update-2-5/

[CyberSEO]

So far Panda does perfect with my resources. Can I ask you a question? Do you have unique, spun or duplicated content on the sites, that were hit by Panda?

[dadamson]

Originally Posted by Why9999

Am I the only who got hit by Panda 2.5. It took my traffic down by about 10-20%.

Anybody else get bit?

Also, if anyone has any guesses as to what they did algorithmically, I'd love to hear it!

Btw, considering some of the big boys that got hit, I feel pretty good:

Google Panda USA Update 2.5 « Searchmetrics Suite Blog

After comparing the list of sites that got hit with the list of sites that benefited, it is very apparent that social signals are becoming a lot stronger in terms of rankings.

Ensure your site is interesting enough for social interaction and help this along with social buttons and maybe a social networking SEO campaign and you should thrive while other sites dive.

As with all things, you need to ensure your backlinking profile is natural and organic in appearance. If your backlinks are consistent, spread out, and diverse you should do a lot better than most link-blasted spam sites out there.

Especially as the Panda grows into a beast

[Why9999]

Originally Posted by CyberSEO

So far Panda does perfect with my resources. Can I ask you a question? Do you have unique, spun or duplicated content on the sites, that were hit by Panda?

I'm one of a kind. Mom always said I was special.

No, I'm careful not to plagiarize or re-spin things.

[Why9999]

Originally Posted by dadamson

After comparing the list of sites that got hit with the list of sites that benefited, it is very apparent that social signals are becoming a lot stronger in terms of rankings.

Ensure your site is interesting enough for social interaction and help this along with social buttons and maybe a social networking SEO campaign and you should thrive while other sites dive.

As with all things, you need to ensure your backlinking profile is natural and organic in appearance. If your backlinks are consistent, spread out, and diverse you should do a lot better than most link-blasted spam sites out there.

Especially as the Panda grows into a beast

Interesting comment about the social connection. I'm on Twitter, but it looks like I've got a long way to go:

Look at this! One of the few non-video winners was zappos. They are a social media whiz kid apparently:

http://www.ignitesocialmedia.com/soc...media-example/
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/zappos_twitter.php
http://smartblogs.com/socialmedia/20...mpany-culture/

Time to get busy!

[dadamson]

Originally Posted by Why9999

Google does not like Facebook right?

Of course they do...

Ensure your site is getting linked too from a diverse variety of different websites with different methods (including FB) and Google will see your site as an authority above other sites that are using spammy link-blasting techniques.

[CyberSEO]

Originally Posted by Why9999

I'm one of a kind. Mom always said I was special.

No, I'm careful not to plagiarize or re-spin things.

And you was hit by Panda? Hmm...

[SamirRastogi]

Originally Posted by dadamson

Of course they do...

Ensure your site is getting linked too from a diverse variety of different websites with different methods (including FB) and Google will see your site as an authority above other sites that are using spammy link-blasting techniques.

I am not sure whether that's the case. The consumeraffairs website took a huge hit but has pretty good social signals. It's got 4k FB likes and 27 from Google +. I don't think anyone really knows how the mighty Panda works.

[onSubie]

Originally Posted by CyberSEO

And you was hit by Panda? Hmm...

Many "innocent" people got hit because there were fluctuations in the rankings as the value of backlinks were recalculated.

Many sites that had previously provided strong link juice were suddenly devalued.

Most people who were not hit directly by Panda recovered much of their traffic over the next few months as they continued working and Google stabilized.

A few bloggers I follow who use Adsense discussed their impacts from Panda. Jeremy Banks over at Internet Money Hustle wrote a pretty detailed piece about his traffic and earnings before-during-after Panda.

Edit: He is very active here on WF too.

Mahlon

[Rankomatic]

Heres a great philosophy to adhere to when it comes to the black and white beast... If you are not super proud of your site and what you have done in regards to backlinking then neither is google.

Plenty of good original content + a good mix of social and traditional backlinks = panda proof

Also, lay off the profile links. profile links should make up less than 10% of your backlinks. Many people are getting this wrong

[Monty Montana]

I didn't know there's an update (again)... geeezz..

Checked all my sites just now, no ranking drops there. Thank god.

[Why9999]

Originally Posted by SamirRastogi

I am not sure whether that's the case. The consumeraffairs website took a huge hit but has pretty good social signals. It's got 4k FB likes and 27 from Google +. I don't think anyone really knows how the mighty Panda works.

One thing in support of that theory is that Zappos had a YouTube campaign. They might have gotten pulled up just through that and not their efforts in FB or Twitterville.

[Why9999]

Originally Posted by CyberSEO

And you was hit by Panda? Hmm...

I know that was a cheap shot, but I'll still comment: I actually did better after Panda 2.0. So I'm struggling to figure out the message that the Mothership is sending me...

[Michael D Forbes]

Hit like a brick between the eyes. Down 50-70% in traffic over the last few days on my best (til now) performing sites, and no, I don't have spun/duplicate/trash content.

Many former top 5 ranking keywords are sitting down on page 2-3 right now.

I missed the news that Panda 2.5 had hit and thought the whole Internet must be broken.

[Targeted Traffic]

Google has denied to share anything about what type of site, content targeted by panda 2.5 however their statement is as:

"We’re continuing to iterate on our Panda algorithm as part of our commitment to returning high-quality sites to Google users. This most recent update is one of the roughly 500 changes we make to our ranking algorithms each year.”

Well this just means keep going with the high quality content and links

[Domsa]

I am unsure to be honest. The only thing that got hit was my newest domain, yet I can't be sure whether it's Panda 2.5 or simple Google Dance. My rank varied between #1 to #8, depending on the keyword (same site), yet now I am not even in the first 300 results. From my experience, Dance shoots you back quite a bit, but not passed Page 10. It is quite weird since my content was 100% original, reviewed by native speakers before publishing. Will keep you posted.

[Why9999]

Ouch! It doesn't look they are done with me yet. Last night I dropped probably another 5-10%. That may have been due to no lower Twitter activity.

Question: how many of you that took a hit use AWeber? One recent change I made to my site was adding an AWeber page. I know no one believes that this could matter, but look at what this guy wrote:

Email Reputation Causes Penalties in Google Search Results ~ LockerGnome Web Developers

His description fits me exactly: an authority site with email subscriptions. Of course, I just added AWeber, but it seems awful coincidental. Notice that the guy uses AWeber just as I do.

Now Matt Cutts, if you look at the comments below, absolutely denies some of it. But I have read this before and wonder which part he's denying.

Comments?

[Mike Anthony]

Originally Posted by dadamson

After comparing the list of sites that got hit with the list of sites that benefited, it is very apparent that social signals are becoming a lot stronger in terms of rankings.

No doubt true but most of my client's sites are up and some of them have ZERO social signals (for various reasons). You have any real data to back that up?

[coronaborcalis]

3 of my site no where to be seen lately and I admit that I did some blast link with article submission software I hope they will back in few days or weeks

[Fernando Veloso]

Still trying to understand Google huh? You folks realize when you do that (if you ever do) at least 3 different updates have happened AFTER the one you're trying to understand. So you guys keep running in circles, always chasing the rainbow.

The day you stop trying to understand "updates" it's the day you'll understand Google search engine rankings:

Always changing
Completely random
A full mix of old/new/ and lot's of lies
Made in a way NO webmaster can game them

But feel free to chase the rainbow

[SamirRastogi]

Originally Posted by Fernando Veloso

Still trying to understand Google huh? You folks realize when you do that (if you ever do) at least 3 different updates have happened AFTER the one you're trying to understand. So you guys keep running in circles, always chasing the rainbow.

The day you stop trying to understand "updates" it's the day you'll understand Google search engine rankings:

Always changing
Completely random
A full mix of old/new/ and lot's of lies
Made in a way NO webmaster can game them

But feel free to chase the rainbow

Panda is like a woman. Stop trying to understand it. Just accept it and learn to live with it

[Why9999]

Looks like Panda 2.0 targeted email with accelerated spam penalities:

GraphicMail Blog: Is Email Marketing subject to Google's Panda Update?
How Google’s Panda / Farmer Algorithm Could Affect Email Marketing | Search Engine Journal
Email Marketers on guard as Google Panda bites down on bad content

Then perhaps 2.5 took it a step further and added further penalities. In my case, I had only sent out one newsletter and it had no sales or anything in it that could be miscontrued as spam.

However, I do have keywords that could be targeted as spam. Makes me wonder if yahoo, hotmail and others provide feedback to Google. Probably not I guess...