Panda And Penguin Algorithms: How They Changed The SEO World?

Way back in the day, ten years ago, Google introduced radical changes to the way search results were filtered. The introduction of these changes began with the introduction of the Google Farmer Update, as marketers called it then, later renamed into the Google Panda update.

One year after the Panda update, Google released another critical algorithm update named Penguin. These two algorithm updates marked a new chapter in the way online content is done. Both Panda and Penguin have significantly influenced online behavior and led to the emergence of new SEO practices.

Here we’ll discuss the Panda and Penguin updates in more detail, and we’ll see how these two algorithms changed the online content world forever.

How Does the Google Algorithm Work?

To display results relevant to a user’s search, Google uses algorithms to determine the ranking of sites. Interestingly, Google has named its main search algorithms by the names of animals, namely Panda, Penguin, and Hummingbird. Each of these algorithms has a specific function that affects a site’s ranking.

Generally speaking,the Google ranking algorithm is a very complex piece of code. However, it plays a significant role in the way search engine results are displayed. Before introducing more specific search algorithms in the early days of the search engines, marketers were easily fooling the search engines into displaying all sorts of pages in the SERPs.

It was done by adding meta keyword tags, and marketers were cleverly “cheating” the search engine results. As a result, the SERPs looked very different, with a lot less relevance to the users’ search, as the search algorithms were not changed in weeks or even months.

It changed in 2010, with the introduction of Caffeine, a new search architecture that made radical changes behind the scenes – the SERPs changed several times a day. After Caffeine was launched, Google’s engineers make several changes a day, or over 600 changes a year. While most changes are not announced, the massive ones are named and introduced to the world: Panda, Penguin, and Hummingbird.

What Is Google Panda?

The Google Panda algorithm was launched on February 23, 2011, and significantly impacted the online world. It was not named after the cute Asian Panda bear but after one of its creators, Navneet Panda. This algorithm works in displaying high-quality sites near the top of the SERPs, lowering the ranking of low-quality sites, content farms, and ad-filled sites.

Many sites were initially affected, as whole sites were demoted due to the poor quality of their content. However, there were many cases where only specific pages suffered in the SERPs, not the whole site.

What Is Google Penguin?

A year later, on April 24, 2012, Google introduced another significant update to its search algorithm and named it Penguin. The Penguin update rewarded high-quality sites relevant to people’s searches and lowered the ranking of websites that used manipulative link schemes and keyword stuffing.

Initially, the Penguin update was released as a separate filter through which the search results were passed. Later, in 2016, Penguin was integrated into the core search engine ranking algorithm. Penguin is a site-wide algorithm, meaning that the presence of a large number of low-quality links on one page could affect your entire website.

What Did These Algorithms Affect?

Before introducing these ranking algorithms, the Google search engine results were determined by the meta keyword tags placed in code on the websites. These meta keyword tags “told” the search engine what the webpage was about and whether it was relevant to the users’ search.

While this worked for a while, marketers often used tricks to circumvent rules and have a particular website rank on top of the SERPs for weeks. So to make things better for the users and prevent cheating, Google’s engineers were after a solution that would offer an improved service.

Panda And Penguin Changed Ranking Factors

After the introduction of Panda, things changed. Panda assesses each website and analyzes the quality of each post on the website. This algorithm is concerned with the content placed on the site and checks for meaningful content instead of excessively high word count.
Panda also checks for thin online content; for example, it targets sites with just a few sentences or strings of words without significant meaning. Panda can also target sites with duplicate content, sites with machine-generated or spun content, and pages with excessive onsite advertising.

Penguin works similarly by analyzing and devaluing low-quality sites. It searches for low-quality links, links from unrelated websites, and unnatural links. The other thing Penguin checks for is keyword stuffing. It means that websites with a large number of keywords or many repetitive keywords will be devalued.
Panda and Penguin Most Effective?

The Panda and Penguin Google algorithms have aimed to lower the rank of low-quality sites, content-thin sites, and content farms. But, on the other hand, these algorithms award sites that offer high-quality content that is relevant and brings value to the users.
For example, any page with only a few sentences that don’t bring value to the reader can be penalized by Panda. To help with this, you should aim at adding enough relevant information to your website. Panda also penalizes the sites with duplicate or copied content. Again, to help with this, you should never copy from other websites, as Google will find out and lower your rank.

The same goes for large sales sites that have separate for each color and size of the product: if 100 products come in 10 colors and 5 sizes, you should not create a new page for each variation and give Google 5,000 pages to index. Instead, create only the necessary 100 product pages and avoid lowering your rank.

Before Panda came in, the sites ranked per the frequency of publication and not the actual quality of content. But Panda checks the content quality: if you post new content every day, it should be well-written, on point, and helpful to readers. If you don’t have the time to create a valuable post, you should refrain from creating low-quality posts.

Penguin took care of the irrelevant and the unnatural number of links on a site. To help people find what they are after, Penguin analyzes the links and related anchor text. Unfortunately, it will devalue a site with plenty of unrelated links.

For example, let’s say you run a construction company and work locally in Sacramento. Before Penguin took over, to rank higher on the SERPs, you could have used a lot of links, both internal and external, and fill them with keyword anchor text like Sacramento Construction Company, Construction in Sacramento, Builder in Sacramento, and similar ones. Now to avoid demotion by the Penguin algorithm, you should use only a few carefully selected links in your site and avoid using untrustworthy and irrelevant links.

How Panda And Penguin Changed SEO Practices?

To prevent your website from succumbing to Google Panda, you should focus on improving your site’s SEO or Search Engine Optimization. What does this mean?  Simple, it means that you need to produce high-quality content that will bring value to your readers. Do not cut any corners – provide relevant information, solution, or service to your readers. You should also create a user-friendly site with excellent UX/UI design and optimize it for both desktop and mobile users.

Another thing that the Panda algorithm considers is reviews about your website/product/service on third-party, independent sites. It would help if you allowed users to leave reviews, as the algorithm uses these to estimate client satisfaction.
Backlinks and external sources are another aspect of SEO that Panda and Penguin consider and affect. The more relevant internal and external links you have to and for your website prove the relevance of the content you have on your site.Please note that you should only add links to relevant sites that can add to the reliability of your website.

What the Future Holds for Our Online Activity

While many of us may not like it, Panda and Penguin, and consequently Hummingbird, changed the way we do online content. While ultimately, these algorithms were integrated into the core Google search algorithms, they still have a strong influence on the SERPs.

Instead of creating a website with poor quality content, create properly researched SEO-optimized content to bring value to the readers. Regularly run audits that will check the links to and from your site. Make sure you always keep your information up-to-date and cover a wide array of topics.

To get the most of your online presence, focus on quality over quantity, maintain an up-to-date, user-friendly website and use keywords naturally. Running a website compliant with these algorithms is the only genuine way to increase a higher ranking in the SERPs.