Blue Global

Last week, Jessica Lee, social media editor for Bruce Clay, wrote an article about the upcoming Google Panda algorithm updates, dubbed Panda 2.2. The Panda update was discussed at Search Marketing Expo (SMX) Advanced Conference and Google’s Matt Cutts confirmed that new changes to the algorithm had been made and approved (though not yet implemented).

So with even more changes coming, how can you make sure your content stays Google-friendly? It seems difficult to do in the affiliate marketing space because so many niches are oversaturated with poorly written, copied or diluted content, but it’s not impossible.

To start, there are no better words of wisdom than those of Matt Cutts when he says that it’s best to focus on the user experience rather than chasing any kind of algorithmic success. So before you make any changes to your content strategy, get familiar with the Google quality guidelines and understand that focusing on your search engine rankings won’t result in success, but giving your visitors what they’re looking for is going to be your best approach.

If you find yourself in a highly competitive space where coming up with original – and more importantly, useful – content is difficult, don’t fall back on creating heaps of second-rate pages. Instead, take a specific angle to your niche, create solid, well-written resources and take the “less is more” approach to creating content. It’s much better to write one high quality article than five poorly written ones.

Google is constantly updating its algorithms and many of these changes go under the radar. Too many websites find themselves at the mercy of the Google algorithm, but those sites that give the user a good experience (which are the sites Google should be giving searchers) and actually offer relevant and useful information don’t have to worry about new changes because their focus is in the right place.