Panda 2.5

[kchandler]

I'm sure we have all read about the latest round of Google's algorithm changes also known as the "Panda 2.5" updates. This latest update seems to have hit some pretty large press release sites including PR Newswire and Businesswire (both of these have a great page rank and domain authority making them a great tool for SEO's in regards to inbounds links).

Ultimately this update has directly affected their sites traffic, keyword rankings, and the number of indexed pages in Google. But what will this do to our smaller sites that benefit from these great links? Will these panda updates continue to target these content farms and lower their domain authority? Will that extrapolate out and effect the domain authority of our sites?

What are your thoughts for those of us that utilize these services, should we re-evaluate our process?

I look forward to a great discussion.

Regards - Kyle

[FrontlineMobility]

I feel Google no longer wants people to build links in the manner of the great bringing up the meek, but more of the meek making themselves individuals with their content and uniqueness so that people cause natural traffic. I think Panda is more about making an Organic operating system over a silicon hive mind that ranks people based off of their involvement with already established sites. This is just my opinion but I feel it is for the better, because it actually makes it easier to optimize a site if one take the initiative and has to the discipline to do research and hop on social and economic trends with great content which will gain all the organic users. Then again I could be entirely wrong, but I like Pandas and Google Panda ^.^

[RyanKent]

What are your thoughts for those of us that utilize these services, should we re-evaluate our process?

Yes, on an ongoing basis.

After every Panda update it is important to quickly assess what changes were made (i.e. who was hit) and how these changes affect our clients.

In short, Google has made us clearly aware of what they want to see in terms of links: a completely independent link to websites. They do not want to see any form of influence.

• Press Releases is content usually under the complete control of the company which offered the release. It is not an unbiased link.

• Articles published on various content farm sites are not (usually) independent links.

• Links from various forms of link networks, directories, etc. all fall under this category as well.

While the above links do offer some value, it is greatly diminished compared to the value of an authentic link.

The question is, how do we adjust? My suggestion is to focus more then ever on onpage SEO. Work with clients to ensure their websites are more streamlined, more focused, more usable, liked, trusted, helpful (and 100 other adjectives) then ever before. There is one word which encompasses everything else...compelling.

In the world of sales there are products and services which need to be sold, and there are products and services which sell themselves. Is the content on your site what you want to write about? Or does it cover topics readers want to hear about? Do you have known detractors from site quality (i.e. ads, keyword stuffing, etc)?

TL:DR: Treat your website like it is the only site you own. Make the site the most helpful and compelling resource on the topic you cover.

Once the above is complete, you only need to let the world know about your site and they will want to link to it. Keep pounding away at on page until you feel you attained a level of perfection. Then, ask for and openly accept feedback. Ask other SEOs and more importantly ask your visitors whether it is via surveys or A/B testing. "Build it and they will come".

[RobertFisher]

Oh if I felt like agreeing. Understand it was a challenging day. I have one client site surpassed by two sites with PA and DA of 1. No links, on page worse than my clients and, arguably, we have better content. 
On top of that I have another client site surpassed by clowns with Chinese and Australian links to no where, etc. The others are all junk - literally 40 to 60 linking root domains with maybe five even close to unpaid, non-reciprocal, and that are at least within 90 degrees of the site content (the others are somewhere beyond 180 degrees.
Yes, Google occasionally has a moment and a JC Penny feels the sting. On the whole, I see too many who do not and the rankings in anything competitive are replete with BS content, from BS sites stuffed to the gills with Keywords and linked to Bangladeshi laundromats.

So, why the rant.....I was getting ready to suggest PR Newswire to my clients as a counterposition after seeing so many competing sites simply run the same content as on their homepage over and over through our RSS feeds.

Yes, both Ryan and Justin are correct; I just wish Mr. Google would take some uppers and get about the business of cleaning out the junkers. 
Don't worry, I is still smilin' cause we are smarter than them!