Stop and think about your own buyer’s journey.
What actions do you take when you decide to buy a particular product?
Over 93% of people start their own buyer’s journey with a click of a search engine, most notably, Google. Chances are, you do the same. There’s also a decent chance you stick with the first results page.
Approaching your own web design as a consumer is critical for understanding SEO and why ranking on the first page is crucial. Everything from brand awareness to credibility depends on that first page.
Take a closer look at the ranking algorithms that will help you get there.
The Panda Ranking Algorithm
Since most SEO campaigns deal with Google rankings, let’s focus on the two most important ranking algorithms to know, Panda and Penguin.
The first of the duo is Panda, which was launched in 2011.
This algorithm threw the hammer down on poor content quality. Prior to the Panda update, poor quality (and spammy) webpages found themselves at the top of SERPs, enjoying decent ad revenue streams without useful content. Worse yet, many sites were able to rank pretty high with stolen content, thin text, duplicate web pages, and cloaking.
Cloaking is a black hat SEO technique that hides keyword-stuffed content within the code while hiding it from viewers. This trick helped site owners rank for keywords irrelevant to their niche, as well. Plus, general keyword stuffing was rampant in search results for many years.
Ranking Algorithms and Negative SEO
“Black hat” refers to SEO techniques meant to manipulate search rankings. Cloaking and keyword stuffing are two frowned-upon methods. Another nasty technique is called negative SEO.
Negative SEO is the black hat method of attacking your competition with spammy backlinks. Prior to Google’s crackdown, site owners could potentially kill their competitor’s rankings by buying spammy backlinks. Competitors would have to disavow each link, a tedious, time-consuming task.
Thankfully, the days of negative SEO are long gone. Google’s ranking algorithms are sophisticated enough to spot and ignore negative SEO attacks. This means the negative backlinks have no effect on competitors’ rankings.
Even better, targeted companies can hire online reputation services to clean up baseless negative reviews and other types of negative SEO that slip through the cracks.
What’s the Point of the Penguin Google Algorithm?
Google’s Penguin update works with Panda to ensure high-quality search results. Panda targets content issues, whereas Penguin addresses particular link-building practices. The update filters out low-quality backlinks, forcing sites to generate backlinks from credible web pages.
After Penguin was unleashed, companies quickly adjusted by auditing their websites for spammy backlinks. Combing through backlinks is a lot of work. That’s why companies hire SEO experts who know the ins and outs of an SEO campaign.
But, what is an SEO campaign?
Think of it as an umbrella that houses your optimization techniques from beginning to end. For example, SEO auditing would be one of the first steps as it reveals challenges and opportunities for Google rankings.
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Rank Your Website Higher
Is your website stuck on page ten?
Keep this guide in your reference arsenal as you reach for higher keyword positions. Be mindful of Google’s latest ranking algorithms so that you can push further without breaking the rules.
The blog is also updated with helpful information.
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