Google have recently announced the rollout of Panda 4.2 this month which will be implemented slowly over the next several months. Panda, one of the most notorious Google updates, targets low-quality content and will affect your entire site. However, in this latest refresh, Google have stated the update may penalise particular pages more than others which suggests a fundamental change in the way Panda works. This makes On-Page SEO factors more important than ever.
For further information, check out this Search Engine Line guide on Google Panda.
Google have offered no further advice on how to avoid being penalised by Panda since the guidance they provided back in 2011. Key elements of these guidelines include trust, authorship, duplicate content and relevancy.
Whilst the implementation of this refresh over the next several months has not been deliberately designed to cause confusion amongst the SEO community, it most certainly will do. Knowing whether or not you’ve been hit by Panda will require constant checks in Google Analytics and you’ll never be sure you’re safe until/if Google announce the update is complete. The bad news is that if you are hit, Google has not yet integrated Panda into their core ranking algorithm (meaning you’ll have to wait until it runs again to repair any damage – likely around early 2016).