Ways to curb the dreaded Google Panda!! DUN DUN DUN!!!
Google Panda
How can you fight back against Google Panda
It really seems like these days, you cannot get around Google Panda as Google is finding more ways to doc people for inappropriate content. So why not sharpen your skills and take some time to build other strategies that will not only help you get back on your feet, but really build a long term campaign you can use to your advantage in the future? Sounds like a plan to me, so let's talk!
This is a really great place to start. Why? Well, there are numerous benefits to guest posting. One is you really start to develop as a good writer. You learn about the types of audiences you attract, and when people start commenting on your guest posts, you can really gauge what works and what does not work. It's like testing yourself in the waters, and seeing how far you can go, and when you should retract. Another great thing is the fact you can post a link back to your site. This is a great feat to build your links and get those extra visitors and subscribers once they really start liking your content. Building strong relationships with other good blogs out there works wonders!
Commenting
I really believe this is a slept on concept, but you should continue to engage in other blogs. You never know if what you might say is useful to another person. Maybe that person had a question that was unanswered or not really elaborated in a post. When you really say something meaningful and valuable, it does NOT go unnoticed. In fact, there were a few times I wrote a paragraph or two of my opinion of something that was not addressed. I ended up getting some quality visitors that continue to peruse my site! If you are really savvy, this can lead to subscribers and buyers if you really do have the product to back up your words!
I still believe the general population does NOT get the power of this phenomena. Social Media is not a fad, but it's growing into a very permanent and reliable source of traffic especially now since it's becoming TARGETED! Targeted traffic = more useful results! Let me get into video first and foremost.
There are a lot of people that use it for a number of reasons, but to use it effectively is a very powerful thing to achieve. I had a conversation a few weeks back with a guy in his 60s, and we were having a rather thorough conversation on dialogue, and I said how powerful YouTube is as a viral system of spreading a message. He said to me, "Viral? Back when I was growing up that meant almost dying." Now take that term and flip it to 2012. Viral means spreading content! Spreading content is a good thing! Why? As for YouTube when you rack up your views, it pretty much spreads itself! It's almost as if you have good content on your site and you are getting visitors naturally! However, being on YouTube, it's almost like traffic on steroids! Another great thing is that since YouTube has it's own kind of SEO, you won't be fighting off the traffic you get from search engines! In a day and age where pure search engine traffic is becoming obsolete, this is your best bet! More people are looking for the visuals, the motions, and seeing you as an individual. This is important; people see YOU! If you really taken at the way YouTube has changed in the past few years, you'll see the content you visit has a bit more synergy. The subscribers can participate more other than just comment on your videos, and the connection between subscriber and friend is becoming stronger. YouTube is a visual social media!
Facebook and Twitter
These two are still very powerful methods of building your social media game. Having a Facebook Fan Page with thousands of friends or a Twitter account with thousands of followers is nothing to shy over. It's very impactful! Facebook's features such as its News Feed and Edge Rank provide a very great way of attracting attention to your posts. I have a blog site that caters to cocktail recipes. I remember I posted a picture of a drink I made over a weekend called the Tropical Storm..within a day I received 26 likes. People were spreading my content, liking, and even posting a link from my blog site to their timeline. What is Edge Rank you might say? Well, Edge Rank is kind of Facebook's way of promoting their own SEO. When you have popular content, it becomes the lead news story on your friends FB page, which entices them to look at your content. Your post is no longer a message to get lost in thousands of status, pictures, etc. It is an authority with a huge sign saying "LOOK AT ME!!!"
Twitter has it's own agenda! The reason why I use my Twitter is to get a bit more personal with my audience. With being able to Tweet, Direct Message, and keep the dialogue following with some brevity not only saves you time but it gets you straight to your point! It opens up the dialogue without being to verbose! That's what I like! My experience in effectively using Twitter is looking at my general audience and finding when they are the most active! Why? You'll have better chance of your content being read, retweeted, etc! I've built over thousands of followers from engaging in content, sharing content that I like and creating dialogue. This is much how you would talk to a person in a normal situation! You actually create dialogue with similar interests, like it, and build your connection right on the spot!
Tumblr and Pinterest
These are very special! Both are picture based, but each serve a different purpose! I'll tell you why right now!
Tumblr actually means to love! This is powerful. Remember when I said if people like your content, they'll have no hesitation to share it? Well, Tumblr is mainly picture and video based. If you have a picture with a powerful or funny message, it is most easily thought to be shared! Let's say you have a content website where you take your own pictures or just have an interesting story with great photos and videos..you post it on Tumblr...within a day or two you'll come back with maybe 20 reposts! This is powerful! You see more and more people on Tumblr (even musical artists) sharing their photos. It's something very fun, engaging, and addictive to get into! It takes microblogging to a new phase. This brings me into what Pinterest is about.
Pinterest is fairly new, but you can really see how fast the viewers are growing. This place is easily becoming my favorite picture based social media. Why? Well, a lot of the viewers on there are females; it makes a niche like mine very viable! Since I have a cocktail blog, searching for different recipes on there helps me to know what kind of recipes females like. It'll help me diversify my palette and profile, so I can start making recipes or posting recipes that cater to a new audience! Often times in blogging we forget that we should test the waters to target audiences. I remember back on New Year's Eve, a friend of mine and I came up with a crazy Jungle Juice recipe. For those that do not know, Jungle Juice is an extremely potent and high alcoholic level drink. It consists of high alcoholic beverages and it has fruit and a lot of juices to kind of mask the taste of the potency. Well, a friend caught wind of my blog post, and she decided to post it to her Pinterest. She told me about it, and I guess my Google Analytics and my Statcounter and saw a huge jump in my viewership. When I got invited to Pinterest, it baffled me how much the traffic potential lie in a simple site that's been up for a short time! You can actually organize your Pinterest with different boards containing your different interests, and people have the opportunity to view these boards. It's an excellent way of getting traffic to your site and finding other interests!
I know this was a bit long, but I really wanted you to see how you can truly use other resources to your advantage to help you fight against Google Panda!
