Rarely has a Google update so much affected eCommerce websites. The Google Panda Update however is an exception for many reasons. First of all it builds upon two Google initiatives which have slowly been building up in incremental search algorithm changes and updates: TrustRank and Branding.
Google has been using search metrics to create what it calls TrustRank as opposed to the search-user visible PageRank (PR) which, as the name suggests, is basically a Google assessment of how trustworthy a website is and it has also been using a variety of metrics to build an idea of how powerful or not a ‘brand’ a website possesses.
The idea is that someone typing ‘Nike’ in the Google search engine would get the official company website ahead of anyone with a website selling Nike sports shoes on the principle that Nike is the original websites, it is more trusted, it is most relevant for that particular search term and it represents a trusted brand for that search term.
Nilke is an obvious, easy example to use and it perfectly illustrates the picture. Suppose you were competing against the main website and it was important to your sales to get a first page rank on Google what would you need to do?
First – Make sure your content is original. Using the manufacturer’s description is no longer enough. It is already on the manufacturer’s website and probably copied round the web in hundreds of other sites. You are supposed to be the expert and the description now plays the role of the personal advice you might give a prospective buyer in person to convince them that you really know what you are talking about. If you can’t now do this in the content you place on your website in Google’s eyes you are a copycat not an ‘expert’. Both your TrustRank and branding will suffer and your Google ranking will drop.
Second – You need additional, regular content. The Nike website has regular content appearing in it and you need to compete with that. Here you are at an advantage. Dealing with real people you probably know more about what they need when they look for sports shoes than the Nike webmasters. You need to have a blog which showcases that knowledge and helps you stand out from, even, the Nike website. This means that a Blog, which used to be a luxury, is now a necessity for your website.
Third – Obvious SEO methods you might have been using to get some PageRank, additional links and some traction on the Google search page are now no longer valid. Links still count, of course, but they have to be relevant and from equally trusted sites. Plain old Directory and Forum Posts seeding is now no longer acceptable and it is likely to get you penalized.
Fourth – Social market like mad. Just because you have an eCommerce website does not mean you can afford to kick back and relax when it comes to social marketing. On the contrary, your site’s presence in social networks is an important metric in its Google ranking and using social marketing should be part of your SEO Google efforts.
Provided you start to take all this into account there is no real reason why your site should not start to perform well in the new Google rankings following the Google Panda SEO update.
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