How to make a decision which Google Algorithm Update Impacted Your Website – Penguin or Panda?

Since Google Rolled out for Penguin 1.0 update on April 24^th We have been highly research website that were hit by the update(We have now analyzed close to 75 website hit by Google Penguin update) that based upon our analysis, I am writing several post which covering my findings. In my latest post an update from Google Over optimization Algorithms, I have clearly explain how important webmasters to know exactly what hit them before taking action. We know that sound simple, But we have several companies contact me believing they were hit by Google Penguin update, when in fact they were hit by Panda.

Panda, Penguin, and the Algorithm Sandwich

After Penguin 1.0 was launched, Google also clarify that a Panda update was rolled out a few days before Penguin (on 4/19).  Then, to make matters even more confusing, Google rolled out a Panda refresh on 4/27.  To rapidly recap, Panda rolled out on 4/19, then Penguin on 4/24, and then a Panda refresh on 4/27.  Yes, that’s fundamentally an alga sandwich special, with a side of insanity.  As you can visualize, webmasters that aren’t tremendously familiar with SEO could very easily think they were hit by Penguin (since that was the primary topic during the time period). 

The threat of Not Knowing

Since Penguin on 24^th April and Panda target two different issues, it’s tremendously important to know the exact algorithm update that hit your website.  Panda targets low quality content, thin content, duplicate content, etc., while Penguin targets web spam (and at this point it’s heavily targeting unnatural inbound links).  So, if you wrongly believe you were hit by Penguin and start addressing links, then you would be spending your time…  On the flip side, if you incorrectly suppose you were hit by Panda and start addressing low quality content, then you could also be wasting your time. 

And to make matters worse, both Penguin and Panda will be rolled out occasionally.  That means you won’t know if your latest modification actually made a difference until Pandas and Penguins come knock on your door again.  And that is exactly why I am writing this post. Because some people wrongly believe they were hit by Penguin, when it was Panda (or vice versa).  And some were already making changes, based on the wrong assessment.  So, don’t prune your links if you were hit by Panda, and don’t gut content if you were hit by Penguin. Know what hit you, and then act.

How to make a decision which Google Algorithm Update Impacted Your Website

Working in Google Analytics

1)      Make sure Your Dates

When Google Panda launched The first thing you should do is launch Google Analytics and drill into Google Organic reporting.  I was through one of our client sites update their daily traffic 11-12k to starting April their the various changes in Google analytics reports, Once you can seen the end of 30^th April month there is 1k traffic. Panda was on 4/19, Penguin was on 4/24, and then a Panda refresh rolled out on 4/27. 

In the graphs below, you can clearly see that one site was hit by Penguin while the other has been hit by Panda (twice).

A Website Hit by Panda Twice:

 

A Website Hit by Penguin:

  

Note: I have been explained above that you should set your final date to May 15th for a reason.  There has been a lot of gossip recently about another possible Google update. I have found the lots of changes after 15^th may and traffic is very down, if you can see starting of April there is good traffic and later on May was traffic completely down. Some actually had their traffic bounce back after getting hit by Panda.  We covered this on SEO-Expert-India.net and Google said it was not a Penguin update or a Panda update.  One thing is for sure… there was some type of update.

 

2) Measurement by Keyword and Compare to Past:- 

 

Now-a-days that you know which algorithms update hit you, you can start to decide the keyword that dropped. Penguin rolled out on a Tuesday, while panda rolled out on a Thursday, and then followed with a refresh on Friday, since many sites see a natural immerse late in the week and on weekends, its most important to start understanding normal trending, and which keyword potentially where hit. 

When Google Organic, set the primary dimension to “Keyword”. This will show you all of the keywords leading to your site from Google Organic during the timeframe.

 

Next, evaluate the dates after you were hit by Panda or Penguin with a previous timeframe to compare traffic by keyword.  To do this, click the date in the upper right hand corner of the interface and select a timeframe.  If you were hit by Penguin, select 4/24 to 5/15.  If you were hit by Panda, select 4/19 to 5/15.  Then click the checkbox for “compare to past”.  The default judgment will be the number of days immediately prior to the range you selected.  You can change that by selecting new dates to compare, if needed. 

 

You will now be presented with all of the keywords leading traffic to the site, along with the percentage of increase and decrease (compared to the previous timeframe).  How awesome is that?  See a keyword drop by 75%, it almost certainly got hit.  Then you can dimension that keyword by “Landing Page” to see which webpage got hit.  Spend some time here… the insights you glean could be extremely valuable to your recovery efforts. 

Google Webmaster Tools and Filters

Although a lot of webmasters are well-known with Google Analytics, We find there are still many who don’t have Google Webmaster Tools set up.  As we mention in my post about Avoiding SEO Disaster during redesign websites, its essential to have GWT (Google Webmaster toolskit) setup for your domains. There is a wealth of information directly from google. as well as message from the search Giant about the SEO Health of your sites. Google Webmaster Tools can help you determine which algorithm update hit your site.

1) Search Query Data

There is tab called Google Webmaster tools titled “Traffic” that hold a link for “Search Queries” and these tabs reveal the impressions and click for queries that returned your WebPages in search results. Yes, You can check the impression data and click data directly from Google proprieties. While Google analytics relies upon a click to your sites, this data shows you how many impression your content is receiving for queries on Google.

As you can visualize, this is a great way to see the impact of a certain algorithm update.  The default view is 30 days back, but you can now select a greater time range (up to 90 days).  Again, let’s check April 1st to May 15th to view impressions and clicks

A Sample Search Queries Report in Google Webmaster Tools (Unaffected Website):

At this point, you can start to identify impression and click issues. If you were hit by Penguin, then you might see a steep drop-off on 4/24, and then lower levels beyond.  If you were hit by Panda, then you might see a steep drop-off on 4/19, and then again on 4/27 (if you were hit by both updates). Here is data I exported from Google Webmaster Tools for a site hit by Panda twice.

 

2) Focus on the Problem – Filter by Web 

During the Analysis of sites hit by Penguin and Panda, We noticed that interesting in google webmaster tools. For certain sites, using the filters Available assistance some webmaster perfect in their problem. There is a “Filters” button in the top upper left-hand corner that you can see picture below and you can click on “Filters” button and you will filter your data.

 

After doing this, you can might bee see more marked drop during 4/19,4/24, and 4/24. It will also enable you to view keywords that dropped from web search without mixing other google properties in, which can skew the results. For example, I analyzed several sites that actually received more impressions from Google Images after being hit by Penguin and Panda! Go figure… Removing that data provided a clearer view of the problem.

3) Export Your Data

Though Google Webmaster Tools lately rolled out an update enable you to view up to 90 days of search query data, you can’t go back further… That means you should export the current data in order to archive it, work with it, and analyze it.  You will notice two buttons labeled “Download this table” and “Download chart data” under the trending graph.  Export your data now.

Summary – You Must Know the Problem in Order to Address It

Based on above mention article you will get clear idea what different between Google Rolled out Penguin update now you can also recover your sites from Google Penguin update that I have mention in my blog post. You can find my blog how to recover from Google penguin update use the techniques I listed in the post to help you determine which update really hit your site.  Then form a plan of attack knowing which cute animal you are dealing with. 

Good luck.

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