Post Panda Era (Is this what killed it?) And Future Strategies?

[MrSavage]

I have two distinct periods in my feeble webmastering life. There is the pre Panda and post Panda era. This is how I see it. I can further say that from what I see, Panda has essentially weeded out and snuffed out most of the enthusiasm that once existed in being a webmaster and running websites. I base this on what I see and the level of interest and participation in this here forum. I don't want to say Panda killed the web, as that's awfully dramatic, but I think it's safe to say that the recovery from post Panda is a fallacy. It's why I'm saying it's an era. I can't SEO my way out of this era. There is little to discuss in the way of organic traffic or so it seems. If anyone can suggest the forums are not a litmus test on the overall optimism or current state of affairs, then tell me a better source of analysis. I'm not dead, but the post Panda era has gone nowhere and I would think it's only traffic source outside of Google that will remedy the Panda era. I know vets have seen bad algo changes, but I can draw a line where all this went south and simply has never and feels like it will never be the same. The partnership is dead pretty much from that day onwards imo. I'm willing to discuss the post Panda effects because to me what we see here now is clear evidence that the impact is still felt today and will continue to chip away at the webmastering community.

[Leosghost]

@iamlost..
^^^Jan 1st..and already best post(s) of the year :)
IMO highly unlikely to be bettered this side of Dec 31 2016..or later..:)

[EditorialGuy]

iamlost makes some good points from a retailer's perspective, and the reference to the Yellow Pages brings up a question that I've raised before: What's to keep Google from simply replacing organic results for "transactional" queries with ad results--or treating organic commercial results as filler, as the Yellow Pages directory used to do with business phone numbers and addresses? Would users really mind?

If I owned an e-commerce site, I'd (a) be looking at other ways to bring in traffic, and/or (b) creating informational content (as Crutchfield does) to bring in traffic from non-transactional queries.

[fathom]

IMHO lost revenue potential. GoTo turned Overture tried that & failed miserably.

[Leosghost]

What's to keep Google from simply replacing organic results for "transactional" queries with ad results--or treating organic commercial results as filler, as the Yellow Pages directory used to do with business phone numbers and addresses?

They do so already

Would users really mind?

Apparently they do not..or they are unaware that it is happening already..either way..I doubt they would / do care..

If I owned an e-commerce site, I'd (a) be looking at other ways to bring in traffic, and/or (b) creating informational content (as Crutchfield does) to bring in traffic from non-transactional queries.

This..and there are always areas where G will not ( doesn't fit their "image" ) compete with you..

And ..yes ,, G do help their VC friends ( which many appear to wish to deny )heavily..and their friends of friends..
But once you admit that..you can anticipate it, work around it..

[krsaborio]

I can't SEO my way out of this era.

From a Web searcher's perspective, is that a bad thing? People aren't looking for sites with great SEO, they're looking for sites with useful content.

I agree 100% with the second quote and I don't own Google stock!

[krsaborio]

I base this on what I see and the level of interest and participation in this here forum.

If anyone can suggest the forums are not a litmus test on the overall optimism or current state of affairs, then tell me a better source of analysis.

I think Webmasters now post their opinions in their own websites. Then, there's Facebook ...

[netmeg]

Great posts, iamlost. I had (roughly) twenty years of pre-web marketing experience* (mostly catalog and direct mail) and it probably lends itself to a different perspective.

* I'm older than I look

[mboydnv]

Panda is unfair to small business.

Google should not expect a small business to be a media source. In the travel niche, does every travel site have to be a complete city guide? Sure USA Today, About.com etc have built these city guides with hundreds of niche articles. Small companies now are expected to hit the pavement in hopes of finding a story/content in their city rather than focusing on helping customers.

What does the electrician do? Write 1,000 word articles on how to wire a ceiling fan and other things? How about the dog poop picking up service? What do they write about? So every small business in order to bust through the top ten in organic results has to be a media company too?

I really hope facebook puts Google organic out of business. It's cheaper cost per click and an ad can have a nice photo too. Sounds good to me.

Signed,

Panda killed my business.

[fathom]

Small business itself is unfair to small business.

You may indeed have a niche opportunity picking up dog poop in your local neighborhood but I'm sure if you have a nationwide operation your budget isn't as small as you make out and you're not starving either. In fact, you are likely spewing poop.

There can only be one #1... Which sucks, but that isn't Google's fault.

[EditorialGuy]

What does the electrician do? Write 1,000 word articles on how to wire a ceiling fan and other things? How about the dog poop picking up service? What do they write about? So every small business in order to bust through the top ten in organic results has to be a media company too?

Google Search ranks Web pages, not businesses. Eddie the Electrician may be great at what he does, but if he doesn't want to invest in a Web site that's better than the competition's, maybe organic Web search isn't the best way for him to attract customers

[Nutterum]

Again we fall in to the loop of "deserved" traffic. Many small businesses nowadays operate in a way that if they get traffic that they do not intentionally target and some of that traffic converts, they can accommodate these new customers, even though these customers are "unintended" consequence of the SERP position. Now once Google adjusts and strips that traffic or keyword niches away, these businesses feel cheated, never thinking about whether they deserved the traffic to begin with.

Being eligible for certain niches does not automatically mean you should be awarded with portion of the traffic. Simple as that. What makes this vicious loop even uglier, is when some businesses, get pushed back in favor of mediocre or spammy pages. This further supports the notion that Google is bad, or that it serves the big brands, who let's face it, are big enough not to be pushed back by such spammy content.

After Panda, this vicious cycle was felt even more broadly and is the reason many more businesses were left out in the cold, even though some of these businesses should not have been successful to begin with. So what's next?

A good future strategy for everyone reading this thread is to realize one simple truth : there is no Google! (pun intended)
"I sell sturdy, cheap spanners" is not going to cut it. There are behemoths, controlling this niche already using a different approach (I am looking at you Amazon). Your "high quality home made toys" are in the same boat too (hello Etsy and Pinterest among others). The last two bastions of what used to be Google is the SaaS sector and the offline industry product companies (think metallurgy or chemicals etc.). There you can do 2010 SEO and digital marketing strategies and get decent results. For everything else there are aggregators and Google is ranking them, not you.

The Google you are looking for is gone. What you have now is a searchable information repository in its infancy and we are the curators. So keeping that in mind one should think about how to win the attention of the users that search the repository. That's right! You have to provide informational content and easy-to-digest solution to their problem. If your business or approach does not fit this new line of thinking, you either adapt or close doors and move to something else.