What Google Panda Means for Keyword Research

I’ve written before about how Google’s latest Panda update affects the way businesses approach search engine optimization. There’s no doubt that Panda has had a major impact, right down to the way we approach keyword research.

We recently published our latest free eBook, Better Keywords, Better Customers: A Business Guide to Keyword Generation. While working on the text, we reached out to folks in the SEO community to get a better idea of what Panda really means to the keyword research process.

One of the pros we spoke with was Tom Critchlow (@tomcritchlow), SEO junkie and VP of Operations for Distilled in New York. He had some interesting insights that I thought I’d share in today’s post:

“Ultimately, the Panda update was a PR move by Google to try and make the Web a better place with more valuable content. In the same way that incorporating page speed into the algorithm influences webmasters to speed up their sites, the Panda update influences site owners to produce better content. Some of the main factors include too much aggressive advertising, low trust metrics, poor user engagement, and social proof.

What impact does this have on keyword research? Well ultimately it forces us to consider more carefully which keywords we want to target. Since we only want to build out pages of real value, we need to ensure every single keyword we’re targeting is relevant and high value for us. The days of algorithmically producing content and expecting it to rank are over. If you’re running a large site, often the most effective thing you can do is actually remove the lowest quality pages from the index.

Taking this to the cutting edge, smart SEOs should begin to consider keyword research as an ongoing process where keywords are tested and constantly refined. If you have content that ranks but is producing poor engagement metrics, then you should look to kill the content and instead focus on higher quality keywords.

Hand in hand with this, you should strongly consider not only where you rank, but how you rank – i.e. what does your title tag and description look like? Optimizing these to ensure you get a high CTR will result in long term gains in a Panda world.”

Interesting thoughts indeed in regards to what the ol’ Panda bear means to companies and their SEO strategies. Tom also suggested checking out this cool Whiteboard Friday video from the folks at SEOmoz for a more in-depth look.

And of course, for tips on how to put together a top-notch keyword research project for your business, be sure to check out our new free eBook on keyword generation. Not only does it include a bunch of how-tos for organizing the process, but you’ll also find expert insights from other SEO and marketing pros like Kristi Hines, Lisa Barone, Michael Brenner, and Cyrus Shepard.

You can find more information on content marketing and editorial practices at the OpenView Labs website. You can also follow Brendan on Twitter @BrenCournoyer and find more from the OpenView team @OpenViewVenture.