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Fighting Google Panda

+1 vote
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Google penalizes site with thin content. Q&A sites run by any platform is prone to have pages with so called thin content.

Best way to ensure you are not hit with Panda Penalty is to ensure minimal thin content (

http://searchengineland.com/5-new-tactics-for-seo-post-panda-73982)

Attached code when pasted onto custom theme (qa-theme.php) helps to minimize Google Panda Penalty be ensuring that pages with thin content are not indexed. Of course, it is possible that code can be more efficient, seasoned developers please feel free to modify the attached code

 

 

function head_metas()
 
{
 
 
switch ($this->template) {
case 'question':
 
$ansnum=$this->content["q_view"]["raw"]["acount"];
 
//Pages with zero answers should not be indexed
if ($ansnum==0) {
$this->output ('<meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow">');
break;}
// Other question pages - default behaviour
if (strlen(@$this->content['description']))
$this->output('<META NAME="description" CONTENT="'.$this->content['description'].'"/>');
 
if (strlen(@$this->content['keywords'])) // as far as I know, META keywords have zero effect on search rankings or listings
$this->output('<META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="'.$this->content['keywords'].'"/>');
break;
 
 
case 'tags':
// Tags page is more like sitemap
$this->output ('<meta name="robots" content="noindex,follow">');
 
 
break;
 
case 'users':
 
// Users page is more like sitemap
$this->output ('<meta name="robots" content="noindex,follow">');
break;
 
 
 
 
case 'tag':
 
 
$r = count($this->content["q_list"]["qs"]);
//If there is only two questions for the tag avoid indexing it
if ($r<=2)
$this->output ('<meta name="robots" content="noindex,follow">');
break;
 
case 'user':
//if there is no activity by user do not index it
$r = count($this->content["q_list"]["qs"]);
if ($r==0){
$this->output ('<meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow">');
}
 
break;
 
default:
 
if (strlen(@$this->content['description']))
$this->output('<META NAME="description" CONTENT="'.$this->content['description'].'"/>');
 
if (strlen(@$this->content['keywords'])) // as far as I know, META keywords have zero effect on search rankings or listings
$this->output('<META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="'.$this->content['keywords'].'"/>');
 
 
}
 
 
}  

 

 

by
"Google penalizes site with thin content"
Your first sentence is wrong, they do not penalize a whole site just because of a few 'thin' pages. Those pages just get ranked lower.

Even if they do I don't think your method is very reliable. what if you have a really good, well-written question, with no answer? That could be better content than a really short question and answer.
by
Thanks for your feedback. Some clarifications:
 Panda is a site wide assessment
This is the quote from Amit Singha of Google "One other specific piece of guidance we've offered is that low-quality content on some parts of a website can impact the whole site’s rankings". Read it here http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.in/2011/05/more-guidance-on-building-high-quality.html


The logic I have applied : if a question has atleast one answer then it gets automatically indexed by Google as noindex tag will vanish.

I am from SEO industry. Post all the recent Google algorithm updates - Panda, Page layout and Penguin - sites that do well are those that have less but unique and high quality content.

I am going to use the code pasted above for my Q2A site that I am in the process of putting up. That said, from the forum it appears respected members of  have a very strong  opinion against the approach. Caution to all those who want to use the code - use it only after careful consideration and conviction on approach of less content but unique and"high quality" content
by
Okay, thanks for the clarification. Personally I don't think it is anything to worry about - I think only a few thin pages will  not make a difference, and most sites only have a few thin pages.
by
I want to noindex a question with less content

Example, I have a question with 2 answer.

If total word in these answers < 300 word, q2a will automatic "noindex" this page.

But then these answers >300 word (or somebody add more answer and total word in answers >300 word) , q2a will automatic "index" this page.

Please help me

4 Answers

+3 votes
by
A agree with DisgruntledGoat. Some of my "thinnest" pages are the ones that rank well for very specific search terms.  I think no-indexing large amounts of content for no partiaular reason is a bad idea.
0 votes
by

Additional Information on whether you need to use above approach

Existing Sites:

Google released its famous Panda Updates across many dates. Infographic in this link http://searchengineland.com/google-panda-update-112805 provides important dates. If your traffic witnessed sharp decrease around these dates, you will have to strongly consider suggestions I have offered.

 

New Sites: Please read the link here in detail. This is written by Google fellow AMit Singhal, author of the algo which runs Google. It is in our interest to take  his words seriously.

http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.in/2011/05/more-guidance-on-building-high-quality.html

Focus on follwoing sentence: "One other specific piece of guidance we've offered is that low-quality content on some parts of a website can impact the whole site’s rankings, and thus removing low quality pages, merging or improving the content of individual shallow pages into more useful pages, or moving low quality pages to a different domain could eventually help the rankings of your higher-quality content"

​In my opinion, suggestions I have made will help you get benefit from Panda instead of getting penalized. I have seen that sites do well after reducing thin pages indexed by Google - I offer SEO advice for a living so exposed to lot of scenarios.

By the way, when I mean rankings, I mean a site with aims to obtain traffic of at least 20K to 30 K users per day. Q and A type of site should get you there fast as it is good not for head words but long tail words. If you use white-hat practice and pick on a category with has high interest (travel/ technology etc) and are patient (timeframe of at least 18 months), you should be able to have a site with 15K users per day. I haven't seen any site using this script with such minimal traffic. In my tests, the script came good for scaling  but generated lot of thin and duplicate content - something that needs to be addressed unless you are using this site on domain with high authority.

 

by
I think trying to adjust your content to every new google release is nearly impossible. Of course if you have poor content, poorly asked or answered questions, etc. it should be removed entirely and not no-indexed. Site moderation is important to quality. I don't think Google would ever recommend no-indexing pages in this way.  It may give you some benefit but it also may come across as unnatural and end up hurting the site when Google comes out with some new release.  The bottom line is, produce good content that people want and you will have success. Follow best practices but not to the extent of trying to manipulate content to gain an advantage.  Just my opinion.
0 votes
by

I want to noindex a question with less content

Example, I have a question with 2 answer.

If total word in these answers < 300 word, q2a will automatic "noindex" this page.

But then these answers >300 word (or somebody add more answer and total word in answers >300 word) , q2a will automatic "index" this page.

Please help me

0 votes
by

"I want to noindex a question with less content" by huyforex

PLEASE, help us!

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