And it’s this bad visitor journey that’s behind Google’s latest update: Google Panda.

Google Panda is on the website visitor’s side. Google is determined to deliver good search results to those who are kind enough to be patrons of its service. Happy days for us surfers. But for website owners, it could have – and has had – devastating consequences.

Panda was rolled out in America in February of this year. And pretty much instantly, several very high profile organisations stood agape as their rankings took a dizzying nose dive. No one was immune; including the mighty Microsoft’s shopping comparison site Ciao – their ranking dropped by almost 94%. Even pillars of community like the British Medical Journal and Computer Weekly took a hit and ‘content farm’ sites like Ehow and Mahalo became victims of the cull.

For some sites though, the update paid dividends. News sites The Mirror and The Independent benefited greatly, as did eBay UK and This is Money.

So what’s it all about?

Google is penalising sites that contravene its strategy to make everyone search happy and backing sites that deliver visitor value. By demoting websites with copied content, copy that doesn’t deliver good value or information that’s irrelevant or out of date, Google aims to ensure its visitors get to see the best sites at the top of their search results. And we all know that if it’s not found by page two, it’s just not found. In fact, only 1% of searchers go beyond the second page.

So, your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to make your website content quality content. Content that people stick around to read, because that’s another factor Google uses in its ranking calculations.

Want to stay on the right side of the Panda? Some tips:

• DON’T EVER copy content from anywhere else on the web. Apart from being illegal, it’s going to hurt your site, badly.
• DO make sure your content is completely free from grammar and spelling mistakes. Not only can schoolboy errors lose you sales because readers lose trust in your integrity, professionalism points are also deducted for poor quality in communication.
• RUN an ‘is it useful?’ check through your copy. If you can say ‘so what?’ after any sentence, ditch it.
• KEEP your content up to date. Make sure your last blog or news post wasn’t more than a month ago. Have you noticed how Google orders its results in a ‘most recent’ chart? Old news is of no interest and some searchers refine their results so they only get the most up to date listings.
• MAKE your site useful to visitors. It needs to be ‘sticky’ so people stay, recommend, and return. Make it a hub of useful info – add resources like guides and reports, a blog, case studies. Anything to inspire ongoing interest and recommendations.

Google Panda has hurt many websites, and it takes no prisoners. International plc or sole trader, if your website isn’t delivering visitor value, it’s going to become an endangered species.

Talk to us if you want to make your website Panda friendly. Quality content and sticky sites are what we do.

If you use the internet on your phone, what’s your initial reaction when you find a site you can’t view properly? Or it’s not downloading pronto? You give up, right?

It’s seriously frustrating when a company doesn’t take the time to make their site mobile friendly. How come they plough so much effort into making sure the right impression is made to visitors landing on their site from a standard browser, yet fail to consider the growing numbers who access the net whilst they have time to spare away from work, or, quite simply, don’t have access to a PC?

Have you checked your Analytics lately? Have a look to see how many visitors you’re getting from mobile browsers, like Safari. And check out the bounce rate. What’s happening?

If visitors are landing on your site, but failing to spend any time there, you’ve got a problem. You are, in a nutshell, losing enquiries or sales.

So what can be done to increase mobile-friendliness? Try these for size:

Mobile plugins

WordPress is great for plugins, such as WP Touch, that transform a site for mobile users. And there are options for alternative platforms. Offer choice though, as some visitors may want to view the full site rather than the mobile version. Talk to your web developer about mobile plugin integration.

Flash and JavaScript: Leave them out, or find another way

Most mobile devices either won’t display Flash or Java applications, or they’ll involve several steps which users are likely to tire of. So leave it out altogether, or find a mobile friendly alternative.

Clear Direction

Offer quick links, shortcuts and a clear navigation, and you’ll instantly make it easier for visitors to find their way round your site, however they’re viewing it.

Contained Content

It’s always been important to keep website content succinct, but on a mobile device, this importance is enhanced because you have that much less space in which to grab attention and call to action. Make sure content is easy to digest, focus on compelling headlines, and don’t crowd paragraphs.

Why Mobile-Friendly your site?

Because if you don’t, and your competitors do, you will lose business to them. It’s quite simple really. The team here at Figment has been making sure our clients’ sites are mobile friendly for a while now by factoring it into the design process. If your audience is mobile, make sure your site is too. Talk to us about design that works across all browsers, and all devices.

You’ll probably have noticed when searching via Google you can select results based on how recently a site’s pages have been updated: a ‘freshness’ search. So, keeping your website content up to date is clearly important if you want to appear at the top of these searches.

But it’s not just about changing the odd sentence on the odd page. Minor amendments do attract a ‘quick boost’ to rankings, but as soon as Google realises the odd few changed words here and there aren’t really adding any value to visitors, the rankings will soon drop.

Adding completely new content to your site, on a regular basis, is the way to go. This could be:

• New content pages
• Articles
• Blogs
• Company news
• Industry updates
• Events diary
• Case studies

The more frequently you add content, the more often Google will visit and index your new material because they’ll get to know you have something to offer on a regular basis. Here are a few tips:

Make it regular: Don’t add lots of content all in one go; stagger your postings over the month and you’ll embed a regular pattern which won’t just work well search engine-wise, but will attract visitors to frequent your site for updates.

Make it useful: The word ‘nourish’ is a good one; not only does content need to be added regularly, it needs to be useful and bring benefits to the user. Google rates content based on this criteria. So, make sure your content is filled with useful guidance; a good resource for readers. Make sure it’s something they’ll want to share.

Make it public: And on that point, add ‘share’ buttons so readers can easily bookmark and post your information to their social media followers and fans so it’s seen by a wider audience.

And don’t stop there! Promote your new content externally so you drive traffic to it, and your website. Tweet it, Facebook it; with LinkedIn you can post it as an update and share it with your groups. Blog it and include it in any e-marketing updates you send.

Lots to do! Too much? We can help with all of the above.

And for those who think, ‘I won’t get caught’, don’t believe it. There are people out there who will be only too pleased to report an unsolicited email to the ICO; with the dangling carrot of thousands of pounds in compensation, who wouldn’t?

So, what do you need to know if you’re embarking on an e-marketing campaign? Here’s a brief run down of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, but make sure you read the guidelines in full on the ICO website before you get started.

Marketing to Consumers

The regulations state that when sending marketing material to an individual via email:

• Your identity must not be disguised
• A valid email address must be provided so that the recipient can unsubscribe from future mailings
• The recipient must previously have consented to receiving the material, unless there has been a ‘soft opt in’

A ‘soft opt in’ means the recipient is a customer with whom you’ve done business. You can send them marketing material providing it relates to services or products you have previously sold them, and there is a simple way for them to opt out of future mailings.

Marketing to Businesses

When marketing to a business, some of the rules are the same, but there are differences. You must:

• Not conceal your identity
• Provide a valid email address so the recipient can unsubscribe

The recipient will not be able to enforce a right to opt out of your mailings under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. However, under Section 11 of the Data Protection Act, they could request you stop mailing them.

Consent is not required to email a business, however courtesy should be exercised. You probably know yourself how frustrating it can be to receive high volumes of promotional emails, especially if they are not relevant to you.

E-marketing can be effective, if it’s done correctly. As well as adhering to the official guidelines, here are a few ‘soft’ suggestions that could make all the difference:

• Only send information that will benefit the recipient, and clearly show how it will benefit them
• Include useful material, such as tips or guidance, so the recipient can see some value in your mailing
• Ensure your mailing is designed to be easy on the eye and that recipients are given the option to display any images rather than being forced to wait while they download
• Check how your mailing will appear by running test mailings

Embarking on an e-marketing campaign? Take care: getting it wrong could be expensive. If you want to make sure you get it right, and will get the best return, talk to us.

Before 1st March, their remit was limited to paid-for online advertisements such as banner adverts and search marketing, such as Google Adwords.

What does this mean? In summary, it means any promotional messages on your website, blog or social media platforms such as Twitter or Facebook have to be accurate, honest and not misleading. Here’s a quick run down of what to look out for:

• Claims must have evidence to support them – if you state a statistic or survey result, make sure you have written evidence to support it.
• Testimonials and case studies must be documented - keep material on file so it can be produced if requested.
• Special offers and discounts have to be such – if you advertise something at sale price, you will have to prove you’ve sold it previously at full price.
• Don’t mislead – and don’t hide terms and conditions in the small print. Be up front about what you’re offering, otherwise you could be in for a fine, or a name and shame.
• Don’t offend: keep it clean and appropriate for your audience.

Take care; the ASA has a strict policing policy which has been operating in other areas of marketing for many years. Follow the rules and you’ll have nothing to worry about.

If you’re unsure of how to remain within the constraints of the ASA rules with your website copy, ask us to audit your site.