Was Your Site Hit By Algorithm?

The best way you can tell whether you were hit by a Google algorithm such as Panda or Penguin or not, is to take a look at your analytics. You need to see if you have had a major dive in traffic off Google on any specific day. If yes, then write down this date and check from the Google updates to see if the date matches with anything reported.

There are three reasons for why a decrease in ranks could occur. These are as follows:

–          Manual actions

–          Crawling errors or issues

–          Algorithmic penalty

Manual actions – these show a notification in Google Webmaster Tools, which represents a clear cut.

Crawl errors or issues – these are also likely to show up in Google Webmaster Tools, which is also a clear cut.

Algorithmic penalty – these aren’t quite thought of as penalties. They are, in fact algorithms for ranking. The general quality and procedures will control rankings. That is why it is hard to tell if an algorithm affects your site ranking. When there are any large scale algorithm changes to take place, such as Panda or Penguin, Google will always communicate. They will let you know what date they run, which allows you to check the date and see if that algorithm affected your site.

As you improve your site and procedures take place, your rankings can also improve.