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Google Phantom 2 Algorithm Update

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Google’s on a roll. From the “Mobilegeddon” update last month to its recent

secretive “Phantom 2” algorithm update, it’s delivering the best possible search

results to users. And then going back for more. Google silently tweaks its algorithm

much frequently than most marketers imagine.

While the Mobilegeddon algorithm update was designed to boost the rankings of

mobile friendly sites on mobile devices, Google’s Phantom 2 update will penalize

sites with low quality content, specifically impacting “how-to” style content.

Additionally, the impact will be felt by the entire domain not just standalone low

quality website pages.

What “Phantom” should mean for Search marketer?

It’s a swift silent punisher of sites with thin content. They will lose the bulk of their

rankings, traffic and conversions overnight.

What does Phantom do to the actual business?

• Your entire website is punished or sand-boxed

• You rapidly lose a lot of traffic

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•You can’t see your high traffic ranking keywords on Google search results

pages (SERPs)

•Traffic conversions drop faster than you think

•Your Return on Investment (ROI) disintegrates

Essentially, you lose almost everything online you were working on the site

(whether intentional or unintentional).

It sounds scary, right?

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Reasons why a website is hit by Google Phantom 2 algorithm

1. Sites with Low Quality ContentGoogle has been cautioning everyone for quite some time now with Panda algorithm

updates. Sites that add very little or no value to the audience are hit with the

Phantom 2 algorithm update. This includes poor representation and lack of

uniqueness in the content to the users.

2. EngagementIf your website content is not able to provide value to the audience, the engagement

level is bound to be low on the website. The Phantom update emphasizes this fact.

And the current Phantom 2 updates are a lot more strict than Panda updates.

3. User Experience (UX)• While content is one major aspect, others include the website load time, 404

errors, user flow, page architecture (design), color combinations, user navigation

all of which should be taken very seriously by the webmasters. Make sure the

website functions perfectly without distracting your audience and the search

engines

• Supplement, template content or using auto generate content tools

slanders the uniqueness and the usefulness of the content for users. Marketers

should be very careful and should maintain the relevance of the content for the

users

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• Use of distractive and/or sponsored ads: Ads are meant to help users make

the right decisions or provide information they intend to use during the buying

process. Many businesses overdo by forcing users to click on these ads

• Affiliate networks, which keep on bombarding and showcasing users with

irrelevant ads

• Sometimes ad links and content are in the same flow & color and users can’t

determine the difference. Applying these tactics hurts the sites rather than

helping. Remember, Google has already included human bots in deciphering

these tactics

• Pop-up’s annoy the audience if not used judiciously. Google algorithm has been

optimized to identify these

• Pages only containing images and videos without considering the theme of

the webpage or over exposing the aspect of rich media are a negative impact

• Pages with just links that point to subdomains or other websites with

less/no content, are of little help. No more old school link farm techniques

4. No Corrective Action TakenIf your website has been hit by Google Panda or had elements hit by the update

earlier, and you have done nothing to make content more appealing, fresh, and

unique to the users, Phantom 2 will definitely have an impact.

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5. Duplicate Content and Canonical issuesHappens frequently but often ignored by webmasters. Make sure you remove

duplicate pages/content. Just remove them or block duplicate content from search

engine indexing. Use proper canonical tags to make sure that one version of pages

exist.

6. Doorway PagesDoorway pages-Don’t try to deceive Search Engines and create similar pages to

gain multiple rankings on SERPs. Google is smart enough to identify these and

punish websites accordingly. Read here

7. User Generated (spam content)Make sure user-generated conversations are relevant and checked for spam. Lots of

low quality and thin ineffective user generated content raises an alarm and will be hit

by the Phantom update. Ensure that community/forums are not used as junkyards

for link and ad promotions. Have guidelines for the users to comment. Do periodic

checks and edit/remove comments, which have negative user experiences.

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More to consider

• Understand Your Target Audience/Personas before you write content. Attribute

content across the funnel of the buyer’s journey

• Have in place a content marketing strategy and plan. Make sure you generate

genuine and unique content for the users, not for search engines

• Try to develop a mix of content/asset types to keep users engaged. Distribute

your content to relevant channels where your target audience generally visits.

Content is King, but Distribution is ‘Queen’

• Start with small. If you have constraints generating content, take small steps. Use

Social Media to interact with your audience

• Optimize your online channels Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, etc., and reach out

to your audience

• Generate small content pieces. The traditional rule for audience engagement is

80/20. Eighty percent of your content should be for your audience, and 20%

should be for your business (sales, marketing, self-promotion, etc.)

• Have a social calendar in place to communicate with your audience

• Regular Website Health Check up – Make sure all the technical aspects of the

website are taken care of like page load time, design, navigation, etc. Regular

checks on website hygiene ensures removing any major issues and creates

better user and search engine experience

• Make sure you track your content performance using analytical tools

• Conduct regular analytics audits to make sure you are on top of your user

engagement metrics. Understand what your audience needs and generate

content accordingly

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At Position2 we utilize an Integrated Digital Marketing Approach to make sure our

clients achieve premium results. Our proprietary Website Calibrator™ technology, a

41-point technical SEO audit, keeps our client websites equipped for any Search

Engine algorithm updates.