Difference between revisions of "Learn/Google's-Farmer-Update:-What-You-Need-To-Know"

Latest revision as of 19:46, 8 November 2013

By [[User:|]] on

Plummeting in search results? Here's help.

The "Farmer Update" - also known as Panda - is a change to Google's search engine ranking algorithm that took place on February 23, 2011. Because it was an algorithmic change, that means Google didn't manually target, blacklist or otherwise tinker with the rankings of specific websites in search results. Nor did the company specifically ban any sites from search results, though they may now appear significantly lower in search results than they did before the algorithm change.

That stands in contrast to a newer search engine, Blekko, which has entirely blocked 1.1 million sites from its search results - sites that Blekko said had minimal useful content and many advertisements. That affects hundreds of millions of web pages.

“	As “pure webspam” has decreased over time, attention has shifted instead to “content farms,” which are sites with shallow or low-quality content.	”
—Google, January 21, 2011 (before the Farmer Update)

This change in Google's search engine algorithm is called the Farmer Update by search engine optimization (SEO) professionals because they believe Google made the change largely to improve search results by de-emphasizing web pages from "content farms" that don't provide much value to people searching for information. Google internally refers to its algorithm change as the Panda Update.

Google alluded to a crackdown on content farms in January 2011 - see the quote to the right - but the company has not officially confirmed that content farms were the target of the search algorithm change.

Google frequently changes and tinkers with its search algorithm, but usually in minor ways that don't affect many searches, and go largely unnoticed. Google has said the Farmer Update affects about 12 percent of U.S. searches, making it an unusually substantial algorithm change. The Farmer / Panda Update originally affected only search results for people within the United States. As of April 11, 2011, the Panda Update has been rolled out to all English queries worldwide.

If you're concerned about your website's ranking in search results, the discussion and tips below will help you determine whether your site was affected by the Farmer/Panda update - and whether it could be affected by future refinements to the algorithm.

What's a content farm?

A content farm is a website that publishes lots of content of little or no use to people looking for information. For a full discussion of the difference between poor content and useful content, read Good Content Vs. Spam.

Many content farms have aggressive business models based on paying people very small fees to create articles optimized for searches people are doing right now. The content farms then host ads next to or placed within that content. Content created under this model includes how-to articles, and articles that supposedly answer a question. They are optimized for search engines according to a strict formula.

The content farm business model is an SEO play that relies on achieving good search engine rankings. Until the Farmer Update, this business model has worked fine for many websites.

What types of sites have been affected by the Farmer Update?

“	Our recent update is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites... people searching on Google typically don’t want to see shallow or poorly written content, content that’s copied from other websites, or information that are just not that useful.	”
—Google, March 9, 2011 at SMX West

The Farmer Update was intended to target websites with:

Shallow or thin content
Poorly-written content
Content copied from other sites
Content that isn't very useful

Some Farmer Update losers that you may know include:

Interestingly, some sites that could be considered content farms because they have how-to or Q & A articles actually saw increases in traffic and rankings after the Farmer Update. Some winners include HowStuffWorks.com, eHow.com, Instructables.com and our friends at wikiHow.com. These websites generally have better-quality content, a more professional design, and less intrusive ads than the sites that took a nosedive after the Farmer Update.

Was your website affected by Google's Farmer Update? Find out.

While the Farmer Update was likely intended to affect larger, spam-y content farms, it could affect - and has affected - some sites that weren't within Google's major area of concern. Any site with scanty unique content may have dropped in Google search rankings after the Farmer Update.

To determine whether that's the case for your website, you need to figure out whether your site traffic from Google - organic traffic, not traffic from Google ads - decreased or changed after the Farmer Update on February 23, 2011.

If you use Google Analytics:

To look at search engine traffic from Google, click these.

Click "Traffic Sources", then "Search Engines", then "Google" to look at your traffic that comes from Google search only.
Choose a date range that includes a few weeks before and after the Farmer Update or check "compare to past" and compare a date range before February 23 (if most of your traffic comes from the United States) to a date range after. If most of your search traffic comes from a country other than the U.S., compare before and after April 11.
Look at your traffic from Google before and after February 23 (or April 11). Is there a noticeable change that isn't adequately explained by anything else?

If you'd like to try a more complicated Google Analytics check of any Farmer Update impact, see Andy Beard's post.

What can you do if the Farmer Update hurt your site?

If your website's search engine traffic has suffered since the Farmer Update, read on to learn how to walk the straight and narrow and get back in Google's good graces.

If you're not confident that your website provides quality, unique content on the majority of its pages - regardless of whether the Farmer Update has hurt your site's search rankings and traffic - read on for tips to creating a quality website that should never fall victim to a search engine algorithm change.

1. Make sure you have unique, quality content.

This is No. 1 for a reason. It's what matters and what the Farmer Update is all about.

“	...it’s important for webmasters to know that low quality content on part of a site can impact a site’s ranking as a whole. If you believe you’ve been affected by this change, you should evaluate all the content on your site and do your best to improve the overall quality of the pages on your domain.	”
—Google March 9, 2011 at SMX West

Audit your site's pages for sub-par content. What should you do with low-quality pages?
- Improve them and add quality, unique content. Simple, huh?
- Remove, redirect or noindex low-quality pages so Google knows you know it isn't valuable. This can also prevent your entire site's ranking from being brought down by a few low-quality pages.

Double check that your content:
- is plain text, not hidden in images
- is not hidden behind a wall that Google can't climb, like a registration requirement (Jill Whalen noticed this)

Add more quality content to your website.
- If you sell things on your website, it may not feel natural to have a lot of text, but it's important. Consider giving visitors the option to leave reviews. Add interesting descriptions or background information to product category pages and product pages. Don't just copy the manufacturer's description, because that's what a thousand other sites will do. Google values unique content, and could even downgrade your site for having duplicate content.
- Consider creating a blog, or posting more frequently if you already have one. You can invite guest bloggers to contribute to your blog, varying the tone and information you offer to readers.

It's likely that Google uses topic modeling algorithms to help determine which pages have more robust, unique content.

2. Try to keep people on your site.

Longer visits tell Google that people who clicked your pages in search results found the quality content they were looking for. One key element Google can see is whether someone who clicks to a web page from search results goes back to the same search results page. If a searcher returns, it can be assumed that they didn't find what they were looking for, or they just didn't like the site or its content. If many people do this, it can be a signal to Google that this web page isn't valuable.

Watching your "time on site" and "bounce rate" metrics in Google Analytics - and trying to improve them - is a good way to keep people on your site for longer periods. (Note: While Google could look at real bounce rate and time-on-site numbers for individual sites that use Google Analytics, the company has stated it never will. Google looks at these numbers only in aggregate, to understand general trends.)

3. Make sure your site looks good.

First impressions matter: When someone clicks a search result, what they see in the first few seconds usually determines whether they start reading - or click the "back" button. Analysis of websites that took a plunge after the Farmer Update showed that many didn't look as professional as similar sites that survived the algorithm change.

An article on wikiHow.com that is both informative and looks good.

A random article on EzineArticles.com, a site that suffered after the Farmer Update. It's not so pretty, is it?

Check out the example at right of a page on EzineArticles.com - a site that lost a lot of traffic after the Farmer Update - and compare that with this interesting wikiHow article that has a clean design, images and a video.

4. Show Google that you have authoritative content.

Links are still very important for search engine rankings, and having a site with more quality links makes you more likely to occupy that highly coveted first page of Google search results. Remember that links shared on social sites like Facebook and Twitter matter for SEO, too.

Make sure your content is worth sharing.
Make it easy for people to link to and share your content, and ask them to.

5. Think your site shouldn't have suffered from Farmer? Tell Google.

“	Note that as this is an algorithmic change we are unable to make manual exceptions, but in cases of high quality content we can pass the examples along to the engineers who will look at them as they work on future iterations and improvements to the algorithm.	”
—Google

If you think your website has quality content and you don't see any reason why the Farmer algorithm should have punished your site, you can tell Google.

Google opened up this thread in its Webmaster Forum to gather feedback and examples that could help its engineers refine the Farmer algorithm.

Here are some dos and don'ts for writing a useful comment, and guidelines for what to expect:

Don't

Do something silly, like demanding to speak with someone at Google or coaching Google on how it could easily make its algorithm perfect.
Write a book.
Expect your post to make a difference in your site's ranking. (See quote at right.)

Do

Be polite and succinct.
Cite specific examples. Link to a page that has good content that used to rank No. X in search results, but that now ranks lower since the Farmer Update.
Expect some emotional relief from seeing other sites in the same boat, and getting it off your chest.

Additional Resources

Your Site's Traffic Has Plummeted Since Google's Farmer/Panda Update - Now What? - Article at Search Engine Land
Jill Whalen analyzes sites that lost a lot of traffic after the Farmer Update
The Farmer/Panda Update: New Information from Google and the Latest from SMX West - Another article at Search Engine Land

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 | Name = Kristina Weis
 | Header = Google's%20Farmer%20Update:%20What%20You%20Need%20To%20Know
-| Subhead = Because Google Wants To Rank the Best Sites Highest
+| Subhead = Plummeting in search results? Here's help.
-| Bitly = http://bit.ly/NotSure
+| Bitly = http://bit.ly/FarmerUpdateTips
 | Date = March 15, 2011
 }}
-<big>'''''This article is a work in progress. Pardon the mess.'''''</big>
+==Plummeting in search results? Here's help.==
+----
+<div style="float:right; margin-left:1em;"><YouTube>OaAdlZS65Pw</YouTube></div>
+The "Farmer Update" - also known as Panda - is a change to Google's search engine ranking algorithm that took place on February 23, 2011. Because it was an algorithmic change, that means Google didn't manually target, blacklist or otherwise tinker with the rankings of specific websites in search results. Nor did the company specifically ban any sites from search results, though they may now appear significantly lower in search results than they did before the algorithm change.
-[[Image:ActualSpam.jpg|right|120px]]
+[[Image:SmallSpamCan.jpg|center|120px]]
-The "Farmer Update" was a change in Google's search engine ranking algorithm that took place on February 23, 2011. As an algorithmic change, this means that Google didn't target, blacklist or manually do anything to the rankings of specific websites -- unlike the new search engine [[Blekko.com|Blekko]], which has [http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/blekko-blocks-1-1-million-web-sites-from-its-search-engine/ blocked 1.1 million sites] from its search results entirely. {{PullQuote|right|As “pure webspam” has decreased over time, attention has shifted instead to “content farms,” which are sites with shallow or low-quality content.|Google|[http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/google-search-and-search-engine-spam.html January 21, 2011] (before the Farmer Update)}} This change in Google's search engine algorithm is unofficially called the Farmer Update by the SEO community because it is believed that Google was largely trying to improve its search results by de-emphasizing web pages from "[[Glossary/Content-farm|content farms]]" that don't provide much valuable content to searchers.  Google alluded to a crackdown of content farms in January (see quote to the right), but they have declined to confirm that content farms were the target of their search algorithm change. Google internally refers to this algorithm change as the Panda Update.
+That stands in contrast to a newer search engine, [[Blekko.com|Blekko]], which has [http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/blekko-blocks-1-1-million-web-sites-from-its-search-engine/ entirely blocked 1.1 million sites] from its search results - sites that Blekko said had minimal useful content and many advertisements. That affects hundreds of millions of web pages. {{PullQuote|right|As “pure webspam” has decreased over time, attention has shifted instead to “content farms,” which are sites with shallow or low-quality content.|Google|[http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/google-search-and-search-engine-spam.html January 21, 2011] (before the Farmer Update)}} This change in Google's search engine algorithm is called the Farmer Update by search engine optimization [[Learn/Search-Engine-Optimization|(SEO)]] professionals because they believe Google made the change largely to improve search results by de-emphasizing web pages from "[[Glossary/Content-farm|content farms]]" that don't provide much value to people searching for information. Google internally refers to its algorithm change as the '''Panda Update'''.
-What's a content farm?  A content farm is a website that has lots of content, but that usually isn't very informative or useful.  Many content farms have aggressive business models that are based on creating cheap content for the search terms that people are searching for right now and that they think they can make profitable with advertising.  This often includes things like how-to articles and articles that (are supposed to) answer a question. Content farms are an SEO play and a business model that relies on search engine ranking... until the Farmer Update, this has worked fine for many content farms.
+Google alluded to a crackdown on content farms in January 2011 - see the quote to the right - but the company has not officially confirmed that content farms were the target of the search algorithm change. {{SiteReportMedRecAd}}
+<br />
-Google frequently changes and tinkers with its search algorithm, but it's usually in minor ways that don't affect many searches, aren't given a name, and largely go unnoticed.  '''Google says the Farmer/Panda Update affects about 12% of U.S. searches''', making it a substantial algorithm change. The Farmer algorithm change has not been rolled out to searches in other countries, but it presumably will be sometime soon.
+Google frequently changes and tinkers with its search algorithm, but usually in minor ways that don't affect many searches, and go largely unnoticed.  '''Google has said the Farmer Update affects [http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/finding-more-high-quality-sites-in.html about 12 percent of U.S. searches]''', making it an unusually substantial algorithm change. The Farmer / Panda Update originally affected only search results for people within the United States. As of April 11, 2011, the Panda Update has been [http://searchengineland.com/google-rolls-out-its-panda-update-internationally-and-begins-incorporating-searcher-blocking-data-72497 rolled out to all English queries worldwide].
-==What types of sites have been affected by the Farmer/Panda Update?==
+If you're concerned about your website's ranking in search results, the discussion and tips below will help you determine whether your site was affected by the Farmer/Panda update - and whether it could be affected by future refinements to the algorithm.
-{{PullQuote|right|Our recent update is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites... people searching on Google typically don’t want to see shallow or poorly written content, content that’s copied from other websites, or information that are just not that useful.|Google|March 9, 2011 at [http://searchengineland.com/the-farmerpanda-update-new-information-from-google-and-the-latest-from-smx-west-67574 SMX West]}} The Farmer Update, according to Google (see quote at right), was intended to target websites with:
+===What's a content farm?===
+----
+A content farm is a website that publishes lots of content of little or no use to people looking for information. For a full discussion of the difference between poor content and useful content, read [[Learn/Good-Content-Vs.-Spam|Good Content Vs. Spam]].
+Many content farms have aggressive business models based on paying people very small fees to create articles optimized for searches people are doing right now. The content farms then host ads next to or placed within that content. Content created under this model includes how-to articles, and articles that supposedly answer a question. They are optimized for search engines according to a strict formula.
+The content farm business model is an SEO play that relies on achieving good search engine rankings. Until the Farmer Update, this business model has worked fine for many websites.
+===What types of sites have been affected by the Farmer Update?===
+----{{PullQuote|right|Our recent update is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites... people searching on Google typically don’t want to see shallow or poorly written content, content that’s copied from other websites, or information that are just not that useful.|Google|March 9, 2011 at [http://searchengineland.com/the-farmerpanda-update-new-information-from-google-and-the-latest-from-smx-west-67574 SMX West]}} The Farmer Update was intended to target websites with:
 * Shallow or thin content
 * Poorly-written content
@@ Line 24: / Line 38: @@
 * Content that isn't very useful
-To give you an idea of the real results, some [http://www.seomoz.org/blog/googles-farmer-update-analysis-of-winners-vs-losers Farmer Update losers] that you may know include: [[EzineArticles.com]], [[HubPages.com]], [[AssociatedContent.com]], [[AnswerBag.com]], and [[FindArticles.com]].
+Some [http://www.seomoz.org/blog/googles-farmer-update-analysis-of-winners-vs-losers Farmer Update losers] that you may know include:
+* [[EzineArticles.com]]
+* [[HubPages.com]]
+* [[AssociatedContent.com]]
+* [[AnswerBag.com]]
+* [[FindArticles.com]]
-Interestingly, some sites that could be considered content farms because they have how-to or Q & A content actually saw increases in traffic and rankings after the Farmer Update. Some winners include [[HowStuffWorks.com]], [[eHow.com]], [[Instructables.com]] and our friends at [[wikiHow.com]].  These websites generally have better content, a more professional design, and less intrusive ads than the sites that took a nosedive after the Farmer Update.
+Interestingly, some sites that could be considered content farms because they have how-to or Q & A articles actually saw increases in traffic and rankings after the Farmer Update. Some winners include [[HowStuffWorks.com]], [[eHow.com]], [[Instructables.com]] and our friends at [[wikiHow.com]].  These websites generally have better-quality content, a more professional design, and less intrusive ads than the sites that took a nosedive after the Farmer Update.
-==Has your website been affected by Google's Farmer Update? Find out.==
+===Was your website affected by Google's Farmer Update? Find out.===
-While the Farmer Update was likely intended to affect larger spam-y content farms, because it was an algorithm change, it could and has affected some sites not in its main target.  In general, any site with little unique content could have been impacted by the Farmer Update.
+----
+While the Farmer Update was likely intended to affect larger, spam-y content farms, it could affect - and has affected - some sites that weren't within Google's major area of concern. Any site with scanty unique content may have dropped in Google search rankings after the Farmer Update.
-What you need to determine is if your traffic from Google (organic, not paid) decreased or changed after the Farmer Update on February 23, 2011.
+To determine whether that's the case for your website, you need to figure out whether your site traffic from Google - organic traffic, not traffic from Google ads - decreased or changed after the Farmer Update on February 23, 2011.
 If you use [[Learn/Crash-Course-in-Google-Analytics|Google Analytics]]:
-[[Image:WhatToClickGA.png|right|150px|To look at search engine traffic from Google, click these.]]
+[[Image:WhatToClickGA.png|right|250px|To look at search engine traffic from Google, click these.]]
-#Click "Traffic Sources", then "Search Engines", then "Google" to look at your traffic that comes from Google search only.
+# Click "Traffic Sources", then "Search Engines", then "Google" to look at your traffic that comes from Google search only.
-#Choose a date range that includes a few weeks before and after the Farmer Update '''or''' check "compare to past" and compare a date range before February 23rd to a date range after. [[Image:GACompareFarmer.png|180px|right]]
+# Choose a date range that includes a few weeks before and after the Farmer Update '''or''' check "compare to past" and compare a date range before February 23 (if most of your traffic comes from the United States) to a date range after. If most of your search traffic comes from a country other than the U.S., compare before and after April 11.
-#Look at your traffic from Google before and after February 23rd. Is there a noticeable change that isn't explained by anything else?
+# Look at your traffic from Google before and after February 23 (or April 11). Is there a noticeable change that isn't adequately explained by anything else?
+[[Image:GACompareFarmer.png]]
-The Farmer Update is currently only affecting search results in the U.S., so if you're not based in the United States or you don't get much traffic from the colonies, you don't need to worry yet, and there's still time to shape up before the Farmer Update rolls out to you.
 If you'd like to try a more complicated Google Analytics check of any Farmer Update impact, see Andy Beard's [http://andybeard.eu/3543/google-farmer-update-self-diagnostic-kit.html post].
 ==What can you do if the Farmer Update hurt your site?==
-If your website's search engine traffic has suffered since the Farmer Update, read on for tips on walking the straight and narrow to get back in Google's good graces.
+----
+If your website's search engine traffic has suffered since the Farmer Update, read on to learn how to walk the straight and narrow and get back in Google's good graces.
-If you're not confident that your website provides quality, unique content on the majority of its pages -- regardless of whether the Farmer Update has hurt you -- read on for tips to become a quality website that should never fall victim to a search engine algorithm change.
+If you're not confident that your website provides quality, unique content on the majority of its pages - regardless of whether the Farmer Update has hurt your site's search rankings and traffic - read on for tips to creating a quality website that should never fall victim to a search engine algorithm change.
-==#1 Make sure you have unique, quality content==
+===='''1. Make sure you have unique, quality content.'''====
-This is #1 for a reason. It's what matters and what the Farmer Update is all about.{{PullQuote|right|...it’s important for webmasters to know that low quality content on part of a site can impact a site’s ranking as a whole. For this reason, if you believe you’ve been impacted by this change you should evaluate all the content on your site and do your best to improve the overall quality of the pages on your domain.|Google March 9, 2011 at [http://searchengineland.com/the-farmerpanda-update-new-information-from-google-and-the-latest-from-smx-west-67574 SMX West]}}
+This is No. 1 for a reason. It's what matters and what the Farmer Update is all about.{{PullQuote|right|...it’s important for webmasters to know that low quality content on part of a site can impact a site’s ranking as a whole. If you believe you’ve been affected by this change, you should evaluate all the content on your site and do your best to improve the overall quality of the pages on your domain.|Google March 9, 2011 at [http://searchengineland.com/the-farmerpanda-update-new-information-from-google-and-the-latest-from-smx-west-67574 SMX West]}}
-* Audit your site's pages and see where your content is sub-par. What to do with low-quality pages?
+* '''Audit your site's pages for sub-par content.''' What should you do with low-quality pages?
-** '''Improve them''' and add quality, unique content. Simple, huh?
+** Improve them and add [[Learn/Good-Content-Vs.-Spam|quality, unique content]]. Simple, huh?
-** '''Remove, redirect or noindex''' low quality so Google knows you know it isn't valuable. This can also help keep your entire site's ranking from being brought down by a few low-quality pages.
+** Remove, redirect or noindex low-quality pages so Google knows ''you'' know it isn't valuable. This can also prevent your entire site's ranking from being brought down by a few low-quality pages.
-* Double check that your content:
+* '''Double check''' that your content:
 ** is plain text, not hidden in images
 ** is not hidden behind a wall that Google can't climb, like a registration requirement ([http://www.highrankings.com/farm-aid-301 Jill Whalen noticed this])
-* Add more quality content to your website.
+* '''Add more quality content to your website.'''
-** If you sell things on your website (i.e. an e-commerce site), it may not feel natural to have a lot of text, but it's important. Consider giving visitors the option to leave reviews. Add unique content wherever you can, like on product category pages and on product pages. Don't just copy the manufacturer's description, because that's what a thousand other sites will do and Google values unique content, not duplicate content.
+** If you sell things on your website, it may not feel natural to have a lot of text, but it's important. Consider giving visitors the option to leave reviews. Add interesting descriptions or background information to product category pages and product pages. Don't just copy the manufacturer's description, because that's what a thousand other sites will do. Google values unique content, and could even downgrade your site for having duplicate content.
-** Consider creating a [[Learn/Business-Blog-101|blog]], or posting more frequently if you already have one.
+** Consider creating a [[Learn/Business-Blog-101|blog]], or posting more frequently if you already have one. You can [[Learn/Guest-Blogging-for-Online-Visibility| invite guest bloggers]] to contribute to your blog, varying the tone and information you offer to readers.
-It's likely that Google uses some sort of topic modeling algorithms that help them determine which pages have more robust content that is readable and unique.
+It's likely that Google uses topic modeling algorithms to help determine which pages have more robust, unique content.
-==#2 Shoot for keeping people on your site==
+===='''2. Try to keep people on your site.'''====
-Help tell Google that people who clicked your search result found the quality content they were looking for. One key thing that Google can look at is whether someone who clicks to a given website from a search result subsequently goes back to the search result or not. If a searcher goes back to the search it can be assumed that they didn't find what they were looking for or they just didn't like the site or its content, and this is a signal to Google that that website or page isn't valuable.
+Longer visits tell Google that people who clicked your pages in search results found the quality content they were looking for. One key element Google can see is whether someone who clicks to a web page from search results goes back to the same search results page. If a searcher returns, it can be assumed that they didn't find what they were looking for, or they just didn't like the site or its content. If many people do this, it can be a signal to Google that this web page isn't valuable.
-In general, watching your time on site and bounce rate metrics in [[Learn/Crash-Course-in-Google-Analytics|Google Analytics]] and trying to improve them is a good way to accomplish this. (Note: While Google ''could'' look at actual bounce rate and time on site numbers from sites that use Google Analytics, they have said they never would.)
+Watching your "time on site" and "bounce rate" metrics in [[Learn/Crash-Course-in-Google-Analytics|Google Analytics]] - and trying to improve them - is a good way to keep people on your site for longer periods. (Note: While Google ''could'' look at real bounce rate and time-on-site numbers for individual sites that use Google Analytics, the company has stated it never will. Google looks at these numbers only in aggregate, to understand general trends.)
-==#3 Make sure your site looks good==
+===='''3. Make sure your site looks good.'''====
-First impressions matter: When someone clicks a search result, what they see in the first few seconds usually determines whether they click the "back" button or start reading. Analysis of the websites that took a plunge after the Farmer Update showed that many didn't look as professional as similar sites that survived the algorithm change.
+First impressions matter: When someone clicks a search result, what they see in the first few seconds usually determines whether they start reading - or click the "back" button. Analysis of websites that took a plunge after the Farmer Update showed that many didn't look as professional as similar sites that survived the algorithm change.
-[[Image:wikiHowArticleExample.png|left|200px|An article on wikiHow.com that is informative and looks good.]]
+[[Image:wikiHowArticleExample.png|left|200px|An article on wikiHow.com that is both informative and looks good.]]
 [[Image:EzineArticleExample.png|right|250px|A random article on EzineArticles.com, a site that suffered after the Farmer Update. It's not so pretty, is it?]]
-:See the example at right of a page on EzineArticles.com -- a site that lost a lot of traffic after the Farmer Update -- and compare that with [http://www.wikihow.com/Toilet-Train-Your-Cat this interesting wikiHow article] that has a clean design and an images and video.
+:Check out the example at right of a page on EzineArticles.com - a site that lost a lot of traffic after the Farmer Update - and compare that with [http://www.wikihow.com/Toilet-Train-Your-Cat this interesting wikiHow article] that has a clean design, images and a video.
 {{Clear}}
-==#4 Show Google that you have authoritative content==
+===='''4. Show Google that you have authoritative content.'''====
-Links are still very important for search engine rankings, and having a site with more quality links makes you more likely to occupy that highly coveted first page of Google. Also, [[Learn/How-To-Use-Twitter-for-SEO|links shared on social sites like Facebook and Twitter now matter for SEO]], too.
+[[Learn/Get-Good-Backlinks|Links are still very important for search engine rankings]], and having a site with more quality links makes you more likely to occupy that highly coveted first page of Google search results. Remember that [[Learn/How-To-Use-Twitter-for-SEO|links shared on social sites like Facebook and Twitter matter for SEO]], too.
 * Make sure your content is worth sharing.
 * Make it easy for people to link to and share your content, and ask them to.
-==#5 Think your site shouldn't have suffered from Farmer? Tell Google.==
+===='''5. Think your site shouldn't have suffered from Farmer? Tell Google.'''====
-{{PullQuote|right|Note that as this is an algorithmic change we are unable to make manual exceptions, but in cases of high quality content we can pass the examples along to the engineers who will look at them as they work on future iterations and improvements to the algorithm.|Google}} If you think your website has quality content and you don't see any reason for why the Farmer algorithm change would have punished your site, you can tell Google.
+{{PullQuote|right|Note that as this is an algorithmic change we are unable to make manual exceptions, but in cases of high quality content we can pass the examples along to the engineers who will look at them as they work on future iterations and improvements to the algorithm.|Google}} If you think your website has quality content and you don't see any reason why the Farmer algorithm should have punished your site, you can tell Google.
+Google opened up [http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Webmasters/thread?tid=76830633df82fd8e this thread in its Webmaster Forum] to gather feedback and examples that could help its engineers refine the Farmer algorithm.
-Google opened up [http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Webmasters/thread?tid=76830633df82fd8e this thread] as a place to gather feedback and examples to help them improve their algorithm.
+Here are some dos and don'ts for writing a useful comment, and guidelines for what to expect:
-Here are some dos and don'ts for writing a useful comment, and what you can expect.
+; Don't:
+* [http://searchengineland.com/your-sites-traffic-has-plummeted-since-googles-farmerpanda-update-now-what-66769 Do something silly], like demanding to speak with someone at Google or coaching Google on how it could easily make its algorithm perfect.
-'''Don't''':
-* [http://searchengineland.com/your-sites-traffic-has-plummeted-since-googles-farmerpanda-update-now-what-66769 Do something silly] like demand to speak with someone at Google or take a lot of time telling Google how they could easily make their algorithm perfect.
 * Write a book.
 * Expect your post to make a difference in your site's ranking. (See quote at right.)
-'''Do:'''
+; Do:
 * Be polite and succinct.
-* Cite specific examples. Link to a page that has good content that used to rank in roughly position x, but no longer does since the Farmer Update.
+* Cite specific examples. Link to a page that has good content that used to rank No. X in search results, but that now ranks lower since the Farmer Update.
-* Expect some emotional relief from seeing other sites in the same boat and getting it off your chest.
+* Expect some emotional relief from seeing other sites in the same boat, and getting it off your chest.
 ==Additional Resources==
-* http://searchengineland.com/your-sites-traffic-has-plummeted-since-googles-farmerpanda-update-now-what-66769
+----
-* [http://www.highrankings.com/farm-aid-301 Jill Whalen analyzes the sites that lost a lot of traffic after the Farmer Update]
+* [http://searchengineland.com/your-sites-traffic-has-plummeted-since-googles-farmerpanda-update-now-what-66769 Your Site's Traffic Has Plummeted Since Google's Farmer/Panda Update - Now What?] - Article at [[SearchEngineLand.com|Search Engine Land]]
-*http://searchengineland.com/the-farmerpanda-update-new-information-from-google-and-the-latest-from-smx-west-67574
+* [http://www.highrankings.com/farm-aid-301 Jill Whalen analyzes sites that lost a lot of traffic] after the Farmer Update
+*[http://searchengineland.com/the-farmerpanda-update-new-information-from-google-and-the-latest-from-smx-west-67574 The Farmer/Panda Update: New Information from Google and the Latest from SMX West] - Another article at [[SearchEngineLand.com|Search Engine Land]]
 {{LearnBottomBio
 | Writer = KristinaWeis