Action step: conclusions from the session

How can a site owner who were affected by Panda prioritize their recovery efforts? This list summarizes the points from the session.

1. Assess: Do an in-depth content analysis of your site, putting your own views aside and looking at it as an end user. Make sure your site architecture is designed to provide a great users experience. Search for / remove both duplicate and thin content. You want your content to engage and retain visitors.

2. Optimize: Fix things that are broken, clean-up your code. Look for extraneous code - whether it's javascript or tags - and remove anything that doesn't belong. Webmaster Tools can help.

3. Socialize: To avoid getting your traffic from just one source --  which leaves you vulnerable if that source is suddenly affected -- try looking to other sources for traffic, especially social sources like Facebook and Twitter. Set key performance indicators that will help you measure the success of these projects, so that you can see what is and isn't working.

4. Track: Make sure you have an analytics program installed: both Google Analytics and Yahoo Analytics are excellent free options. As you change things, measure the impact your changes are having. This is especially important when doing experiments in the social space, because analytics can tell you which or your efforts are most effective.

While it was not mentioned explicitly, the final step for anyone doing search engine optimization is to be aware of changes in the industry. While those who use 'white hat' (ethical) tactics do not need to be overly concerned, it is possible that your search rankings could be hurt if you do not keep up with new signals as they emerge.

Page 1: Panda-pocalypse Survival Guide at SES Toronto
Page 2: The duplicate content fiasco and problem with too many ads on the page
Page 3: A look at the Google +1 button, tag pages and new meta tag options
Page 4: Action steps, putting advice from this session into action