A few months back, the SEO world was rocked with the commencing of the Google Panda update. This update saw low quality sites weeded out in place of stronger ones.

The said update got its name from an engineer named Panda. It involves an algorithmic change, one that shakes up the hierarchy of search as we know it. The new algorithms are referred to as machine learning algorithms

To determine this, Google users were randomly interviewed about the sites, which basically asked them about their favorability with them, in terms of the appeal of the content, their being shared through outlets such as social networking and sharing sites, and user reviews garnered by each site. These, plus measuring other metrics such as bounce rate, clickthrough rate and the like, would help to give Google an idea of favorable and non-favorable sites to users. Consequently, the Panda update made the favorable sites rank higher, while those with less favorable reviews went down in the rankings. And so, from that point on, the traditional SEO methods did not hold water as they usually did, and this, in turn, has led web developers to cry foul.

And while many haven't recovered from the first update, here comes another Panda update to Google that will surely shake things up for another time. Panda 2.2 is bound to take place anytime soon.

One thing this move can guarantee, though, is the growth of quality SEO. With the step by step elimination of black hat data, you can guarantee that search is headed into a direction that it gives you the most accurate results possible.

It was a good thing notable keyword tools were also updated the time the update struck. KeywordSpy, for example, has data that is updated in real time, and was functioning during the time of the grand update. The metrics and results describe in actuality what happened during that time, and what continues to happen.

In turn you continue to get relevant results, and not ones that divert dramatically from those provided.

So to those who have stuck with their trusty keyword tool when it mattered most, we salute you. You will be glad to know that the changes have been successfully indexed by KeywordSpy, so you can get keywords that matters most.

But of course, it is not enough that you know the keywords and set out to populate your site with them. Nope, not even by subtly making your content optimized for these keywords could you guarantee that they can get you in the rankings. If anything the Panda update has taught you to go much deeper into thinking out how you create your site. A whole lot deeper.

Aside from making a site that will rank well, you would be now thinking of how to make a site that people will be willing to share on social media. A site that users would like to stay on more to either be informed on entertained. Not just a site that was optimized for the sake of. With the new Panda scheme, it's all about the user experience.

For starters, try out many designs for your website, and if you can use peer evaluation for them, go for it. Put content in, still full of keywords, then you should rework the content in a manner that it will hold reader's attention for more than a minute. If you can go longer, do it. It would also help if you put in links that would allow users to "tweet it", "share it on Digg", or like it through Facebook Connect, to make it easier for users to share your site.

Next, keep in mind the metrics used for determining site search friendliness. Even though this is part of common SEO knowledge by now, these factors are still relevant, more so now in the Panda era. Clickthrough rate is important, as Panda won't just rank your site by virtue of the keywords inserted, but by how long you can capture a user's interest. And we are not just talking about the front page here: we are also referring to clicking on every page and staying on them for some time. Make your site more appealing to grab more viewers, and your favorability rating will rise along with it.

Lastly, unfair as it seems that you have invested a lot of time in writing useful, unique and meaningful content; if it is straightforward to the extent that it could bore people, it could be downgrade fodder for Panda. In this case, you would need to sharpen up your writing-maybe write with more anecdotes and colloquial terms-without sacrificing the substance and the SEO factors. Continue to use keywords, but use it more subtly now than ever. When looking to keyword tools such as KeywordSpy, select the keywords that have high SEO value to your site immediately, rather than getting them all. That way, you maintain having targeted content while increasing the "wow" factor of your writing.

Of course, while this is all focused on getting Google to approve of your site, remember that Bing and other search engines still exist. Most probably they may still have a different algorithm. Though undoubtedly, it is hard to deny that Google is the leader in search, and the strategy you implement from there goes on into the other search platforms.

The ball is now in your court. Adjust your content to include subjective purposes, not just objective ones, in attaining readability. Take white hat SEO to a new level; factor in user-retention SEO as well. In that way you can appease the SEO gods.