Now that the Google Panda update has rolled out worldwide, a study suggests that the number of sites negatively impacted by Panda is smaller than many marketers may think.

Now that the Google Panda update has rolled out worldwide, a study suggests that the number of sites negatively impacted by Panda is smaller than many marketers may think.

According to a study from StickyEyes relayed by eConsultancy, Panda actually has a lower impact on U.K. sites than the company's Caffeine update. In its investigation of more than 4.7 million data points, the organization found that more sites are moving up in rankings than down post-Panda.

Websites across industries are more likely to be positively impacted by Panda than negatively impacted, says StickyEyes. Forty-three percent of U.K sites across industries saw gains in search rankings post Panda compared to just 33 percent that fell in rankings. Meanwhile, nearly one-quarter of sites (24 percent) were not impacted at all by the update, maintaining their search positions.

Brafton has reported that U.S. niche sites focusing on specialized content are also faring well in the post-Panda search world. Specialty sites with rich, informational custom content are coming out on top of Google results – and marketers should take this as their cue to offer industry-specific, exclusive content.

Getting top Google rankings is key to catching clicks. A recent study shows content on the first page of Google results boast significantly higher CTRs than other results.

Katherine Griwert is Brafton's Marketing Director. She's practiced content marketing, SEO and social marketing for over five years, and her enthusiasm for new media has even deeper roots. Katherine holds a degree in American Studies from Boston College, and her writing is featured in a number of web publications.