Google Penguin
Google, a search engine giant, well-known for its complex search engine algorithm and frequent “animal” updates (like Panda, Penguin etc.) can make or break your marketing efforts.
What the Penguin updates focused on?
Google updates are geared to one common goal: to serve up better, more relevant search results to people using Google to find information.
A few years back, webmasters and SEO experts scrambled to develop a way to survive Google Panda. Panda was one of Google’s most feared and effective algorithm update. Its focus was to eradicate sites that didn’t have enough quality content.
However, the Penguin updates are focused on several issues like:
- Coming from poor quality sites
- On sites that aren’t topically relevant to your niche or business
- Paid links
- Keyword rich links
- Links where the anchor text is overly optimized
A Roadmap to Survival
For the purpose of this article, we’ll focus on surviving the Penguin update. Here are the tips:
- Monitor your search related traffic results. If you notice a sudden drop, make an effort to search the root cause and act on it quickly.
- Immediately remove the spam you have created in the past. Be aware of Google’s messages about your “spammy” activities, it is best to heed their warning.
- There is such thing as too much, so never over-optimized your website. For off-page optimization you should only have adequate variation on your anchor text; if possible only 20% of target specific keywords should be used. Furthermore, make sure to have diversified backlinks on relevant contents or post; avoid at all cost, paid links which will only drain your money and put you into trouble.
- For on-page optimization, only employ natural tags for keywords. Keyword density must appear relevant and engaging. Start by building a wide array of elements like images, videos and social media presence for your page; also consider moderating your comments.
It is not easy to recover from the dreaded Google Penguin, but not impossible. All you need is to be relentless and dedicated with what you are doing – invest time and effort.
