How Has Penguin Impacted Your Website?
Since Google released “Penguin” – the name given to the most recent Google algorithm update – how has it impacted your website?
Have you suffered a drop in search engine rankings?
Has your website been receiving more or less traffic since April 24th (the day Google released Penguin)?
According to Google, the Penguin update impacted 12% of all search queries, but it only affected about 3.1% of all searches in English.
Overall, there has been both good news and bad news regarding the Penguin update. The release was meant to target those sites that use “spammy” or unethical tactics to trick Google into giving them higher search engine results.
Google will continue to reward the good guys, i.e., those who practice what is known as “white hat” search engine optimization and follow the rules and guidelines set forth by Google. Note: Purple Trout, LLC is a “white hat” SEO firm and has never had a client penalized for violating guidelines. In fact, we have helped clients recover after being de-indexed by Google for suspicious tactics applied by another SEO firm.
The Penguin update targets “black hat” or “spam” techniques in which unethical website owners, webmasters or slimy SEO firms do whatever they can to earn higher rankings with little-to-no regard for Google’s guidelines. While these techniques work for a little while, updates like Penguin punish the evil-doers and reward those sites that practice “white hat” rules.
Specifically, Google’s most recent update punished websites that applied keyword stuffing and unusual linking patterns, including anchor text links on targeted keywords that were unrelated to the page content.
Since April 24th, some website owners have been reporting an improvement in rankings and traffic, as previously higher-ranked websites have tumbled in search engine rankings.
Don’t worry. If your website took a hit as a result of the Penguin update, you can take some steps to recover your lost search engine ranking:
- Admit that your website is being punished for violating Google’s guidelines. Fix the problem(s), and then ask for Google’s forgiveness.
- Read Google’s quality guidelines, and follow them.
- Fix the problem. If you were participating in a “black hat” link-building scheme, you’ll need to clean up those nasty links. If your website is stuffed with keywords, then you must re-write and update your content. Remove other unethical tricks, such as hidden keywords and links on your website’s pages.
- Once your site is clean – and it needs to be clean – log in to your Google Webmaster Tools account and resubmit your website for consideration by Google.
- If your current SEO firm caused the above problems, ask what steps they intend to take over the next 30 days to correct the problems. If you’re not satisfied with the new strategy, then perhaps you should begin looking for a new search engine optimization firm.
- Promise to only use ethical SEO tactics (or hire an ethical SEO firm with proven results and quality references).
- Finally, always anticipate that Google will continue to release new updates in order to improve the searching experience for its customers (and advertisers).
