How Google’s Penguin Changed SEO
· BlueHat Marketing
Early last year Google unveiled an update to their search algorithm called Panda. This caused massive ripples in the organic search industry , as the updated specifically targeted sites that appeared to be spam-oriented. That is, sites with poor content and redundant use of keywords (among other things) were penalized in rank.
This past April, Google rolled out another significant update which rocked the SEO services world yet again: Penguin .
Penguin targets websites that were optimized in an abusive way with respect to backlinks. This update identified sites with link profiles that seemed suspicious, such as having a high proportion of links with anchor text that was commercially oriented, repeating the same keywords. Natural link profiles have a variety of anchor text phrases linking to the site.
Due to this update, here are a few tips for optimizing your website:
- Link naturally. Don’t hammer on the same anchor text for incoming links. Vary the phrasing and terminology of your links as any author would. Remember that brand terms are just fine.
- Fix your internal links. Keep the user experience in mind at all times when you are creating internal links within your site. Linking should be natural and contextual and guide users in a useful way.
- Don’t get all your traffic from a search engine. Use social media profiles, forums, e-mail and other sites to diversify your sources and build traffic in a more natural way.
With every Google update, search engine optimization abuses are getting harder and harder to pull off. It’s no longer about focusing on specific keywords to boost a site as it is about raising the overall authority of a site, bringing its overall rank up - and it’s themes and keywords with it.
With the power of social media and blogging, a business owner can significantly raise the quality of their website in the eyes of search engines - if it’s done right. These tools also create brand awareness and build a user base of interested potential customers. In this way, Google is shaping the way it wants owners to develop their business.
The days of quick-fixes and black hat solutions are fading away with every update. That’s why companies like Blue Hat are thriving. Our approach has always been to build foundations for business in natural and efficient ways - to be partners in online marketing with our clients. We keep an eye on trends and updates in the SEO world and constantly refine our strategies so as to allow our partners to focus on running their business.
