Google Penguin 2 Arrives
You are no doubt aware that Google has been implementing some pretty radical changes over the last couple of years, in an attempt to combat, what it calls ‘web spam’.
This has resulted in some changes to it’s algorithm, which is a hugely complex beast that it uses to determine it’s search results.
You may even be familiar with some of the names these updates have had, Panda in 2011 and Penguin in 2012.
Well, back in May, we got insight from Matt Cutts (Google Head of Web Spam) that the Summer of 2013 would see the roll out of Google Penguin 2, aimed at building on what the previous updates had started. And a couple of weeks ago on May 22nd, the roll out began.
In a Google Webmaster Help video, Cutts went into more detail on what Penguin 2.0 would bring, along with what new changes webmasters can expect over the coming months with regards to Google search results.
He detailed that the new Penguin was specifically going to target black hat spam, but would be a significantly larger impact on spam than the original Penguin and subsequent Penguin updates have had.
So with this in mind, here are my top 5 tips to stay on the good side of Google:
- Ensure the content on your websites is relevant and natural. Don’t stuff it full of keywords and expect that Google won’t notice. By all means use your main keywords throughout your content, but let it fit in naturally within the context of your writing
- Don’t (I repeat DON’T) stuff keywords onto your homepage (or any page) and then make them invisible by changing the colour to the naked eye. This tactic was very popular several years ago, but remember, Google reads the code, not the text. To a search engine, these ‘invisible’ keywords may as well be flashing neon green and shouting “here I am”
- Don’t let your web properties become stagnant. Google likes to see sites that are updated regularly (a blog is perfect for this)
- Let your link profile be natural. If you start an SEO campaign, build links to your site gradually. Nothing sets off the alarm bells more than 100+ links a day appearing overnight.
- Review your existing link profile. If the links to your site are low value, from spammy sources or are all using the same anchor text, it may be a good idea to go about removing them.
Of course, there is more to Google Penguin 2 and there will always be things that can be improved. Ensuring the 5 points above are covered is a great start and will keep you in the good books and well on the way to success.
Good thing there is a chance to recover from Penguin penalization. http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/recover-from-penguin/