An Insight into Google Penguin Update
What is the Penguin Update?
Google always tries to present the most relevant search
results to the user and in that process it continues improving its search
algorithm. The Penguin Update is just another update in Google’s search
algorithm which has been done to minimize web spam.
results to the user and in that process it continues improving its search
algorithm. The Penguin Update is just another update in Google’s search
algorithm which has been done to minimize web spam.
When did it happen?
 |
| Penguin Update (Image credit:- Shebytes) |
The Penguin Update happened on the 24th of April
2012.
2012.
Effects of the Penguin Update
Penguin affected around 3% of the search queries.
Considering the reach of Google, this is not a small percentage. It affected
many websites from different niches. Webmasters who repeated the same anchor text again and again, did some keyword stuffing, did not cared about having
quality and semantic content, had almost the same content scattered around
different web pages on the same site, experienced a high bounce rate, participated
in paid link schemes were affected the
most.
Considering the reach of Google, this is not a small percentage. It affected
many websites from different niches. Webmasters who repeated the same anchor text again and again, did some keyword stuffing, did not cared about having
quality and semantic content, had almost the same content scattered around
different web pages on the same site, experienced a high bounce rate, participated
in paid link schemes were affected the
most.
How to remain safe in rankings
You can remain safe in rankings if you follow the Google guidelines
by heart. I have outlined some major guidelines which you must follow to remain
safe in your rankings or to get your website back in the rankings.
by heart. I have outlined some major guidelines which you must follow to remain
safe in your rankings or to get your website back in the rankings.
1-
Avoid Keyword Stuffing
Avoid Keyword Stuffing
3-
Do not create multiple pages focusing the same
topic, instead put all the sub topics in one place and create a better and
highly relevant page. Also avoid duplicate content, even if it covers only 1-2
pages of your site. With this update, the entire site is going to get penalized
if your site has even one faulty page.
Do not create multiple pages focusing the same
topic, instead put all the sub topics in one place and create a better and
highly relevant page. Also avoid duplicate content, even if it covers only 1-2
pages of your site. With this update, the entire site is going to get penalized
if your site has even one faulty page.
4-
Do some semantic research and write content
accordingly. Have plenty of original information on your site.
Do some semantic research and write content
accordingly. Have plenty of original information on your site.
5-
Get some strong social media signals for your
website.
Get some strong social media signals for your
website.
6-
Check out your website in Google Webmasters and
find out the bounce rate of your site. Remember if the people do not like your
site then you cannot rank well—a simple signal.
Check out your website in Google Webmasters and
find out the bounce rate of your site. Remember if the people do not like your
site then you cannot rank well—a simple signal.
7-
Check if your site has any broken links, if it
has some then get it removed immediately.
Check if your site has any broken links, if it
has some then get it removed immediately.
8-
Check out individual pages that have a high
bounce rate and try to figure out what have you done wrong in those pages. Try
to minimize the bounce rate.
Check out individual pages that have a high
bounce rate and try to figure out what have you done wrong in those pages. Try
to minimize the bounce rate.
9-
Try to remain in the news always. Have your
website in tweets, likes, plus ones and press releases.
Try to remain in the news always. Have your
website in tweets, likes, plus ones and press releases.
10-
Create human friendly titles and do not overdo
with your keywords. Websites which are repeating the keywords again and again
in the title tag are at a greater risk.
Create human friendly titles and do not overdo
with your keywords. Websites which are repeating the keywords again and again
in the title tag are at a greater risk.
11-
Get some authority links to your website. This
could help you immensely in keeping your rankings safe. (Authority does not mean
FFA links).
Get some authority links to your website. This
could help you immensely in keeping your rankings safe. (Authority does not mean
FFA links).
12-
Avoid too much of reciprocal linking and if you
still continue linking others then make sure you do not leave any footprints.
Avoid too much of reciprocal linking and if you
still continue linking others then make sure you do not leave any footprints.
13-
Keep an eye on your competitors and find out if
they are creating some spammy inbound links to your site? If they are then you
are going to be hurt with this practice.
Keep an eye on your competitors and find out if
they are creating some spammy inbound links to your site? If they are then you
are going to be hurt with this practice.
14-
Try to have strong internal linking but do not
create excessive links in footer. Remember your own website is the only savior
to you. Keep it simple and user friendly, attract the love of the people, and
create internal links whenever necessary and you can do much better this way.
Try to have strong internal linking but do not
create excessive links in footer. Remember your own website is the only savior
to you. Keep it simple and user friendly, attract the love of the people, and
create internal links whenever necessary and you can do much better this way.
15-
Do not hire someone to add positive Google
reviews for your local places result. Having positive reviews from the same ip
address might land your website into trouble. Again the same principle, do not
leave footprints for Google.
Do not hire someone to add positive Google
reviews for your local places result. Having positive reviews from the same ip
address might land your website into trouble. Again the same principle, do not
leave footprints for Google.
16-
Penguin is looking for websites which have
purchased paid backlinks like site wide links, blog roll links, footer links
etc. If you have done that too then review your strategy once again.
Penguin is looking for websites which have
purchased paid backlinks like site wide links, blog roll links, footer links
etc. If you have done that too then review your strategy once again.
17-
Do not create sites solely for the purpose of
displaying ads, Content which starts with ads may get penalized. Maintain a
healthy content to ad ratio. The users should not get annoyed with the ads.
Do not create sites solely for the purpose of
displaying ads, Content which starts with ads may get penalized. Maintain a
healthy content to ad ratio. The users should not get annoyed with the ads.
18-
If you are following a strategy of article
marketing then make sure you have unique content for every article. Remember,
content spinning is of no use now. You may see a decrease in your rankings for
content spinning and spamming done on the article directories.
If you are following a strategy of article
marketing then make sure you have unique content for every article. Remember,
content spinning is of no use now. You may see a decrease in your rankings for
content spinning and spamming done on the article directories.
Last but not the least; follow Google’s guidelines- Google
Webmaster guidelines
Webmaster guidelines
Guru Mantra: – Head towards social media websites–
Strong signals and a whole lot of buzz about your business can give you faster jump
in rankings.
Strong signals and a whole lot of buzz about your business can give you faster jump
in rankings.
Also Read:-
Google Penguin 1.1 released on 26th May 2012
Google releases Penguin Update 3
Thank for sharing information
Thank you Joydeep for such valuable information.