As the world’s preeminent search brand, Google is largely viewed by the Internet community as a pioneer. Not only did the company re-define the way that Web search works in its infancy, but its innovative algorithm has changed often and is now targeting an all-too-familiar adversary: Spam.
The Penguin Update, which initially debuted in April, has quickly made an impact on sites which utilize link schemes, spun articles, scraped content and repetitive anchor text in link profiles. These SEO strategies, which have long been used to help increase organic rankings, are now being penalized by Google. To date, 3.1% of queries have been affected by the update. While this figure may not make Penguin the most substantial in terms of the volume of affected searches, it is significant to sites which utilize black hat or even gray hat optimization strategies. Although such techniques have never been approved of by Google, Penguin is specifically designed to eliminate spam in the SERPs, once and for all.
This is a slap in the face to web-masters.
Google has repeatedly warned of de-indexing and penalization and the Penguin Update is a major blow to many SEOs. I wouldn’t put too much concern in the notion of more queries being added in the near future, but rather would anticipate the end of month Friday refreshes to increase. I’ve talked with many web-masters who have been affected and seen some difficult situations. All of which fall within the community’s assessment of Penguin.
The reduction or outright disappearance of spam in search results may be advantageous to practitioners of white hat SEO, but the perilous Penguin has even struck unsuspecting webmasters. In fact, many of the 700,000+ recipients of GWT messages from Google were not previously aware of the spam content and low-quality links associated with their brand online. Since the update first swept the SERPs, some cases have shown recovery at refresh 1.1. However, many businesses and Internet marketing firms are left wondering what must be done to rebuild their rankings.
So what is important?
Identity, Authorship, Relationships – Not fake branding and forged links.
If we follow what Google tells us it is that “Relevancy is King” now and not content. There was just too much content forging going on. The additional time on content to make it relevant. The additional time spent on your company’s profile forms and identity. The additional effort spent on your marketing teams efforts in PR and Authorship is rewarded
Every backlink, blog post, article and keyword should be considered part of a brand’s “signature” on the Web. Just like any other signature, authenticity is crucial. Attaining relevant links from authoritative sites and producing rich and original content is absolutely essential in creating a recognizable signature which Google subsequently correlates with quality rather than spam.
Additionally, online public relations efforts and social media are expected to play an even bigger part in Internet marketing going forward and should be utilized accordingly. Meanwhile, paid links, spun articles and high-volume keywords are going to continue to be penalized by Penguin. Google views black and grey hat SEO as the forgery of a brand’s online signature. Offline, authenticity matters. Now, it means just as much on the Web.
IMG SRC = Tiplyashin Anatoly
