Google Penguin SEO is a major topic of discussion on the Internet lately. There's been quite a lot of talk in the search engine optimisation industry regarding the new Google algorithm update which has been given the name Penguin. The update has shaken the SEO community by putting to waste many of the "SEO tricks" that some optimisers use to get higher results in Google.
Every so often, Google search engine releases new updates to the way in which its system weighs the importance of different websites in relation to others and keyword searches. They do this in order to make their search results more fair for website owners and more accurate for the users that use the search engine to find relevant websites.
What is the Penguin update?
The Penguin update has been created to balance out the perceived importance of over-optimised websites in Google, by penalising websites whose incoming links seem manufactured and unnatural. A key way of knowing that this is in fact the case is by the high amount of incoming links that feature keyword terms.
Natural search terms
For example, on echoweb.com.au we obviously have keywords to do with website design, melbourne website design and more. When bloggers and various Internet users link to our website from theirs, the majority of them would most likely not be optimising their links with the keywords shown above. They are more likely to contain the anchor text "click here" or slight alterations of those keywords, but not the exact phrases themselves.
Unnatural search terms
If we had over-optimised our website by posting thousands of links on the web with our specific keyword phrases in them, pointing to our site to increase our backlinks, Google would now be targeting us with the update. If we had our top 3 keywords found in over, say, 60% of our incoming links, we'd probably be in trouble. Fortunately, our website hasn't been hit too hard by the update.
What is the reason for the Penguin update?
Most and foremost, one of Google's main goals is to present relevant and helpful search results to Google users. By employing these tactics to weed out over-optimised websites, they can help narrow down the search results to the most relevant to the topic - the ones that have been given the most "votes" by backlinks from other websites. Just because a website has been optimised to seem relevant to search engines, doesn't mean it's the most valuable for search engine users. Hence, the update.
Who will be affected by Google Penguin SEO problems?
Okay okay, so we all know what's really important! Whose website will be affected by the Penguin update? With any luck, your website will be unaffected by the new update, but there is always a chance that your rankings may be affected, even slightly. If you've had your website optimised by an SEO company, then you should definitely be checking your website's rankings in Google to ensure your placements haven't dropped too much for your main keywords.
Where can I get more information about the Penguin update?
You might find some of the following website and articles helpful!
- www.optimising.com.au/blog/google-penguin-effect
- www.micrositemasters.com/blog/penguin-analysis-seo-isnt-dead...
- www.searchenginewatch.com/article/2171174/Google-Penguin-Update...
As we said, the Penguin update is a popular discussion in the SEO community at the moment, so you'll be sure to find a lot of helpful links by searching "Google Penguin" on Google! ;) But the list above should be enough to help you out for now.
