Search Engine Optimization is a constantly-developing facet of professional web presence, and in order to harness it successfully, you need to stay up-to-date on the latest news as search engine technology takes new steps forward. Google’s recent “Penguin” update has been the latest revolutionary piece of the SEO puzzle, and many sources, including the Wall Street Journal, have focused on the more extreme cases of companies being impacted—citing devastated revenues of certain sites that have been hit hard by Google’s algorithmic changes.
But what exactly was included in this update? Are you going to be penalized or worse, lose traffic and leads? We’ve put together the basic information you need to know to stay current.
Keyword Stuffing
Keyword stuffing is the most notorious of the “black hat” practices that Google is targeting with its Penguin Update. An unnatural keyword presence (more than 3-5%) will get you unwanted attention. Use natural language and don’t make it painfully obvious that you’re harnessing the power of keywords.
Bad Backlinking
Linkbuilding is a crucial part of developing your web presence. Gone are the days of spamming links to your site recklessly—if Google deems your linkbuilding to be through sites “irrelevant” to yours, your rank will take a hit.
Link Schemers
Made clear by Google for years, “link schemes” are facing a crackdown. Creating links solely to better your Page Rank or cooking up a plan with a fellow website for irrelevant link-swapping will face a penalty if the Penguin gets you.
The Bottom Line
Put simply: this update was meant to target the black hat overoptimizers out there, and if your site is rich in real, viable content, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. In fact, this will probably eliminate a lot of shady competition for you (like weeding out the steroid users of a professional sport). If, however, you’ve been keyword stuffing, bogus-posting, and taking advantage of other shady tricks, you should definitely take the time to restructure.
Either way, if you’re looking for someone that knows what they’re doing, will improve your SEO and overall web presence, and won’t leave you out in the cold with the Penguins (get it?), we’re the team for you. We’ll refresh and revitalize your site—the right way—and have you topping those search result lists in no time.
