What were the Google Penguin updates for?

Introduction

Back in April 2012 Google announced its latest update, the Google Penguin update. In a nutshell it was an update that would clampdown on websites that used low quality links.

As here’s the thing, SEO can fall squarely into one of two boxes, that’s the we want to do things properly group (white hat) and we want to cut corners group (black hat).

Now the group that likes to cut corners, well they are constantly scheming to come up with new ideas of how to fool Google’s algorithm. That’s to more or less try and fool Google into thinking the website is more important than it is.

However, trying to fool Google’s algorithm is not a wise move, Google is very good at detecting low quality seo and spam.

So if you do try and fool Google’s algorithm, well its more than likely going to result in your website dropping in terms of where it once ranked, or alternatively it may disappear from the SERP’s altogether.

This means Google has got very good at detecting businesses, or indeed SEO companies that try and circumvent the rules. And one such filter is called the “Google Penguin” updates.

 

Hmm, so how exactly does Google’s algorithm know which links are low quality?

If you run a business, or you own a digital marketing agency your focus should just be on earning good quality backlinks. And these backlinks should satisfy the following criteria:

·        Good quality

·        Relevant to your business

·        The anchor text should be optimised in a white hat way

·        You shouldn’t obtain too many links from just one source

·        You want as many good quality links that you can obtain, that are relevant and from as many different websites (that are good quality!)

So let’s say you retail sports cars, and you want your website to be more visible, so more people from around the world see your website, and the latest cars you have for sale.

Now, this is where you should obtain backlinks from other websites that are to do with cars. So a good example is a respected motoring magazine may have a website, they may publish an article about a classic car you have, and therefore you may be able to obtain a backlink.

This will be all well and good for your seo. What wouldn’t be a good idea is try and build a load of low quality backlinks, as this will result in your website incurring a penalty.

So, when some SEO businesses offer super cheap SEO, is this because their building rubbish links?

Well, regardless of what the marketing agency charges, it all does boil down to whether the work is of a good quality.

That’s to say even some of the swanky upmarket agencies may implement low quality seo. Yet, as a general rule, we would say if the agency is quoting you really cheap prices, well you do have to ask yourself, how on earth are they doing that?

Because here’s the thing, to implement really good quality seo, well this takes an awful lot of time and effort. So, if a business is offering their services for peanuts, they could be using automated methods.

Automated link building normally spells disaster. As links need to be built in a white hat way, so you cant hand this responsibility over to some code to start building backlinks for you, this will result in a link penalty.

So, in a nutshell, whether the agency charges a million pounds a month, or two hundred pounds a month to do your seo, you still have to check that the work is white hat.

A word to the wise, don’t use black hat seo methods!

Sure, organic seo is often a slow process, there’s no getting away from that fact. However the impatient among us may try and speed the process up with black hat seo, however this is never a good idea!

Black hat seo will result in your website incurring a penalty. A penalty can mean that your website drops, but also that it can take a very long time to recover from such a penalty.

Okay, it’s too late for all that, my website’s been hit by the Google Penguin penalty, what should we do?

Well, we would recommend looking at whether your current seo company are to blame, if so then you may wish to change agencies.

Next thing, obtain reliable advice from a respected white hat agency. Every single businesses backlinks are likely to be different, so an seo consultant will need to look at the backlinks, and work out which backlinks are spammy, and which ones are low quality.

In some cases the seo business may recommend disavowing backlinks, and a change of approach in terms of how the business is building backlinks. So in a nutshell, you need to obtain quality advice.

What exactly does it mean to disavow backlinks?

If a website has accumulated a load of low quality backlinks, then sometimes an agency or a business may deem it appropriate to disavow the backlinks. This basically means asking Google if they can disconnect the backlinks from the website, its then up to Google’s algorithm to take into account the disavow request.

However, a word to the wise, disavowing links should only be undertaken by an expert. The reason for this is if you disavow all links, or get the process wrong, well you really could make your website drop even more! So do consult with a white hat seo expert.

Why should my business be checking our backlinks?

Simply put if employ SEO consultants or you hire an seo company, they should be checking the health of your businesses backlinks on a regular basis.

The reason for this is rather simple, if your website accumulates a load of spam links, or just low quality links, then this could result in a link penalty, like the Penguin penalties.

So, if your marketing agency or your business spots this problem early on, the better you will be equipped to rectify any potential problems.