For further information about this Focus Insight, please contact winston.burton@mediacontacts.com

Number  1  |  June  2012  

Penguin  Update  Overview    

In   a   continous   effort   to   reduce  webspam   and   promote   high   quality   content   in   the   Search   Engine  Result  Pages,  Google  released  an  algorithm  update  on  April  24th,  2012  named  the  Penguin  update.  

The  Penguin  update  was  launched  to  target  sites  that  are  over  optimized  for  organic  search  and  level  the  playing   field   for   the  rest  of   the  web.  Over  optimized  sites  are  defined  as  sites   that  employ   the  following  spam  tactics:  

• High  Keyword  Densities    

• Keyword  Stuffing    

• Similar  Anchor  Text  and  Duplicate  Content    

• Utilize  Paid  Links  to  Manipulate  Search  Engine  Rankings    

• Overuse  of  Keywords  Throughout  the  Site    

• Too  Many  Redirects    

• Contain  Hidden  Text  or  Links    

• Participate  in  Link  schemes  and  Cloaking    

 

 

 

 

Google  Penguin  POV    By  Winston  Burton  (SEO  Director)    

Keyword  Stuffing  Example   Link  Spam  Example  

Source:  Google  

For further information about this Focus Insight, please contact winston.burton@mediacontacts.com

Number  1  |  June  2012  

Impact    

Inline  with  Google’s  mission  of  delivering  the  most  relevant  results  in  the  Search  Engine  Result  Pages  and   rewarding   sites   that  have  quality  and   relevant  content,  Google  has   reduced   rankings   for   sites  that   are   considered   to   be   over   optimized   for   organic   search   and   using   spam   techniques   to  manipulate  Search  Engine  Rankings.    

In  a  recent  poll  conducted  by  Barry  Schwartz  at  Search  Engine  Roundtable,  nearly  65%  of  people  who  responded   to   his   poll   stated   that   they  were   negatively   impacted  by   the   Penguin   update   and  have  experienced  a  detrimental  decrease  in  organic  traffic  and  rankings.  

Media  Contacts  Response    

Media  Contacts  is  a  100%  ethical  company  and  does  not  utilize  any  spam  techniques  that  would  be  considered   to  be  over  optimizing  any  of  our   client’s  websites.  Our   interactive   agency   continues   to  build   out   unique   and   relevant   content   for   our   clients,   acheive   links   naturally   and   follow   Google  Webmaster  Guidelines  on  all  our  SEO  campaigns.    

For   sites   that   have   been   affected   by   the   Penguin   updated,   Media   Contacts   recommends   the  following:    

• Review  your  site  analytics  from  April  24th  and  see  if  there  is  a  decline  in  organic  traffic  since  the  update  went  live.    

• Review  Google  Webmaster  Tools  to  see  if  Google  has  previously  sent  you  any  messages  about  any  questionable  links  or  other  spam  techniques.  

• Conduct  a  site  audit  to  make  sure  your  site  follows  Google’s  Webmaster  Guidelines.    

• If  you  discover  that  your  site  does  not  fully  comply  with  Google’s  Webmaster  Guidelines,  deoptimize  it  and  wait  for  Google  to  recrawl  your  site.    

• Submit  a  spam  report  to  Google  if  you  think  your  site  was  wrongfully  penalized  https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/spamreport?hl=en    

 

Resources:  

http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35769#3    http://www.seroundtable.com/google-­‐over-­‐seo-­‐checklist-­‐15030.html    http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35843    http://searchengineland.com/penguin-­‐update-­‐recovery-­‐tips-­‐advice-­‐119650    https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/spamreport?hl=en    http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/another-­‐step-­‐to-­‐reward-­‐high-­‐quality.html