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Penguin Update Targets Link Schemes and Low-Quality Content

May 10, 2012 By

Google’s much anticipated “over-optimization” algorithm update has been released. It was originally thought this new update would be called “Venice.” But in keeping the tradition of other updates that were named for animals (…think Panda), the search giant named this update “Penguin.”

We did have some forewarning this update was coming. As we discussed a little over a month ago, Google’s spam chief Matt Cutts was asked at the SXSW Conference what Google was doing about “overly-optimized” sites. Although it isn’t customary for Cutts and Google to announce an update ahead of time, he went on to explain how the search giant was planning an algorithmic update to deal with this issue.

So what is overly-optimized content?

In the context of the Penguin update, this can include content stuffed with keywords, shady link building and other practices. According to a report in Search Engine News and SEO Moz, sites negatively affected by the update likely have one or more of the following:

  • Low-quality or “spun” content
  • Questionable linking practices
  • Overuse of exact-match domains
  • Aggressive use of exact-match anchor text
  • Keyword stuffing in internal/outbound links

Below is an example from Google’s Webmaster Central Blog of a site with unusual linking patterns and excessive use of keywords. Notice how the links have no relation to the content.

Courtesy of Google Webmaster Central blog

Best we and others can tell the update was rolled out to all languages simultaneously on April 24th. For searches in English, it’s estimated around 3.1% of queries were affected. To compare, the initial phase of Google’s Panda update affected 12% of searches done in English but in the beginning, Google said it would only affect 3% of searches.

But someone else’s loss could be someone else’s gain. Many sites who are not affected indeed improve their position following updates like Penguin.

From updates like Penguin and Panda, we can discern that Google prefers branded sites – early reports too indicate that sites with a good link profile survived the latest algorithmic update. We all know how Google has been targeting spam, unnatural links and low-quality sites for a long time. This latest “update” is simply a continuation down that road.

Penguin is a lot like Panda in that it is an “algorithmic” update – meaning that if you were affected, submitting a reconsideration request with Google won’t get you very far. Basically what you have to do is remove the spam, clean up your site and wait for a data refresh and re-crawl.

That of course can take weeks.

If you feel your site was caught in the filter by mistake, there is a form you can complete to petition Google. You can also visit your Webmaster Tools account or use Google’s Webmaster Forum to inquire about your site.

It’s suggested however that you be real careful in pursuing these options. Be absolutely sure your site doesn’t have an issue with it to cause it to be legitimately filtered during an update.

Check back with us again in the next couple of weeks as we explore things that can trigger a loss in rankings through algorithmic updates.

Was your site affected by the Penguin update?

If so, what was the issue and what are you doing to address it?

Other Posts You May Be Interested In

Answer these 23 Questions to Understand What Google Looks For

Upcoming Google Update to Penalize “Over-Optimized” Sites

3 Steps You Should Take Before Linking to another Site

8 Ways you can safely sell Links on your Website

Google Panda Update Causes Some Sites to Lose Traffic, Revenues

Filed Under: Copywriting/SEO Content Development, Forum Watch, SEO Technology, Tip of the Day Tagged With: , , , , ,

Answer These 23 Questions to Understand What Google Looks For

April 16, 2012 By

Reflecting more on our last post and Google’s latest update got us thinking a little more about how Google decides which sites to reward (…through higher rankings) and which ones to punish.

How does Google write the algorithms that crawl a site, index its content, and rank it according to keywords?

While that’s certainly a question we could write many books trying to explain, Google does provide some guidance into its thinking. They do not discuss specific ranking factors but do provide some insights into what they consider a high-quality site.

The search giant’s stated goal is to deliver the best search experience for their users. In their Webmaster Central Blog post following their big Panda update a year ago, Google claimed it would be making nearly 500 tweaks to the algorithm over the course of 2011.

Rather than trying to keep track of all that, Google recommends and we agree that you should develop site content – articles, blogs, landing pages, e-books – with your readers in mind first and the search engines second.

The following questions originally posted on Google’s blog can serve as a good way for you to evaluate the quality of your pages and those of your competition. Continue reading for the 23 questions Google asks in assessing the quality of a webpage or article:

  1. Would you trust the information presented in this article?
  2. Is this article written by an expert of enthusiast who knows the topic well, or is it more shallow in nature?
  3. Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations?
  4. Would you be comfortable giving your credit card information to this site?
  5. Does this article have spelling, stylistic, or factual errors?
  6. Are the topics driven by genuine interests of the readers of the site, or does the site generate content by attempting to guess what might rank well in search engines?
  7. Does the article provide original content or information, original reporting, original research, or original analysis?
  8. Does the page provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results?
  9. How much quality control is done on content?
  10. Does the article describe both sides of a story
  11. Is the site a recognized authority on its topic?
  12. Is the content mass-produced by or outsourced to a large number of creators, or spread across a large network of sites, so that individual pages or sites don’t get as much attention or care?
  13. Was the article edited well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?
  14. For a health related query, would you trust information from this site?
  15. Would you recognize this site as an authoritative source when mentioned by name?
  16. Does this article provide a complete or comprehensive description of the topic?
  17. Does this article contain insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious?
  18. Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
  19. Does this article have an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?
  20. Would you expect to see this article in a printed magazine, encyclopedia or book?
  21. Are the articles short, unsubstantial, or otherwise lacking in helpful specifics?
  22. Are the pages produced with great care and attention to detail vs. less attention to detail?
  23. Would users complain when they see pages from this site?

Considering these questions and more when developing content for your site will go a long way toward ensuring your hard work doesn’t go to waste by way of a penalty.

WARNING: Low-quality content on one part of your site can impact the entire site’s rankings

Be sure you’re focusing on your entire site.

If you have lower quality content, it may be dragging your rankings down. Google suggests you can deal with this issue one of three ways:

  • Removing the low-quality pages altogether
  • Merging and improving existing content into more useful pages
  • Move low-quality content to another domain

Of course, there are many other things to consider when making sure your website is crawlable by the search engines.

But from a content perspective, considering these questions above will go a long way toward excelling in the rankings and avoiding troubles during any algorithmic updates.

Other Posts you May Be Interested In

Upcoming Google Update to Penalize “Over-Optimized” Sites

Outlook for Search – Building High Rankings in 2012

7 Strategies for Maintaining “Fresh Content”

Content Marketing over Traditional Advertising – Making the Case

Filed Under: Copywriting/SEO Content Development, SEO Technology, Tip of the Day Tagged With: , , , ,

Upcoming Google Update to Penalize “Over-Optimized” Sites

April 2, 2012 By

Rarely do we get a glimpse of a Google algorithm update before it occurs. But during a recent panel discussion at the SXSW event in Austin, Texas, Google’s spam chief Matt Cutts announced some minor tweaks to the search engine’s algorithm.

Dubbed the “Venice” update, Cutts said Google would punish sites that are too optimized for SEO, or what he called “over optimized” or “overly SEO’d” (…according to reports from HubSpot and Search Engine Land).

Although Cutts initially had planned not to announce the update ahead of time, he decided to go ahead and spill the beans following a question the panel received from an attendee at the SXSW event.

Basically, the question asked what Google was doing to prevent overly optimized content. For example, if you search for “three-winged widgets” on Google and the first result is just a keyword stuffed document, it won’t have much value to you, the reader.

In his response to the attendee’s question, Cutts explained the changes as “trying to make the algorithm more adaptive.” Sites that will be penalized will be those who are clearly engaging in keyword stuffing, exchanging too many links and any other practices that go beyond “…what a normal person would expect.”

I’ve done things SEO-e and other sources have suggested I do. Will I have to worry about being penalized for following standard recommendations?

A similar question was asked of Cutts by our friend Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land and the short answer is no, it won’t.

Those who will be penalized are sites whose content is driven by keywords rather than topics. If you’re selecting topics based on what you’re audience wants you shouldn’t have anything to worry about provided you’re not stuffing your content with keywords. As we’ve said before, if you spam your content with keywords to the point that it doesn’t read naturally, your site will be either ignored or penalized.

In a follow-up to Cutts’ response, Bing’s Duane Forrester added that social sharing is an important signal as to how others value your content. If others think you have great content, they will “…amplify it” Forrester explains.

“If you’re not engaged socially, you’re missing the boat because the conversation is happening socially about you and about your content. Those are really important signals for us,” explains Forrester.

In light of these revelations by Cutts, we want to take a moment to reiterate the old rule of thumb.

  • 2-3 separate, unique keywords on a page
  • Vary your use of keywords (i.e. singular, plural, stemming, synonyms)
  • Above all, make sure your copy reads naturally. If it feels spammy to you, then it likely contains too many keywords

In the end, if you’re writing with your readers in mind first and the search engines second, you should be okay. Make your readers the first priority and the rankings will follow provided your site is easily crawlable so the bots can actually read and index your content.

Read some of our prior posts on keywords and how you can maximize keyword instances without your content being too spammy.

Are you concerned about Google’s Venice update? What are your thoughts on penalizing sites for over-optimization?

Other Posts You May Be Interested In

3 Steps You Should Take Before Linking to another Site

Latent Semantic Indexing – A New Way to Look at Keywords

Standard Keyword Research Won’t Always Tell you what your Prospects are Looking For

11 Steps to Increasing Keyword Saturation while Maintaining Valuable Content

Filed Under: Copywriting/SEO Content Development, SEO Technology, Tip of the Day Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

6 Tools to Throw your Link Building into Overdrive

March 6, 2012 By

Anyone whose worked on optimizing websites for the search engines knows about link building and how tedious, repetitive and time-consuming it can be – prospecting, researching, contacting and following-up can certainly drain away your day.

We’d know – we’ve spent a few years working to get sites to the top of the search engines. Building links is a big part of that. But sometimes though, it can literally be considered a “needle in a haystack” trying to find the right, do-follow link that will really move a website.

As the years have gone on, this task has gotten even more complex as search engines like Google continually make changes to their algorithms.

Fortunately though, there are tools available that can expedite these steps and make the daily task of finding good quality links slightly easier. Below are 6 recommended tools for really cranking up your link building efforts. Each tool has its own unique strengths and focus.

1.    Screaming Frog SEO Spider (http://www.screamingfrom.co.uk/seo-spider/)

    Utilizes an often overlooked way of getting links and audits your site and your competitors’ site(s). The desktop tool sees which incoming links to your site are going to 404 error pages and crawls competitor sites to see where they’re linking.

    2.    Majestic SEO (paid) (http://ww.majesticseo.com/)

    Majestic SEO is now considered the premier tool for comprehensive backlink data since Yahoo Site Explorer went offline last year. Many SEO companies use this tool as a ‘behind-the-scenes’ data provider for their own stats.

    3.    Blekko (http://blekko.com)

    Blekko is unique in that it uses backslash functionality to provide SEO-rich data. Basically, you register for free then enter any site’s URL with modifiers like “/SEO,” “/inbound,” or “/outbound” for detailed link information.

    4.    SubmitEaze (http://www.submiteaze.com/)

    Since Google’s Panda update last year, the value of directors and article links for link building is something to be real careful with. SubmitEaze helps you find the qualified directories related to your industry that will benefit your firm.

    5.    Quix (http://www.quixapp.com/)

    Quix is a “bookmarklet” tool that brings many everyday SEO, social, WordPress and webmaster tasks under one umbrella. Literally dozens of commands allow you to research competitor sites, Google and even social sites like Facebook and Twitter.

    6.    ToutApp (http://www.toutapp.com/)

    Although link building through blind e-mails requesting a link to page A in exchange for a link to page B are in the past, there is still a need for link builders to stay in touch and cultivate media and PR contacts. ToutApp helps do this by automating the process and providing detailed tracking.

    We’ve used a few of these tools to help us dramatically improve link building efforts for us and our clients.

    Have you used any of these tools?

    Any other link building tools you’d recommend?

    Let us know in the comments field below!!

    Some other posts you may be interested in

    Outlook for Search – Building High Rankings in 2012

    3 Steps You Should Take Before Linking to another Site

    8 Ways you can safely sell Links on your Website

    Filed Under: SEO Technology, Tip of the Day Tagged With: , , , ,

    Mobile Smartphones and SEO

    February 21, 2012 By

    You or someone you know in all likelihood owns a mobile smartphone (…like the I-Phone, Android or something similar) and accesses the Internet with it. These devices have grown by leaps and bounds in the last few years – projections are that one day, more people will access the Internet with a handheld device than laptops or traditional desktop machines.

    With that said, now is the time to consider integrating a mobile version of your website into your online marketing strategy.

    When examining this from a purely SEO standpoint though, one thing you must understand before anything:

    Search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo don’t give a hoot if you have a mobile compatible web site or not

    That’s right – websites designed for mobile users do NOT receive any special treatment from the search engines. In other words, searches from a mobile smartphone are treated just like any other search from a regular computer.

    If you take out your smartphone and do a search, you’ll notice that search engines do not rank mobile sites higher unless you add “mobile” or some other unique keyword to your phrase.

    Let’s be clear though – having a site optimized for mobile users is absolutely important. However, this is more of a usability issue and not necessarily a ranking issue.

    From a search engine optimization standpoint though, it’s highly unlikely your mobile site will ever outrank your main site.

    The big impact in terms of SEO and mobile smartphones is local search. Here’s where sites designed for mobile devices are treated differently than desktop sites (…notice, they treat them differently, not better).

    Google and others essentially assume that a mobile search is local. In fact, statistics show that there is a 33% or higher chance you’re looking for something local when using your smartphone.

    For example, if you type in “Best Buy” on your mobile device, it’s assumed you’re looking for the local Best Buy store in your town.

    Another caveat of mobile search (..exclusive to Google) is the fact that Google Places is clearly pushed to the top in a majority of local related keyword searches.

    Therefore, if your customers are local, it’s quite clear you need to have a presence in something like Google Places.

    Aside from local searches though, there isn’t any special treatment for mobile-enabled websites.

    With this assumption in hand, your best bet is to drive all traffic to your main site and put your mobile optimized site with a sub-directory (i.e. http://www.yoursite.com/mobile) rather than as a stand-alone subdomain (i.e. http://mobile.yoursite.com).

    Setting up your mobile site this way carries several benefits, including:

    • Content, trust and authority of your main site (…since it’s likely been around much longer) will be available to your mobile users
    • You can maintain focus of your link building on your main site rather than having to split your efforts between multiple sites
    • Setting cookies is less troublesome when you don’t have to go cross domain

    If you’ve setup a mobile site with its own stand-alone domain, you’re probably experiencing difficulty in getting the new domain to rank. If so, you can setup a 301 re-direct to a mobile domain attached to your main website (i.e. http://www.yoursite.com/mobile).

    From a marketing and usability standpoint, mobile compatible sites are becoming an absolute must, especially considering these devices are currently experiencing an explosive 400% growth in usage. Much of your content will stay the same – it will just need to include coding to make it compatible for the ubiquitous small screens mobile smartphones have.

    But considering the fact that only a tiny fraction of companies have added mobile sites, you will likely have a distinct competitive advantage by starting one now rather than waiting another year or two.

    Other Posts you May Be Interested In

    Google and Merging of Search and Social Media

    Outlook for Search – Building High Rankings in 2012

    Preparing for the Mobile Revolution, Part I

    Preparing for the Mobile Revolution, Part II

    Filed Under: Online Marketing, SEO Technology, Usability Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,
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