How to approach SEO now that Penguin 2.0 is out in force

In late May Google released their latest major search algorithm update dubbed “Penguin 2.0”. This update is a continuation of Google’s efforts to deliver a better user experience to people searching online. For many businesses it means they need to approach SEO differently if they want to remain competitive online.

Many SEO companies dreaded the arrival of the first Google Penguin update as the main objective of the update was to penalize ‘spammy’ links and bad content – something many companies used to boost rankings on the cheap. Some companies simply adapted to the new algorithm by burying their spam deep within their sites so that they avoided any penalties but still maintained good rankings.

One of the main differences with Penguin 2.0 is that it looks deeper into a website than ever before. Google now analyses the link profiles of all pages on a site, not just the home page. Wherever you try to hide ‘spammy’ links and bad content, Google will find it! If Google looks over a site’s links and sees that the anchor text for all of them is keyword heavy and not brand name heavy then that’s a good sign that the links have been purchased. A large number of links appearing suddenly to a given site also sends up a red flag. ‘Spammy’ content can also now be found and penalized more efficiently than ever before.

The obvious solution is of course to make sure you aren’t using these techniques as this is the update many quality focused SEO companies have been waiting for. Finally the ‘cheap and nasty’ method just doesn’t cut it anymore. The best way to avoid penalties from Google is to listen to what they want from websites and follow those guidelines; Simple stuff.

Google wants to see good quality content and a natural rate of development for links. They want to see links coming in from pages about a site’s brand as well as the services or products the business provides. They want a user friendly site with good navigation because they don’t want to be affiliated with ‘spammy’ or broken sites. Penguin isn’t about stopping SEO it’s about stopping bad SEO. In the world of Google Penguin, SEO is about building your online presence naturally and creating a quality user experience so you can earn your place on Google’s first page.

---