July 25th, 2012
Introduced in April 2012, Google Penguin update aims to ensure the users get to experience the best quality content at all times. While many SEO marketers are in the mistaken belief that Penguin does more harm than good, the fact remains that websites with quality content and ethical SEO strategies stand to earn rankings they deserve. What factors does your business consider to keep up with Google Penguin?
# 1 – Do you Rely on Unnatural Links to Promote Link Building?
If so, you’ve got to fear the Google Penguin. The Penguin algorithm has strict guidelines against paid links and links sourced from unauthentic websites with poor content and design, or offensive content.
Some businesses purchase backlinks with their most important keywords as anchor text to boost search engine rankings. Google considers such usage as spam (the logic is that not every website that links to you is going to use the same keyword and when it is so, there is something really fishy!).
Promote organic link building instead. Give the best of content on your website and other quality websites will naturally want to link to you. Use brand names as anchor text instead of keywords alone. Consider links with different keywords related to your business as anchor text. Use generic terms such as “Learn More,” and “Click Here” to make your links look natural.
# 2 – Does your Website Lack Quality Content?
Good content always wins with search engines. If you’re depending on content spinning and duplicating to win search engine favors as part of your SEO strategy, you’re on the losing side with Penguin. For those not in the know, content spinning is making light changes to existing content and publishing it as a separate copy.
Save yourself by using good quality content. Update your website regularly. Start blogs and write a new post every week to keep your website fresh at all times. Submit press releases to online PR directories regularly; announce a new event at your company, a new development in your industry or even your latest customer story, as subjects for your press release.
Publish informative literature such as articles and white papers. Give helpful information in the form of how-to guides, tips and suggestions, or case studies, to educate your audiences, who are always seeking valuable information. Share your expertise and establish yourself as a leader in your domain so that audiences seek you out.
# 3 – Are you Over-Using Keywords?
Penguin doesn’t take keyword stuffing lightly. It’s one thing to use keywords as an SEO strategy to make it easy for search engines to find you, and it’s completely another to just choke the content with keywords. To avoid keyword stuffing, write content along with keywords instead of inserting them after composing content. This gives a natural flow to keywords instead of making them sound as if “pushed in.”
Use company or brand names in addition to your keywords in title tags and meta descriptions. Use keywords for “alt” attribute for SEO image optimization only if they suit the image and not just for the sake of using keywords.
Adhering to the Google Penguin update can help your business. Contact nvision Solutions to know how.
