How a Penguin Can Affect Your Website

Google recently unveiled a new algorithm update that had a much larger effect on websites than that of their normal updates (side note: Google made over 600 algo updates last year alone). This update was dubbed the Penguin update, and in short, the update was designed to eliminate several issues Google felt are tarnishing Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs). The main issue at hand is spam, and Google implemented this wide sweeping algo change to combat some glaring issues that spam has exploited. It looks like there were four main spam techniques that Google tried to target with the Penguin update:

• Keyword Stuffing - Using Keywords over and over in your web copy to the point that a human could in no way decipher what is being said
• Link Schemes - Google Webmaster Tools defines this as creating links to intentionally manipulate PageRank, links to spammers, and buying and selling links that pass off PageRank
• Cloaking - Again, Google Webmaster Tools defines Cloaking as "the practice of presenting different content to search engines and users." Basically, cloaking is an attempt to show search engines one form of a website to help it rank better in SERPs (HTML coding), all the while showing that same page to viewers in a completely different format (like flash).
• Duplicate Content - This is pretty much as it sounds: the practice of taking content that you did not create and using it on your site and trying to pass it off as your own.

All of the above listed spamming techniques have been addressed by Google in the past, and to be honest, this type of algo updating isn't really anything new. If you have been in the Industry for any amount of time, this is pretty Standard Operating Procedure from Google. You might have heard about the Panda update last year, or any other cute mammal they use as a mascot for their latest algo update.

The point of the matter is and unfortunately will always be the same in this Industry: Some SEO "professionals" will always spend their time trying to game the system, while other SEO professionals spend their time learning more about the best practices laid out by Google (and other Search Engines) and trying to uphold said ethical best practices. It's commonly referred to as Black Hat SEO techniques versus White Hat SEO techniques.

You are presently experiencing the later of those two examples by simply reading this blog post: quality content used to assert yourself as an authority in your market. Look, it really is as simple as that. You are the best at what you do and you are the most knowledgeable person in your profession, specifically in your market. Your web presence needs to be able to convey that to the people that are performing keyword searches for the product and services that you offer, specifically in your market. That's it. If you commit yourself to writing original, compelling content for your audience, sharing that content in Social Media, and engaging and interacting with your community to maintain your authority and expertise, no Google-mammal-named-mascot-algorithm-change will ever be a concern of yours. And because you adhere to the aforementioned best practices, the only concern you should ever have with your web presence is how to manage your increased visibility in Search Rankings, the increase of followings in your Social Media profiles, and of course the rise of your authority in your professional community by and large.

What ethical techniques do you use to increase your web presence and assert your expertise? Leave us a comment below and let us know. Thanks for stopping by!