Mosaic ITES Services White Paper Google s Penguin More than just a Bird 1
Table of Content Introduction..3 Basics of Search Engine Optimization a.k.a. SEO....4 What are Search Algorithms..5 Function of search Algorithms..5 Why Google launch these updates. 6 What is Google Penguin 1.1........7 Core functions of Penguin 1.1.. 7 Impact of Google Penguin 1.1 on Websites....8 Before and after Google Penguin1.1 launch. 8 How to save the website from Penguin 1.1.9 Final Note.10 Appendix 1: Resources..11 2 Mosaic ITES Services
Introduction There have been hundreds of innovations in information technology in the last four decades. The invention of the Internet is undoubtedly the most significant IT innovation of the 20 th century that has completely changed the global communication. The continuous innovations in the Internet technologies have made distances shorter and the world smaller. The evolution of search engines and the social web are two such great innovations that have changed the way people use the Internet. Today, ever-increasing use of search engines, social networks, and web communication tools such as emails, messaging, video chatting etc. have brought a remarkable change in the Marketing Strategies across the globe. This white paper is dedicated to SEO people who want to update their knowledge about the search engine algorithm of Google with special emphasis on its recently launched anti-spam search algorithm termed as Penguin 1.1. A study has showed that 65% of websites got negatively impacted due to this update, while few also got benefited. This paper will analyze what all changes Penguin 1.1 has brought to Google s search engine results page (SERP). Mosaic ITES Services 3
Basics of Search Engine Optimization As we all know, every technique that we use to improve the visibility of a website or a webpage in a search engine s natural (organic or unpaid) search results is referred to as Search Engine Optimization, popularly known as SEO. Every search engine available today follows the same principals to find, index and display the search results. So, if we talk about working of search engines, the diagrams below offer a good insight. Search Engine Crawler, Bot or Spider Page indexing Search query There are two types of techniques used in SEO On Page SEO Keyword research and selection, Meta description tag, content, keyword density, internal linking, ALT tags etc. Off Page SEO Link building, social bookmarking, article submission, press releases, directory submission, blogs, forum submission etc. Professional SEOs have been using these techniques for years to gain the ranking in search engines result page. However, when people started using unethical SEO ways to score higher ranking, search engines also started changing their algorithms according to their webmaster rules. Google has created a whole new world of SEO and that is why it s at Numero Uno position in the web search industry. 4
What are search algorithms? In simple terms, these are the formulas or set of defined rules used by search engines to rank a webpage against others. These rules are the backbones of the search engines and help them function in a proper and efficient way. An algorithm considers both on page and off page elements of the search term. In the beginning, search engines only used to consider the on page elements such as title tag, description, and keywords in content to rank web pages in SERP, but now off page SEO such as link building, social bookmarking, and social media optimization have also become very important factors in search engines rankings. Functions of search Algorithms To find the most relevant web pages according to search queries Rank each page in SERP based on hundreds of factors (Google uses more than 300 factors to rank a page) Display higher rank pages up in Google s SERP Google regularly updates its algorithms to improve and display quality search results. Google s Penguin 1.1 is being regarded as one of its most improved algorithms to check SEO spam, specifically related to unethical link building techniques. These algorithms are very sophisticated and have the prowess to significantly down rank a website if it doesn t follow the Google s webmaster quality guidelines. 5
Why Google launch these updates? This is a big question, why does it happen, why can t Google be static? Well, the answer is, for searcher s convenience. That s why Google rolls out an update just to refresh its search index and to look for websites involved in unethical SEO practices that violate her quality guidelines. If the search engine finds a website violating Google s quality guidelines, it may penalize it by down ranking it in its SERP, or sometime completely removing it from Google s search index. Google s update check for the things like Black Hat SEO usage Extensive link building Cloaking User Experience Invisible text User experience Duplicate content 6
GooglePenguin MorethanjustaBird WhatisGooglePenguin1.1? GooglefirstannouncedthisalgorithmupdateonApril24,2012,but didn tannounceitsname.finally,aftertwodays,thisnewupdate wasnamed Penguin.OnMay25,2012,Googlereleasedthe PenguinUpdate1.1,whichaccordingtoMattCuttswasthefirst Penguinalgodatarefresh. Thisupdatewasdesignedtofindandpunishwebsitesinvolvedin overoptimization. Penguinaffectsabout3.1%ofsearchqueriesinEnglishand approximately3%ofqueriesinotherlanguagessuchasgerman, Chinese,Arabicetc. Google spenguinfeedbackform:withintwodaysofpenguin launch,googlereleasedtwofeedbackformsforusers 1)Forthosewhowanttoreportweb spam2)forthosewhowanttoreportthattheirsitegotunfairlyhitbygoogle.thisbroughta senseofreliefforthousandsofwebmasterswhohadlosttheirhopesofrecovery. CoreFunctionsofPenguin1.1 GooglelaunchedPenguin1.1tofighttheSEOspam.SEOshavebeenusingmanyunethicalwaysto manipulategooglealgorithmandrankpoorqualitywebsiteshigherinserp.asaresult, goodwebsiteswithqualitycontentcouldn trankhigheringoogle sserp.googlefirst launchedpandaandthenpenguintopunishlowqualitywebsitesandrewardgoodwebsites withqualitycontent. Penguin1.1targetswebsitesthatareinvolvedin Excessiveandunnaturallinkbuilding Participatinginlinkschemes BlackHatSEO Keywordstuffing,Invisibletext,doorwaypages Cloaking ServingdifferentcontentorURL stosearchenginesandusers DuplicateContent Copiedcontentfromotherwebsitesorsources GooglelaunchedPenguinupdatenotjusttoremovethespamoutofthesystembutalsotorectifymany thingsinitsserp.well,googleisdoingeverythingpossibleforthesearcherstoimprovetheirsearch experience.butforalargenumberofbusinesses,itcouldpossiblybethebiggestchallenge,andthey wouldhavetorethinkabouttheirfutureseostrategies. 7
69 Impact of Google Penguin 1.1 on Websites Penguin 1.1 has completely reshuffled the ranking orders of Google s search results. Many websites that enjoyed first page ranking for a long time, lost their top positions within days. A survey with more than 1,000 website owners has showed that 65% of them got negatively impacted due to this update. Also, 13% of them got a positive effect. So, Penguin update is not bad for all the websites. There has also been a study of inbound links with Anchor Text matching Keywords. It showed that more than 35% of the websites with 90% of anchor text matching keywords were penalized by this update. So, Penguin can be a nightmare for those involved in excessive single pattern link building practices. Before and after Google Penguin1.1 launch The SEO world indeed has changed a lot. Strategies which once benefited SEOs are no longer in vogue. So, the role of SEO today has extended from an SEO to inbound marketing. Now, SEOs have to be much proactive in their approach. They will have to use all possible resources to bring natural inbound links for their websites in order to achieve top ranking in search engines results, specifically in Google search results. One thing is certain that social media will play a bigger role more than ever in search engine rankings. Search and social signals together are future Google seems more like a Magnet which first tried to find iron pieces. Now, it has eventually got more powerful and is trying to separate all illegitimate ones. Only pure iron could get attracted to this mighty magnet. There is no other way out. Vikas Malhotra, Managing Director, Mosaic ITES 8
How to save the website from Penguin 1.1? The only ways to get saved is to follow the Google webmaster quality guidelines and Google Penguin 1.1 rules, and try not to get into any sort of spamming activity. You may hide yourself for a while, however sooner or later Google will surely find you out and penalize you for bad deeds. Top symptoms that Penguin found you doing something Anti Google When you try to find your website or company name on Google. Oops! It s not there on Page 1 or Page 2 Massive drop of ranking even with your high ranking keywords You cannot find the website even on the bottom search result pages Before doing anything else and starting to rebuild your website Off page Analysis Check the background of your back links Study the characteristics of the back links and find any unnatural pattern Put all unnatural links on the removal lists Check for any Negative SEO for your website On Page Analysis Check the keyword stuffing on homepage Any doorway pages Cloaking activity on your website Hidden links Best SEO Practices followed after Penguin 1.1 Link Quality Get good quality links with help of quality content, interviews and good reviews Anchor Text Get links to your website and pages with some different anchor text Unusual links Get rid of unusual links. The links should come from a thematic source Keyword Density It should be close to 1.5% and target long tail keywords as they rank easily Keyword Stuffing Stop it right now. Don t stuff your website with too many and duplicate keywords. Content Create content for users not for search engines SEO Automation Avoid using automated ways to optimize your website. They send automated queries to Google that violate its terms of service. Be Social Google gives high importance to social media and also gives you preference if you use Google s services such as Google plus, Google places etc. 9
Final Note Overall, the way Penguin 1.1 emerged; it has changed all traditional ways of SEO. We have to accept this since search and social are coming together, and inbound marketing is going to be the new SEO. Google has become more user oriented in its approach and if a website is not fruitful for end users, chances are that it will not rank higher in SERP. Embracing the techniques such as social media, webinars, press releases, fresh/useful content, email marketing, blogs, articles will certainly give us a competitive edge and would help us to go beyond. So, pull your sox as there is more to come. Get ready with the plans and always keep yourself updated to be safe. 10
Appendix 1 Useful reference Links SEOservicesgroup.com Smashingbuzz.com Searchenginewatch.com Karmasnack.com Marternewmedia.org Seroundtable.com Scoop.it Wikipedia 11