Google’s latest algorithm changes, known as “Google Penguin”, discourages paid links and low quality website links in an effort to reduce spam results.  The idea is that the old algorithm gave certain websites a higher search ranking than they deserved, because those sites were stuffed with keywords which manipulated the search engine.  The new Penguin algorithm blocks this by punishing activities such as paying for inbound links.  If your website has suddenly dropped in site traffic since the end of March, Google Penguin is likely to blame.

If you have been hurt by the Google Penguin then the best thing to do is quickly make changes to your website in order to adhere to Google’s quality guidelines. In order to adhere to the guidelines you should avoid using:

Hidden Text and Links

• Hidden text is text that can be read by a search engine, but not by a human eye.
• Examples would be hiding white text on a white background, or including text hidden behind an image.
• This causes your site to be considered untrustworthy by Google.

“Sneaky” Redirects

• Also known as “clocking”, this is when you present different content to users than you do to search engines.

Automated Queries to Google

• This is done by using software to find out how your website ranks in Google search results.

Pages Loaded with Irrelevant Keywords

• This is known as “Keyword stuffing” and it happens when rather than using information-rich content, a site has paragraphs filled with keywords and keywords that are randomly repeated.

Duplicated Content Across Multiple Pages, Sub-domains or Domains

• This happens when large blocks of content match each other in multiple places.

“Doorway Pages” Created Just for Search Engines

• These are poor-quality pages that have been optimized to rank for a specific search term, and to then get users to a different destination.
• This is frustrating for users, and is considered deceptive by Google.

Affiliate Programs, Unless Your Site Provides Valuable Content to the Affiliated Sites

If you have made the above suggested changes but still feel your site is being negatively impacted by the Google Penguin, you can resubmit your site to Google for re-evaluation.

Tags: analytics, business success tips, generate business from website, Google penguin, Google rankings, Internet search, SEO, small business, small business concerns

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 29th, 2012 at 11:44 am by Jessica Glynn and is filed under Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.