Hello everyone and thanks for reading this post where my hope is to provide an in depth and informative as possible post on the most recent Google released update Penguin 2.0 which was released 5 days prior to me writing this post on May 22nd, 2013. Penguin 2.0 as most here already know was a 4th generation release following previous updates with Penguin 2.0 being probably the most influential update that we've seen in regards to either an increase or drop in rankings with a majority of those being effected seeing a loss in rankings ultimately resulting in a loss of traffic and earnings. This post will cover a multitude of different areas in regards to the Penguin 2.0 update and will answer different questions which include:
- Why was Penguin 2.0 released?
- How to recover from Penguin 2.0?
- How to prevent a future Penguin 2.0 penalty?
- How to stay within the Penguin 2.0 quality guidelines?
I'm going to start this post by answering the above questions and I hope that these cover all of the questions that you may have in mind that pertain to this update. If there's a question or concern that you have about the Penguin 2.0 update that I don't cover on this post feel more than free to post a comment and I'll be sure to respond quickly.
Why was Penguin 2.0 Released?
Penguin 2.0 was released primarily to alleviate the web from spam and spam affiliated sites which include link farms and sites that participate in the practice of buying and selling links. Plain and simple: this sums up the most concentrated effort of the Penguin 2.0 update and the mission and goal that it had set and from the results and changes that have occurred since its release it seems to have been making quite a few changes which have resulted in many site owners and webmasters to lose their rankings, traffic and online earnings. Ultimately, it's the responsibility of site owners to understand the influence that certain types of links will have on their site so when obtaining links whether they're self built or purchased, make sure that they're links that will only bring positive results to your site.
How To Recover From Penguin 2.0?
My answer to this question will help those who have already been effected by the Penguin 2.0 update while helping those who haven't been effected yet to avoid a penalty in the future. As previously stated in my last answer to the previous question, this update focused on removing spam and spam type sites from the web which is exactly what it's doing and if you have a lot of purchased or spam type links to your site you've probably been effected and if you haven't yet it's just a matter of time. To recover from this update if you've seen a loss in rankings there's several things that you need to focus on which include:
- High Quality Link Building
- High Quality 100% Unique Content
- Low Quality (Spam) Inbound Link Removal (Disavow Tool)
- Social Shares (Already a proven recovery technique)
- Add "Privacy Policy" & "Terms of Use" to site (Traditional Technique but still effective)
These are all great and proven techniques to recovering from the Penguin 2.0 update and will assure you a hopeful and effective transition process back to your rankings. Adding a "Privacy Policy" and "Terms of Use" to your site is a method that a majority of us have been using for a while but is still one that works extremely well and continues to assist in increasing your trust and authority with Google. If anyone needs a template for a "Privacy Policy" or a "Terms of Use", let me know and I'll send you one (for free).
How To Prevent A Future Penguin 2.0 Penalty?
To prevent a future Penguin 2.0 penalty and to ensure that your site is in the clear of any drops in rankings there's several steps that you can take to protect your site and time invested into achieving the rankings that you currently have. The two most important things you'll want to focus on is well written 100% unique content that will provide helpful and useful information to your readers (Much like my post ) and high quality links coming from authoritative and high page rank sites. Good content that's unique and updated regularly will show that your site itself is a well maintained and tended to site and high quality links will being the trust factor to your site proving that you're a reputable and trusted source. Of course if your site is not a content based site and is lets say a service(s) based site, regularly updated and posted information isn't something that you'll be doing with your site in which case I'd put more emphasis and effort into acquiring high page rank links. Since the Penguin 2.0 update , the saying "Quality over Quantity" has never been more true then now so be sure that the links you build or purchase are links that will only benefit your site. It's especially important to make your links look as natural as possible. I know this is something that 99% of you already know but it never hurts to emphasize on the things that are most important.
How To Stay Within The Penguin 2.0 Quality Guidelines?
To stay within the Penguin 2.0 quality guidelines there's a few things that you must do that I've already mentioned in this post but I'll reiterate on it again. To stay well within the Penguin 2.0 Quality Guidelines you will need:
- High Quality Unique Content
- High Quality Inbound Links
These are the two most important things to focus on as it's the two things that determine the trust and reputation of your site and no site owner can afford at this point to ignore either one of these because if you do you could risk losing your ranking(s) that you've worked so hard to achieve and it's not worth taking this chance when with just a little effort, work and research and you could bring your site well within the Penguin 2.0 Quality Guidelines while not only having a site that Google loves but a site that your readers and visitors will enjoy as well.
Remember guys, it's all about reputation, content and diversification. Google simply wants to improve the user(s) experience and wants its users to be paired with reputable, relevant and trusted sites and if you can build your reputation and provide the content and information that Google wants, they'll give you what you're wanting and you'll eventually reach your ranking(s).
Matt Cutt recently said, "We'll work just as hard to provide your site to users as you do on your content" and this is very true. It's time to get serious and I know if we all put in the work that we're well capable of doing that we could all be successful with this and any other update that Google might decide to throw at us and it's my sincere hope that no one had any serious drop(s) in rankings from this recent update but if you did I'm hoping that my post will help you in recovering from any drop(s) that you've had. If anyone has any questions or needs help or assistance with anything that I didn't cover in this post feel more than free to post a comment below and I'd be more than happy to assist.
Penguin Fix
