May 4, 2012
‘Google penguin update’ is a term that anyone who is into website optimization, or even works with a website for that matter, is sure to be familiar with. But what exactly does this term imply, and how can you safeguard your website from its effects?
Well, the Google Penguin is a recent update, which is the next level of the famous Panda update. The Google Panda and Penguin can be considered as advanced levels of countering web spam through automated and human effort.
The panda update was a major change that was introduced in Google’s search engine ranking mechanism in February, 2011. Prior to its introduction, websites were ranked purely by artificial intelligence, which used predefined algorithms to decide which sites were most relevant to the user’s search. Search Engine Optimization, better known as SEO, came into play, with webmasters finding an easy way of hoodwinking Google, simply by stuffing keywords into spam content.
While this worked for a while, Google found a smart way to tackle it, with the introduction of the panda update. This mechanism incorporated advanced algorithm into the website ranking process, by using factors like authenticity, relevance, and usability. It was judged that whether user’s would return to the website again for information and penalized copy-pasted content. The Artificial Intelligence then mimicked these criterions, leading to a ranking system that favored sites with fresh and meaningful content over spam sites.
This change affected a whopping 12 percent of search results. Just when webmasters had found a way to tackle the Panda, Google has hit the online world with another update- The Penguin. The Google penguin went live on April 27, Friday, and takes Google’s attempts to eliminate spam to the next level. The websites that are most likely to suffer with this update are those that place optimization above usability.
Here are the 5 top don’ts if you wish to stay unfazed by this update-
- Stuffing keywords meaninglessly into content.
- Hiding text with keywords against a white background to tackle search engines, but not users.
- Showing a different IP address to users, and a different one to search engines, to cloak the actual country in which the website is based.
- Paying people to link users to your website.
- Using duplicate content on your website.
Even though Google has announced that this update is likely to affect only 3% of the queries, it in no way means that you should take it lightly.
We at Centex Technologies work on natural and manual SEO processes to rank websites on Top Search Engine Ranks. For more information on our SEO packages, feel free to call us at feel free to call us at Killeen (254-213-4740) or Dallas (972-851-7878) Office.