The original Google Penguin was released in 2012 in an attempt to prevent unethical SEO practices known as black-hat SEO. Black-hat SEO strategies are those that are considered to be manipulating search engine rankings with bad links or links that have been paid for. The newest Google Penguin Update will have an effect on all SEO users.
Google Penguin 4.0 is still in the process of rolling out, so the changes may not be noticeable to everyone right now. However, those who understand the update have been implying that Penguin 4.0 is now a much fairer algorithm.
Real-Time Penguin, Real-Time Fixes
No longer will a spammy link be able to remain on a page for a long period of time. Penguin 4.0 has transitioned to real-time crawling and indexing, meaning that all links will automatically be reviewed and judged by Penguin.
When a page has been re-crawled and re-indexed, changes will then be made live almost instantly. Not only will this help to prevent black-hat SEO strategies, but it will also help those who have simply made a mistake to become aware of the problem almost immediately.
Many believe that this Google Penguin update will be beneficial to all. In an article for Search Engine Watch, one of their SEO consultants was quoted saying:
“Yes, I think that the real-time version of the Penguin algorithm will be fairer and will play a very positive role for the whole SEO community.” – Nikolay Stoyanov, Freelance SEO Consultant for NikSto.com
Per-Page Penguin Analysis
As a way to help users prevent their websites from being demoted by a single link on one page, Penguin is now judging individual links on every page of your website.
Bad links found on individual pages of a site will now be devalued rather than negatively affecting the whole rank of a website. However, it is still possible that the overall quality of links can affect your ranking. This means that those with high-quality links throughout their whole website may see a rise in ranking. But those who do have a bad link or two on individual pages will not see a drop in ranking. This feature is only meant to benefit those who have only quality links on their website.
A More Lenient Penguin
In the past, Google Penguin would demote an entire site because of one spammy link on one page of your website. This meant that one bad link would negatively affect your rankings for Google searches.
Now Google Penguin 4.0 allows for a less harsh system of punishment. If you didn’t want spam to affect the ranking of your site before Penguin 4.0, then you would have to use the disavow tool to tell Google that you don’t want an external link from another site to affect your ranking. Google would then review your requests and determine whether or not to disavow that link. Penguin will now be able to devalue these links automatically, rather than demote your entire website.
The disavow tool will still be available to use, though less necessary. With this Google Penguin update, it will now start to catch most of the links that you would have made a disavow request for in the past. However, this does not mean you cannot help Google by reporting the bad links you see being directed towards your site. Help them, help you.
Google Penguin Update Loves White-Hat SEO
Google Penguin has always worked in favor of those who are considered white-hat SEO specialists. But for those who are not SEO experts, Google Penguin 4.0 could sneak up on you and affect your website because of problems you didn’t know you had and that you don’t know how to fix. At Creative Click Media, we are the SEO specialists that will make your website Google Penguin-friendly. We have the experience and skills needed to help with all your SEO needs, especially during times like this with new updates to Google Penguin. Contact us today to learn what we can do for your website’s reputation.
