Penguin Update Tips, Overcome Google's Silence Over The Issue

by Divya Fernando - 5/1/2012 13494 Views

Google Penguin Update has caused incredibly evident damage both to websites and search results quality.

Was it an attempt to kill SEO? or Was it an attempt to encourage PPC? Is it being threatened by other search engines or social networks? or Is it that something seriously went wrong with the Penguin?

No one can answer these questions for us, other than Google itself. However, the sad truth is that, even after almost a week of distressed complaints from webmasters, site owners and small businesses online, Google is maintaining silence at the problem. (At the present time, Google reminds me of Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, Indians would agree)

Amongst the various sites that were wrongly hit by the Penguin, Searchmetrics comes up with an analysis of sites hit due to genuine reasons that was in favor of webspam. The updated list have some sites similar to those that were hit by the fresh Panda update post April 19th 2012 as well as the Penguin update that rolled out on 24th April.

The list of sites is as shown below:

Apparently, these sites used huge databases to create recurring pages like songlyrics.com; but then aren't these sites supposed to be that way?

Those that produced duplicate content like pressabout.us also featured in the list; probably these were missed by the Panda, so that means Panda was flawed too?

Some heavy websites that gathers global information on various tickets selling sites like ticketcity.com or hotel compare sites like hotelscombined.com did also face the music probably owing to the incredible list of links that come in; probably link spamming.Guess it makes sense for them to be punished, it really depends on their link portforlio.

What went wrong though?

While the sad state of most of these sites does make sense to an extent, what about those who are flocking in with thousands of complaints of being innocent and yet punished by the Penguin? We have already spoken about a few of them in the past but there are many others who keep commenting on forums, either outside of Google or in Google Webmaster Help itself.

SEORoundtable's Barry Schwarts writes about one such unfortunate Penguin-hit site owner in his post and feels sorry for them. The list of complaints haven't really stopped coming since the dawn of the Penguin update. But the big question is - WHY IS GOOGLE SILENT?

Yes it is their search engine, yes they have all the rights to change algorithms, but they do also have the responsibility to come back to those hit by it for no reason at all, with valid explanation. This silence may be an indication of something gone seriously wrong with the webspam algorithm. Else, a company like Google cannot be pretending to think everything is alright with their newest algorithmic attack.

Probably you may think that webmasters are over-reacting and they ought to check their link history or site content for anything that would fit into the definition of web spam. I am sure most of them already are in the process of re-assessing the state of things at their site, but there are enough complaints from the most commonest man around the world who is struggling hard to survive in fluctuating economy already to prove that Google is at fault. Besides, it is not like the user experience has been enriched in any manner. There are plenty of forum posts, infographs, and comments to prove that let alone my own news story.

Obviously, writing to Google hasn't helped, nor have the reconsideration form found a productive turn out from the company yet.

What do we do now?

Well I am not here to give you tips or advice, as that would make me seem pretty obvisouly Fake. I am as CLUELESS as you are. But, according to me the following pointers may be of some help to you to detect what's gone wrong with your site's SERPs.

- First of all, Do Not Panic! You are not the only one. If Google is silent, it must be preparing itself with a pretty good explanation or are trying hard to fix the issue.

- Quickly check whether or not Penguin hit you. If you were hit between April 19th to April 24th, it was probably Panda, so that gives you a wider perspective on spotting what went wrong. I mean the content. Panda was all about the content.

- If you were hit by Penguin, unfortunately there is nothing much that can be done, as it was not a human penalty. Just make sure you check the linking profile of your site. There are a few questions that you may ask yourself clearly listed out by WebProNews's Chris Cum and KerCommunications's, well Ker.

- If you have had SEO done on your site, which you probably have, check with the SEO company that worked on your site. They are probably also in the process of checking all the link lists they possess.

- Concentrate more on your existing customers. They are more valuable than any new search customers you might have apparently lost. Also, look for other modes of marketing and do not solely depend on off page SEO something that is rightly illustrated in the latest article by Danny Sullivan of SearchEngineLand.

- Social media marketing is a must. Keep your brand value high on your social media Fanpages like Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Do not show off much about being hit wrongly by the Penguin. Besides, you do not want your clients to know that you are at the verge of a downfall. Best businessmen always work around these situations by maintaining a poker face and keeping others guessing as to what is going on. All you need is more hard work but through smart channels that are trendy and ongoing, like social media again.

- Invest your time on content marketing. It works for us, it will work for you. Post case studies on your blog site and other quality sites as to how you managed to recoup the losses. You have a lot to write about now. You might as well be lucky enough to improve search visibility just like all those sites in the above list. I am sure everyone having access to this list is looking at these sites and the brand is getting to be more famous than it ever was.

- Take it slow, but do not give up.

- Since there is no pattern seen in the list of sites that profited out of the Penguin, there is not much you can learn from there. I seriously feel something is wrong with the update itself. Thank your stars if something like that came true.

Let me know some of your suggestions or experiences.

Category :

Google

Tags :

google penguin tips, google penguin update, penguin update recovery, seo news, google algorithm 2012

About Divya Fernando

I am Divi Fernando and I am an expert SEO author who is also into Business Development at Submitinme.com. I have loads of energy and I disperse it in varied tasks that involve writing, dancing, singing, strumming my guitar, drawing, photography, travel and adventure. I believe that 'You must take pleasure in what you do, or simply don't do it'. I take immense pleasure in my work as well as off-work activities and I'm always open to learn new things in life. My strengths are my positive attitude, confidence, innovative thinking and creativity. I also happen to talk too much about myself at times and never know where to stop. Thank goodness for the limited space, you must think .... more info about the author