After Google confirmed that it has released its latest algorithm update, Penguin 4.0 on the 23rd September 2016, a lot of websites have been severely penalized. In fact, Google first launched Penguin 3.0 in the month of October in 2014 and it has been nearly two years since its last update. A number of websites have gone bust waiting since then. That’s precisely why it has become crucial for websites that their audit their links every month as sites tend to get toxic. Further, it becomes necessary for websites to have an updated disavow tools. Read on to find out more about Penguin and its impact on websites.
What is a Google Penguin Update?
Google’s Penguin update has been designed to fight against spam linking strategies and further keep a track of the quality of the links that are linked by different websites. The Penguin update was first rolled out in the month of April in 2012 and caused massive debates on the web. Websites that were not following the norms and rules laid down by Google were penalized and were not visible on the search engine’s result pages. Since then, Google has been announcing updates to Penguin on a regular basis and each time it has been updated, major changes are visible on the search results. Needless to mention, the Penguin update brings about positive changes for sites that are marketing in the appropriate manner and impacts the ones that are following improper marketing techniques and methods.
What Makes Penguin 4.0 different?
Penguin 4.0 updates algorithm in real time. What this basically implies is that Penguin will always continue to update the algorithm without pausing. Thus, digital marketers and black hat marketers who tend to rely on spam tactics will never be able to return to the digital marketing space. Google’s Penguin 4.0 will not only identify spam links quickly but will also ensure that the websites that are not following rules do not rank higher on the search result pages. The websites that have been impacted by the latest algorithm update were also refreshed on a periodic basis. As a result, any changes on the search result pages shall be visible quickly. Typically, they will come into effect immediately after reindexing and recrawling of a page. In addition to this, Penguin 4.0 is also much more granular than before. As a result the latest update now devalues spam by simply adjusting ranking of a site on the basis of spam signals, instead of impacting the ranking of the entire site. As far as Penguin’s real time update feature is concerned, every time Google will index the pages it would recalculate all the spam signals.
What if your site was affected by Penguin 4.0?
Website owners that were affected by Google’s Penguin 3.0 update and haven’t witnessed any (minor or major) recovery yet may be still under the impact of Penguin 4.0. Thus, it is important for site owners to check their analytics and determine whether they have recovered fully or partially or not. Website owners also need to check whether specific areas or pages have been impacted by Penguin. Site owners can further utilize disavow file on the links they assume are penalized.
Also, since Penguin 4.0 will remain active all the time, any site or link that has been penalized by it can also expect to witness changes or recovery from penalty very quickly. Site owners can therefore prepare or make relevant changes to their website before Penguin 4.0 is released on full scale. In order to do the same, sit owners need to disavow spammed links that are pointing towards their site. They can use the “Links to Your Site” tool to located Google Search Console and further monitor the backlinks to their site. Thus, every time site owners come across spammy links from other sites, they can easily disavow them to protect their sites.
If you find some from foreign websites that look sketchy, chances are you can disavow them for extra protection. Be sure to check each link individually and attempt to reach the domain’s webmaster to remove the links before disavowing them.
Apart from this, website owners also need to optimize their internal linking profile. They need to describe to Google what their website pages indicate and are all about. Site owners can use diverse anchor text over keywords that match exactly. Additionally, site owners must also keep a track of Google Analytics as well as Google Search Console for any drops in the rate of their organic traffic as well as overall performance. In case, they notice a very unexpected and fast drop, it is a clear indication that Google’s Penguin has detected a problem and hence levied a penalty on the site.
With Penguin going real-time, the algorithm will now likely get a lot closer to fulfilling its ultimate goal: catch spam link profiles as quickly as possible and keep low-quality sites from ranking well in the search results. It is important that you remain ahead of Penguin 4.0 and constantly search for ways to audit the links as well as perform regular cleanups to keep your site in accordance with Google’s requirements and parameters.
Here at Discount Domains we can help you in updating and maintaining your site on a regular basis. We use advanced and effective tools to ensure that your site ranks higher on Google. We’ll help you in understanding your link profiles and compare them with the competitions’ website. In addition to this, we can also assist you in eliminating or disavowing the incorrect links as and when they keep appearing. Our team will also monitor the backlink profiles regularly and alert you every time they spot unnatural fraud links on your site.
In a nutshell, we’ll optimize your site for all algorithm updates and further aid you in establishing a very strong online reputation and presence. Our SEO experts will first analyze and examine your site and later adopt necessary measures to redesign your site for Google Penguin 4.0 and other related updates.