The Penguin update that went live over a month ago has brought about changes to SEO that have been coming for some time.
This change in Google’s algorithm is aimed at channelling out the black-hat techniques such as keyword stuffing, article spinning and duplicate content and instead rewards sites that have quality content and credible backlinks.
Many people within the industry have seen their rankings drop quite significantly and it’s because they have invested their energy into a link building campaign which has given them nothing but spammy links that do nothing for a site in the long run.
The future of SEO requires marketers to get innovative and invest in a long term strategy; below we have listed some tips to help not only change your strategy but your philosophy on SEO.
Link Your Inner Pages
It’s an obsession amongst some people within the industry to link purely to your homepage as they believe it is the most important page of your site.
This is true but Penguin is a clever beast and is penalising sites that link to their homepage constantly, so we advise you to start linking to your internal pages and your blog.
Socialise
Socialising is more important than ever. The web has never been a more social experience with Facebook, Twitter and blogging sites such as Tumblr all changing the way we socialise online.
Sharing your content amongst your social pages should be a reflex, don’t be annoying and over-promote but whenever you feel there is relevant content to post make it a certainty.
Vary Your Anchor Links
In the past many people have built Anchor links using one keyword they really want to optimise and up until the Penguin update this was often effective.
Penguin is the most sophisticated update we have ever seen and is now punishing people who aren’t varying their Anchor Links.
It does make sense – what’s the possibility that all websites linking to you would use the same keyword? It wouldn’t happen organically and that’s why it’s been punished.
Quality over Quantity
Every blog or article we read is keen to point out that we all need to be producing quality over quantity.
Gone are the days of submitting 50 low quality spintax articles to directories. Google demands quality content and if you don’t produce it there’s a good chance you will take a severe hit.
Produce content that people want to share
If your site is seeing high bounce rates it’s probably because visitors are experiencing a bad user experience and the reason is because they’re incredibly bored with your content!
You want people to connect with you but if the quality isn’t there they will avoid you like the plague. Put money and effort into setting a high standard and don’t outsource to a cheap copywriter offering a cheap deal as you’re not going to get the standard that will encourage people to share.
This Post-Penguin age has inevitably hit the SEO industry hard but we believe exciting times lie ahead! Google is giving us the opportunity to gain credibility and build online marketing strategies that benefit all parties involved in the process.
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