Just a few months ago, Google rolled out the much anticipated penguin refresh dubbed as
‘penguin 3.0’. From the past two years, Google’s penguin algorithms has refined
search engine results by targeting websites that infringe Google’s webmasters
guidelines and that use back-hat SEO techniques or paid links or other
strategies. The new version of penguin algorithm follows its predecessors by
weeding out these results.
Penguin 3.0-
What is it?
The new
penguin 3.0 will be a complete rewrite of algorithm instead of just being a
refresh. The main aim of penguin 3.0 is to cut down spammy links and enhances
search engine results by penalizing sites that have built manipulative links
solely for the purpose of boosting rankings. For instance, if you have been
using automated programs to build thousands of back links to your sites in
order to achieve highest page ranking, then chances are good that you are now buried
deep in the search engine results. On the other hand, webmasters who are
abiding by Google webmaster’s guidelines and doing everything in the right way
can get their site listed on the top, thanks to the new penguin update.
According to
Google, Penguin’s latest iteration frees up all sites that have cleaned up
webspam signals and fixed previous errors and demotes sites with newly
discovered penalty-infringing aspects.
The update
as said prompts most webmasters to scramble and verify that their sites are not
violating any of Google’s guidelines. Infact, it obviously affects lot of
search queries and spammers, poor link builders and people who are trying to
trick Google with some smart techniques. Penguin refresh affects less than one
percent of queries in search engine results based on US English.
How to find
out whether your site is affected by Penguin 3.0?
Google
analytics
Analyzing
your website’s data is one of the best options to find out whether your site is
affected. Track your website data, including visits and channels that drive
traffic. If you notice a sharp decline in the number of visits to your site,
you may have been hit by latest penguin update. And, if your search results
remains constant but there is a sudden drop in your social referrals, you may not
be hit by penguin 3.0. You can’t decide on by analyzing a single day’s or
week’s data, instead, you need to evaluate trends to decide on.
Webmaster
Tools
Webmaster
Tools is a great way to check for penguin’s attack on your site. Using this,
you can access a lot of data including search queries, click-through rates,
impressions and so on. If you notice a sudden drop either in the number of
impressions or average search position, then it is a good sign to note that
your site has been affected by latest penguin update.
How to avoid
being detrimentally impacted by Penguin 3.0?
According to
previous releases, it’s worth to confiscate the following from any page of your
website:
Link schemes
involving paid links or link swaps
Using
automation to create links
Text ads
passing page rank
Poor quality
backlinks
Low-quality
directory or bookmark site links
Optimized
anchor text in articles or press releases
Widely
distributed links in the footers or templates of various sites
Sources
stated that penguin’s new iteration will affect 0.3% to 3.1% of websites that
are indexed on Google.
However, this
new latest update rewards sites that have natural, authoritative, relevant and valuable
links. If your site has viable links and quality content, your chances of
getting hit by Penguin 3.0 are less.
Google
anticipates that Penguin 3.0 can churn out the most accurate and guideline-abiding
search results. As long as your website is abided by Google’s guidelines,
Penguin 3.0 is boom for you.
