Google Penguin and Penalties

Richard Marriott 12 years ago

And so it has begun - Google's unquenchable thirst for Black Hat blood. After years of passive dislike and the quiet devaluing of links the webspam team have decided that enough is enough. And that decision has huge potential ramifications for every business on the web.

On March 23rd Google unleashed the latest iteration of Panda (or the first of Penguin) that was the first battle in a new kind of war, the likes of which we have yet to see. By actively pursuing penalties they went from a strategy of giving great sites a hitch up the rankings to one that sets out to destroy those it deems to have stepped thew wrong side of the invisible line they call their Webmaster Guidelines. Then last month we saw Penguin raise its half-flipper-half-wing in our direction, putting an end to the kind of Black Hat techniques that had been the bane of most white hat SEO's lives the past ten years or more.

The fallout has been significant, as you would expect when people's livelihoods are on the line, and this post is inspired by the dozens of conversations we have since had with desperate business owners hit with penalties.

We are helping as much as we can but the process has made us think deeply about what the ramifications of Penguin really are now, and how it alters the future of digital marketing. Below we have captured two arguments, for and against the changes and have also asked some of the most respected experts in the search marketing business for their own thoughts on what it means.....

An Argument Against the Current Strategy:

The problem is this: 'guidelines' by their very nature are not black and white. And it's a scary thought to think that people's livelihoods - the very homes they raise their families in, are being put at risk by a (potentially) subjective ruling made by a bunch of highly intelligent left brain engineers in California.

The concern is that while Google undoubtedly has perhaps the best brains in the business and a higher density of IQ crammed into the Googleplex's 129619 square metres than perhaps any other space on earth, how much of that is really plugged into the 'real world'? Do they truly understand the real impact their decisions have on real people - and quite often people that are 'caught in the crossfire' as Google hacks off lumps of the web graph in its bid to rid the world of blog networks and 'web spam'?

Then there is the 'collateral damage'. Can Google ever apply an algorithm that fairly penalises? We very much doubt it, which is why they should stick to devaluation on such a subjective subject.

As we write this the search engine is preparing to unleash another round of penalties designed to remove further 'spam' and there is no sign of let up. Where will it end?

An Argument FOR the Current Strategy:

The internet, and Google, is maturing and in doing so must begin abiding by the principles and rules of the tangible world. Google is now a big business with big shareholders and there is pressure from all around to protect revenues from any possible threat - web spam and algorithm tinkering included.

If an algorithm can be written that protects their core search ad business by improving the quality of search results then that ultimately benefits everyone - the business, its shareholders and the very people using Google on a daily basis - it's customers.

Google needs to step its game up in the face of a changing digital landscape and by embracing social and schema and killing anything that steps the 'wrong side' of its line it keeps the company competitive and able to concentrate on adding value right across the web.

Which side do you sit on?

Google's power to reshape the future's of millions of people's lives is one that is sure to be emotive and after speaking to scores of people over the past few weeks we know that to be the case. There is a huge amount of anxiety out there right now - from business owners to SEOs - as there always is with great change, but the key to putting any concerns you have to bed is understanding and that's why we've asked the biggest names in the business to give us their take on the future...

Expert opinions

Rand Fishkin (Founder and CEO SEOMoz)'I'm really excited to see Google finally standing up for the principles and the tactics they say they endorse, while penalizing those they claim to be against. It's Google's engine, their algorithm and their rules, but I've consistently worried about the perception of hypocrisy when bad links prop up bad sites for so long."

"This update wasn't perfect by any means, and in some cases that have been pointed out, the sites that rose were even worse than the sites that fell. However, IMO, it did improve relevancy and quality in a macro-sense, and it's a tangible action to demote those who invest in non white hat tactics. That's something we need more of in the SEO world.'

Bas van den Beld (State of Search Founder)"To be honest, the only reason your job should be depending on Google's algorithm is if you work at Google. Website owners and marketers need to realize that they need to focus on the visitors, not Google. There are many ways of reaching these visitors and if you take the position of those looking for products like the ones you are selling you will be able to understand them and act on that. If you optimize that Google can penalty anything they want, it won't affect your business."

Dr Pete Meyers: (SEOMoz kingpin and President of UserEffect)"I think the days of the internet frontier are over. The online world reflects the offline world, and Google is a $40B business that has to live in a world of investors and big brands. It's tough for a lot of small and mid-sized business, because they have to diversify, in theory, and not trust their survival to Google. I've seen businesses live and day by an algorithm update too often this past year. Moving forward, I think it's critical that business understand their value proposition and diversify around it. SEO is a part of that, but it should be integrated with other channels."

Danny Sullivan: (SearchEngineLand founder)"I think that if it really works to wipe out spam that Google has warned against but which has clearly still worked in some cases, great. Whether it’s doing that in reality remains to be seen. Everyone’s still trying to assess it now."

Michael Gray (Wolf Howl founder)"SEOs are always going to try new tricks and Google will try catch them, some people will always get falsely penalized as collateral damage. It's been that way for years. I don't really see things being that different. Google is just raising the bar and website need to be more awesome and have real media & social data to make the grade."

Link building myths, post Penguin

There are a lot of businesses scrambling around right now in the attempt to debunk link building myths, what is the new secret sauce in the New World as brands look to rebuild from the ashes of the Penguin Apocalypse?

After being reliant for so long on 'easy' tactics that involved blog network and skip fulls of directory links the cold hard reality is biting that the game has changed. For (the) good.

With any seismic change comes confusion and concern and many site owners are desperately hunting for information that may lead them, once again, to the Page One promised land. The problem is not a lack of solutions. In fact it's quite the opposite.

With many experts, rightly, peddling the benefits of content marketing, guest posting, blogger outreach and more in an effort to pacify fearful clients and bosses a new one dimensional approach to link building is appearing and it's not great for business.

In the fog of desperation many are forgetting that great marketing (and link building) requires a multi-faceted approach; one that trials every available medium before crunching the data and pushing more investment behind those channels offering the best ROI.

That 'secret sauce' does, of course, still lie out there, in all that confusion and below we attempt to dispel some of the most commonly held link building myths, post Penguin.

1. 'I used to get 100 links a month so I know want the same.'

There is a fixation, created by the automated link approach of the past, about the monthly reporting of links and a belief that you should be adding XX new links per month.

That might of worked when you were using a network but in the real world it doesn't work like that. If you are guest posting or working on infographic outreach, for example, it can take many weeks for the blogger to either publish or pick up and link to the content. It doesn't matter whether you are link building to a household brand or a start up electronic cigarette retailer, the rules are the same.

Great content earns links OVER TIME. And delivers LONG TERM and sustainable success. Link building should be measured over longer periods and in different ways now.

2. 'Guest posting is easy and is just a link building tactic'

Again this is related to the artificial environment most site owners are used to operating in and it can kill their belief in the value of such approaches before they've given it a chance.

Guest posting is about creating relationships for the years ahead. It might be about a link but its also about forging a bond with a key influencer in your space so you can do lots of stuff together. That means it's hard and takes time.

Effort up front means rewards will be reaped for years to come. And those rewards are not just links. Big blogs can really produce great referral traffic and reduce reliance on Google traffic. Which is no bad thing.

3. 'I don't want any other links other than article links'

This is the noble early adopter 'I've bought into content marketing, so let's go' approach and while its great to have it there should still be an understanding that a natural link profile has a lot more than lots of blog post links. Diversification wins every time.

4. 'I don't need to worry about the links I've got, I'll just dilute them.'

It's an approach we have had to counter several times now as some forums suggest that simply diluting a spammy backlink profile will save the day. No. Stop it. Pouring more petrol on a forecourt fire does not douse the flames. Instead take time to understand your link profile, where you're hurting and why and do something about it; by removing the bad and earning new, high quality and relevant good links.

5. 'I don't need link building any more. I'll just write amazing content and they'll come.'

At the other end of the spectrum is the new 'build it and they'll come' mentality. It takes a lot of hard work and relationship building to stand out in amongst the noise of the internet and you can be sure that 100 other people have attempted to write about the same topics. The key is reach. And reach is earned by rolling your sleeves up and earning the trust and respect of your fellow experts.

6. 'Infographics and content marketing is too expensive for us. I can buy 10 PR4 links for £100.'

The past has to be forgotten. The only way to create a sustainable business now is to do the kind of things we've already mentioned. Work hard creating amazing content, relationships and ways of sharing that work and the rest will follow.

Great content takes a lot of time and is resource intensive but its because of this that you can create a barrier to entry with it. Do enough and your competitors will never be able to catch up.

7. 'Long term is no good for me. What I need is links and results now.'

It's true, we do all need to see results. Society has made us that way. And it's for this reason that a great link building and content strategy created at the start of the process can help all parties buy into the 'plan' and know where it's going with a shared sense of confidence.

Often a little education and some collective work is all that is needed to create the roadmap and total buy in.

This is by no means an exhaustive list but it goes some way to sharing some of the concerns and opinions of the link building myths that have been prevalent since the all important update. Perhaps you have some of your own to share?

 

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