POV by Winston Burton (Media Contacts SEO Director) about the algorithm update Google released on April 24th, 2012 named the Penguin update.

1. Number
1
|
June
2012
Google
Penguin
POV
By
Winston
Burton
(SEO
Director)
Penguin
Update
Overview
In
a
continous
effort
to
reduce
webspam
and
promote
high
quality
content
in
the
Search
Engine
Result
Pages,
Google
released
an
algorithm
update
on
April
24th,
2012
named
the
Penguin
update.
The
Penguin
update
was
launched
to
target
sites
that
are
over
optimized
for
organic
search
and
level
the
playing
field
for
the
rest
of
the
web.
Over
optimized
sites
are
defined
as
sites
that
employ
the
following
spam
tactics:
• High
Keyword
Densities
• Keyword
Stuffing
• Similar
Anchor
Text
and
Duplicate
Content
• Utilize
Paid
Links
to
Manipulate
Search
Engine
Rankings
• Overuse
of
Keywords
Throughout
the
Site
• Too
Many
Redirects
• Contain
Hidden
Text
or
Links
• Participate
in
Link
schemes
and
Cloaking
Keyword
Stuffing
Example
Link
Spam
Example
Source:
Google
For further information about this Focus Insight, please contact winston.burton@mediacontacts.com

2. Number
1
|
June
2012
Impact
Inline
with
Google’s
mission
of
delivering
the
most
relevant
results
in
the
Search
Engine
Result
Pages
and
rewarding
sites
that
have
quality
and
relevant
content,
Google
has
reduced
rankings
for
sites
that
are
considered
to
be
over
optimized
for
organic
search
and
using
spam
techniques
to
manipulate
Search
Engine
Rankings.
In
a
recent
poll
conducted
by
Barry
Schwartz
at
Search
Engine
Roundtable,
nearly
65%
of
people
who
responded
to
his
poll
stated
that
they
were
negatively
impacted
by
the
Penguin
update
and
have
experienced
a
detrimental
decrease
in
organic
traffic
and
rankings.
Media
Contacts
Response
Media
Contacts
is
a
100%
ethical
company
and
does
not
utilize
any
spam
techniques
that
would
be
considered
to
be
over
optimizing
any
of
our
client’s
websites.
Our
interactive
agency
continues
to
build
out
unique
and
relevant
content
for
our
clients,
acheive
links
naturally
and
follow
Google
Webmaster
Guidelines
on
all
our
SEO
campaigns.
For
sites
that
have
been
affected
by
the
Penguin
updated,
Media
Contacts
recommends
the
following:
• Review
your
site
analytics
from
April
24th
and
see
if
there
is
a
decline
in
organic
traffic
since
the
update
went
live.
• Review
Google
Webmaster
Tools
to
see
if
Google
has
previously
sent
you
any
messages
about
any
questionable
links
or
other
spam
techniques.
• Conduct
a
site
audit
to
make
sure
your
site
follows
Google’s
Webmaster
Guidelines.
• If
you
discover
that
your
site
does
not
fully
comply
with
Google’s
Webmaster
Guidelines,
deoptimize
it
and
wait
for
Google
to
recrawl
your
site.
• Submit
a
spam
report
to
Google
if
you
think
your
site
was
wrongfully
penalized
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/spamreport?hl=en
Resources:
http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35769#3
http://www.seroundtable.com/google-­‐over-­‐seo-­‐checklist-­‐15030.html
http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35843
http://searchengineland.com/penguin-­‐update-­‐recovery-­‐tips-­‐advice-­‐119650
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/spamreport?hl=en
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/another-­‐step-­‐to-­‐reward-­‐high-­‐quality.html
For further information about this Focus Insight, please contact winston.burton@mediacontacts.com