Presenting with Marie Haynes on SEO Links at Engage Portland March 2018. This is my presentation on the history of links, Google, and SEO as well as a look at where we are going.
16. #EngagePDX @schachin Kristine Schachinger
Penguin was not just a link spam algorithm it
was an “over optimization” devaluation
based on the Webmaster Guidelines!
Algorithms - Penguin
17. #EngagePDX @schachin Kristine Schachinger
Penguin was about webspam, but it was
especially devastating for links.
Algorithms - Penguin
26. #EngagePDX @schachin Kristine Schachinger
Penguin
- Google Penguin 1.1: March 26 2012
- Google Penguin 1.2 October 5, 2012
- Google Penguin 2.0 May 22, 2013
- Google Penguin 2.1: October 4, 2013
- Google Penguin 3.0: October 17, 2014
- Google Penguin 4.0: September 23, 2016
27. #EngagePDX @schachin Kristine Schachinger
Algorithms - Penguin
- Google Penguin 1.1: March 26 2012
- Google Penguin 1.2 October 5, 2012
5 MONTHS BETWEEN UPDATES
- Google Penguin 2.0 May 22, 2013
6 MONTHS BETWEEN UPDATES
- Google Penguin 2.1: October 4, 2013
1 YEAR BETWEEN UPDATES
- Google Penguin 3.0: October 17, 2014
2 YEARS BETWEEN UPDATES
- Google Penguin 4.0: September 23, 2016
31. #EngagePDX @schachin Kristine Schachinger
Penguin 4.0 (Real-time)
Rollout: Approximately September 23, 2016 It also rolled out in several phases
completing these rollouts the second week of October.
Penguin
32. #EngagePDX @schachin Kristine Schachinger
Penguin 4.0 (Real-time)
New version of Penguin was very different from the old in there is not a focus
on whole site website demotion, more granular links devaluation.
In addition the links are being evaluated in “real time” and so changes to link
profiles will be assessed quickly.
Penguin
35. #EngagePDX @schachin Kristine Schachinger
Focus NOW: Mostly links (but also other Web Spam Factors).
Sites are no longer demoted in search, links from source sites are devalued.
Links are devalued?
This means their value (passed Page Rank) to the site is removed from the site’s scoring.
In the past, the entire site was demoted in the SERPs.
This is no longer the case most of the time.
Penguin
36. #EngagePDX @schachin Kristine Schachinger
Devaluations are much more granular
• Query Set
• Page Level
• Section Level
• NOT TYPICALLY Site Level
This makes them harder to detect as their will be a slower decline in
smaller sections of the site, rather than a distinct fall-off cliff as in
previous rollouts. Also “real-time” application.
Penguin
37. #EngagePDX @schachin Kristine Schachinger
If you have not recovered from fixes to a Penguin update,
make sure you have also “acquired” replacement links.
Without replacing the lost link values the site could be free
of Penguin, but appear to be still demoted.
Penguin
39. #EngagePDX @schachin Kristine Schachinger
Off-Site Devaluations
Devaluations can affect you if they hit other sites. If the sites that
link to you have their links devalued, then that link juice cannot be
passed.
Penguin
40. #EngagePDX @schachin Kristine Schachinger
Link Free for All?
Manual Actions have taken over for Penguin
Devaluations, but they experiment on those thresholds.
Penguin
41. #EngagePDX @schachin Kristine Schachinger
Penguin
According to Google.
No machine learning in
Penguin, no AI.
https://twitter.com/methode/status/785621866035548160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsearchengineland.com%2Fa-penguins-tale-260981
46. #EngagePDX @schachin Kristine Schachinger
Algorithms – Mobile First
Reference: CindyCrum https://moz.com/blog/mobile-first-indexing-seo
47. #EngagePDX @schachin Kristine Schachinger
Algorithms – Mobile First
Reference: CindyCrum https://moz.com/blog/mobile-first-indexing-seo
48. #EngagePDX @schachin Kristine Schachinger
Link profiles values will be taken from your
mobile and desktop sites, not just mobile.
Algorithms – Mobile First
49. #EngagePDX @schachin Kristine Schachinger
If you have an m. it will be very important to
make sure you have your rel=”alternative” /
rel=“canonical” tags set up properly.
Algorithms – Mobile First
54. #EngagePDX @schachin Kristine Schachinger
Why ? Examples.
• Letting Google know you don’t want certain links that
are pointed at your site to count
• Negative SEO attacks
• Links you know will get devalued later
• Bad link practices you are cleaning up BEFORE you get
a manual action
Disavow
55. #EngagePDX @schachin Kristine Schachinger
Preventing Manual Actions.
When you submit a disavow the links get internally labeled as
such.
If you get flagged for a manual action and you have Penguin
labeled links that match the disavow, the reviewer knows to
ignore them.
Disavow
56. #EngagePDX @schachin Kristine Schachinger
TIP. Remember Google looks at the portion of good links
compared to the portion of bad links.
So having bad links is normal.
Having 60%+ bad links is not.
Disavow
67. #EngagePDX @schachin Kristine Schachinger
When is a link not a link?
When it is a citation and/or mention.
Citations & mentions can carry “link” value.
Ranking Without Links
68. #EngagePDX @schachin Kristine Schachinger
Ranking Without Links
https://searchengineland.com/gary-illyes-ask-anything-smx-east-285706
69. #EngagePDX @schachin Kristine Schachinger
Google is like a human.
If you want a human to remember you, you strategize to
get exposure so they see your name.
Google reacts to brand mentions similarly. It also can
create new keywords/queries for the site.
Ranking Without Links
70. #EngagePDX @schachin Kristine Schachinger
Ranking Without Links
https://www.stonetemple.com/does-google-use-online-brand-mentions-for-search-ranking-eric-enge-with-gary-illyes-at-pubcon-2017/
72. #EngagePDX @schachin Kristine Schachinger
Where Google discusses unlinked mentions as ”links”.
- Panda Patent
- Google Quality Raters Guide (in reputation)
And Bing
Duane Forester formerly of Bing mentioned the search engine
has been using it for some time along with brand sentiment.
Ranking Without Links