Google Penguin 2.0

So, after 10 days of anticipation and preparation, Google’s Penguin 2.0 has arrived today, 23rd May.

Whilst some people working in digital marketing may be on the brink of a nervous breakdown, the fact is that it really isn’t something to cause mass hysteria. However, it is important to understand what Penguin 2.0 is and its possible implications, both positive and negative, on a website.

What is It?:

Google Penguin is an algorithmic update that aims to reduce the amount of websites ranking highly in search engine results pages (SERPs) that incorporate black hat SEO techniques.

After its initial launch in April 2012, Penguin has been updated a further two times. Today’s update, Penguin 2.0 (also referred to as Penguin 4# by some), is the most comprehensive one yet.

What does Penguin Looking for?

Penguin doesn’t like:

Unnatural link profiles

Through Penguin, Google tries to penalise web spam. This is because sites with unnatural link profiles are deliberately trying to trick the search engine into ranking it higher than it should do.

How will webmasters know their sites have been affected?:

As Penguin is algorithmic and not a manual penalty, there will be no message in Webmasters Tools like there was with the ‘Unnatural Links’ message some sites out there received, for example.

Positive Penguin Update: 

An improvement in rankings for some, or all, of their targeted keywords

A noticeable  increase in organic site traffic coming via Google

Those sites with high quality content which attracts natural links are those that Penguin aims to reward.

Negative Pengeuin Update:

A noticeable drop in organic site traffic coming from Google

Keyword ranking drops for target search terms