The Penguin update was a significant change introduced by Google to the algorithm that it uses to produce relevant, substantive search results for Google users.
If you have been affected by this penalty, please contact us today for a FREE assessment!As you would imagine Google's search algorithms are extremely complex. In addition to their use in prompting the search engine to find the most significant results possible, updates, such as the Penguin, also help the algorithm filter-out and punish domains that violate Google Quality Guidelines; in this case the punishment being the Google Penguin Penalty. This "filter" trolls the internet looking for websites that meet one main characteristic: Spammy-Low Quality Keyword Rich Backlinks. If you have repeated keywords in your back-link profile, you will most likely be affected by this algorithm/filter. This is unlike the Panda filter because you are directly affected by the links that point to you, mainly based on anchor text percentages.
Google introduced the Penguin update in order to isolate and penalize websites that have poor quality backlink profiles. This includes domains with links that have excessive keyword rich anchor text, over-optimization for a single term and any practice seen as trying to manipulate search results by using link building schemes.
The Penguin update, like other Google algorithm updates, is run at random so your website is always at risk of being hit by an algorithm penalty. It is also important to note that Google fine-tunes the search criteria in algorithm updates like the Penguin all the time, and then re-runs the updated version through the search engine. Unlike a manual Google penalty, where you will find a penalty notice in your Google Webmaster, you won't know your website has been hit with an algorithm penalty until you can't find it in the search results when searching for your top keywords .
The long-term impact of Google's algorithm updates can be devastating to your domain and costly to your business so do not be fooled by the cute creatures that symbolize them: Panda, Penguin, Hummingbird. They aren't cute and they can spell doom for your website.
Don't forget, if you have been affected by this penalty, please contact us today for a FREE assessment!