By rolling out the new Google Penguin Update 4.0, Google has made itself very clear that link penalties would be more vigorous now. However, a major tweak in its nature was seen when Google announced that “Penguin is real time now.” Unlike the previous versions of Penguin like Penguin 3.0 and all past versions, the new Penguin would not wait for an update to get refreshed. The penguin 4.0 would now refresh in real time and without any notification like every part of Google’s core algorithm. To know more about the notification from Google, you can have a look at my previous researches this week.
How would the penalties go on from now?
Granularity:Granular approach, as suggested by Google’s blog post says that spamming will be more devalued now. The new Penguin 4.0 is competent to catch the spamming signals and penalize the pages accordingly.
Punishing the particular link instead of the whole site-
If a page is found violate the game rules, the penalties would be imposed on the page itself rather than punishing the whole site for it.
Spamming signals would be checked in all sections, not just the pages-
The spamming signals will be now searched in every part of the site, including the pages, images, tags, links, back links, folders, directories, etc. The page level focus of Penguin 4.0 update would make sure that granularity is maintained in the core algorithm.
Localized spammy links would also be in focus-
The new Penguin 4.0 update would focus on spammy links and rogue players in localized links. The localized links would be accumulated to verify the game rules.
How would strategies for Penguin proof SEO go now?
Link building for website pages-
You should start link building for your inner website pages. The more you focus on link building them with relevant backlinks, the more visibility you would get in SERPs.
Local SEO is more important now-
Localized spammy links are more in focus now. Make your local searches more and more relevant and useful to the users. Target the local users as much as possible.
Off page, SEO would be helpful-
On page SEO is more important, but neglecting the off page SEO would not be a great idea in this case. The off page practices in combination to Penguin 4.0 friendly practices would help a lot. Off page, strategies should be adopted considering the needs and requirements of Google Hummingbird.
It not only Penguin 4.0, but there are also total 200 more signals –
It is not only Penguin that affects your ranking on Google SERPs. Remember, Penguin 4.0 is a part pf Core algorithm now, so the Google’s core algorithm is more resourceful than ever. Google uses a total of 200 signals to judge the pages and links; Penguin is just one of them. So, do not overlook other signals in the presence of a Penguin proof strategy.
Do not buy links, rely on organic traffic-
Rouge links are always the prime focus of any Penguin update that has come so far. Try to build more relevant links by social sharing, blog posting, forum participation, testimonials, interviews, etc. In short, make your off-page presence fruitful.
Some key facts about Google’s Penguin-
- It was first rolled out in 2012 to fight against web spam.
- It penalized several websites with spammy links.
- The penalties were imposed by wiping the rouge links from Google’s SERPs.
- It used to penalize the whole site if caught in foul play. (but now the rules are changed)
- Websites penalized by a Penguin update would only get refreshed by the next Penguin update.
Get notified about my updated research on Penguin 4.0 Update and learn:
- Google Penguin 4.0 is live with real-time core algorithm
- What the “real-time” aspect of Google Penguin 4.0 means for your business?
- How the “Big Plan of Google” finally comes together in 2016 with Penguin 4.0?
- What new risks and threats to your business the Google Penguin 4.0 update brings?
- How can you best adapt with the new Google Penguin 4.0 update?
