When people talk about "the
Penguin Update" from Google, they're not talking about the book publisher
or the adorable, flightless bird. It's a code for the latest algorithm update
that the search engine is putting in place to help level the playing field when
it comes to different websites all getting a deserved and more equal piece of
the traffic pie.
What's Its Purpose?
For a long time search engine optimization, or SEO, has been the primary way for a website to draw traffic and page views. SEO is the use of keywords and proper keyword density, along with the choice of subject and even using contextual link building and other link building services to build up a website's Internet presence. In the past any webpage that did all of these things, and which manipulated the numbers accordingly, would jump to the first page of search results, if not to the number one spot. The Penguin Update's purpose is to try and give less weight to who's using what keywords, and to try and reward good content above all other concerns.
Why The Change?
Google feels that there are a lot of webpages that are more concerned with numerically meeting the alogorithm. The result is that, while these websites get picked up and ranked highly by the search engine, they simply aren't as fun, interesting or deserving of attention as many other websites with better content but who may lack contextual link building or other services that a site needs in order to reach the top by these standards. So, in order to give a better chance to pages that don't have the time, budget or inclination to get involved in the numbers game when tweaking their content, Google created the Penguin Update.
How Does it Work?
Google is not throwing search engine optimization out the window completely; as a method of page selection it does work. However, the standards for how over-optimized a page or piece of content can be are changing. What would have been a very high ranking page due to keyword choice and density, as well as the sheer number of backlinks, before the Penguin Update will likely now be considered spam. The result is that pages which are trying to hard will end up having to cut back on the rigid amount of optimization they've undergone.
While details are still coming out, the update will send a lot of websites and webpage owners scrambling to try and comply with the new standard. This isn't exactly a new state of affairs for those who make their living off of Google, or at least who earn their keep based on Google search results. Every time Google changes the rules, webmasters have to try and create new content that ascribes to the new doctrine and to bring older parts of their websites in line with the new way of thinking. Otherwise the hit taken in page views becomes permanent, assuming that the websites aren't ignored completely because they're now considered spam. It looks pretty dark, but that's mostly because it isn't taking into consideration just how often this sort of thing actually happens in the world of search engine optimization.
What's Its Purpose?
For a long time search engine optimization, or SEO, has been the primary way for a website to draw traffic and page views. SEO is the use of keywords and proper keyword density, along with the choice of subject and even using contextual link building and other link building services to build up a website's Internet presence. In the past any webpage that did all of these things, and which manipulated the numbers accordingly, would jump to the first page of search results, if not to the number one spot. The Penguin Update's purpose is to try and give less weight to who's using what keywords, and to try and reward good content above all other concerns.
Why The Change?
Google feels that there are a lot of webpages that are more concerned with numerically meeting the alogorithm. The result is that, while these websites get picked up and ranked highly by the search engine, they simply aren't as fun, interesting or deserving of attention as many other websites with better content but who may lack contextual link building or other services that a site needs in order to reach the top by these standards. So, in order to give a better chance to pages that don't have the time, budget or inclination to get involved in the numbers game when tweaking their content, Google created the Penguin Update.
How Does it Work?
Google is not throwing search engine optimization out the window completely; as a method of page selection it does work. However, the standards for how over-optimized a page or piece of content can be are changing. What would have been a very high ranking page due to keyword choice and density, as well as the sheer number of backlinks, before the Penguin Update will likely now be considered spam. The result is that pages which are trying to hard will end up having to cut back on the rigid amount of optimization they've undergone.
While details are still coming out, the update will send a lot of websites and webpage owners scrambling to try and comply with the new standard. This isn't exactly a new state of affairs for those who make their living off of Google, or at least who earn their keep based on Google search results. Every time Google changes the rules, webmasters have to try and create new content that ascribes to the new doctrine and to bring older parts of their websites in line with the new way of thinking. Otherwise the hit taken in page views becomes permanent, assuming that the websites aren't ignored completely because they're now considered spam. It looks pretty dark, but that's mostly because it isn't taking into consideration just how often this sort of thing actually happens in the world of search engine optimization.
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