Having just written the note below for a client, I thought it worth sharing for all. Far too much chatter going on right now within the SEO industry about what’s happened and what may happen after the latest Penguin update. What the Buddha said applies to Google as much as life…’Everything changes.’ Once that is accepted as a given, whatever is happening now – in this case, ‘the end of SEO’ according to some pundits – seems just another passing show. So sit back and enjoy the ride, we’ve got you covered…
(1) Google has released a new algorithm update, nicknamed Penguin within the SEO world. This has wreaked absolute havoc within the industry, to a greater degree even than Panda of last year, and literally ruined many businesses over night. What’s interesting from our perspective is that truly awful sites are now ranking highly in many big niches, whereas established brands with great content and link profiles are finding themselves punished. Similarly, there appears to be very little logic to what Google has done, which marks this quite distinctly from previous updates. Panda, for example, made a lot of sense and appeared to be the result of an intelligent evolution of their ranking system. This is not the case just now and some pundits believe they have very purposefully done something to damage the SEO industry, and throw people back into Pay Per Click. Remember, Google is an ad platform first and foremost and their income comes from advertisers. So the more they can discredit and discourage the SEO industry the better things will be for their turnover.
(2) Unnatural Link Penalties – All of our clients, and most of our colleagues in the industry, have received these. Google has sent out tens of thousands of them, often to sites undeserving. Please ignore the warning, and try not to panic. This current furore will pass. Getting in touch with Google for a reconsideration, or indeed changing up your link velocity and pattern, is a key way to show Google what you’re doing, and in fact to confirm any possible signs of unnatural linking. Carry on as usual, keep building great original content, and engaging with your user base. The dust will settle.
(3) Our Link Building Methodology – The key to successful link building remains now, as it has always been, diversity. These means diversity of link types, diversity of coding platform, diversity of anchor text, diversity of Class C Ip.
In conclusion, rest assured that we as an agency take your business and your rankings very seriously indeed. Please keep the faith that we are working hard to ensure your success and, as an agency, to roll with whatever punches Google sends our way and recover as quickly as possible when necessary. SEO is not a fixed entity but a continually changing knowledgebase and set of best practices. Fluctuation is inevitable and indeed part of the process.
PS, if you’re ready for one hell of a laugh to take your mind off things, check this out:
