How To Recover From Google Penguin Update Penalty?

Like the previous updates from Google, such as the Panda, the latest Penguin update has left much destruction in its wake. And since there's been just a few days since this update was released, people are all eyes and ears on this topic. Indeed, these algorithm updates from Google have become sort of like tsunamis for webmasters, which leave the ones close to the edge, devastated. Google Penguin was no exception. Although it wasn't the same magnitude as the Panda, it still caused widespread damage, and effected around 3% of websites.

It is worth mentioning that this time, the update benefited more people than before. But that may be because bloggers were expecting something worse than Panda, so the Penguin came as no surprise. For such people who benefited from the update, well and good. Congratulations :). For the rest, however, you need to work hard from now and learn something from history. Earlier, I shared tips on how to recover from the Panda update. Well now, it's time to talk about some recovery Tips from the latest Google Penguin update.

Penguin and Panda Series

Part1: Google Penguin and Google Panda Penalty - What's that?

Part2: Top 10 SEO Strategies To Protect your blog Against Google Panda Update

Part3: How To Recover From Google Penguin Penalty?

Part4: When will the next Google Penguin Update Take Place?

Part5: How to identify SEO Over Optimized blog or website?

Part6: What is the ideal Word Count limit for an optimized Blog Post?

How's Penguin different from Panda?

Google Penguin and Google Panda basically work on the same concept. The idea is to bring up quality content on SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) rather than content that has good SEO. So Penguin can be considered as the update over Panda.

But if we really dive deep into it, we can see a slight difference. While the Panda focuses on the uniqueness of the content and eliminates low quality or copied content, Penguin is working on removing webspam, and removing sites that use 'black hat' SEO techniques, such as cloaking, keyword stuffing, hidden texts, etc. Unethical tricks, in other words.

One thing I'd like to say is, if you got hit by Panda, it's not that big a deal, since many and more websites were effected by it as well. I mean, sure the update hit your traffic and your earnings. But at least you know where you went wrong. You can repair the damage done by by applying these simple Google Panda tips.

If you got hit by Penguin, then you are in more of a trouble. It means Google doesn't like your site! And it's that serious. You seriously need to think over some things, because chances are, you are spamming or tricking users in some way even you might not realize. Don't worry though. It is still reparable. It will take some careful analysis, and lots of hard work though.

If you got hit by both Panda and Penguin, then you might want to pay special attention here. Now's your chance to learn your lessons. First, read our tips on recovering from Panda, and then come back to this post. Of course, some of the tips are going to be same. But hopefully, after applying them, you will be prepared for whatever beast Google has in store for us next.

How to recover from Google Penguin

Google Penguin was officially launched on 24th April 2012. So if your traffic has dropped after that date, then you are hit by Penguin. Otherwise, it could be a Panda refresh. Either way, the following tips will help you get through the mess and also prepare yourself for the next updates.

Start using Google Webmaster Tools

If you aren't already doing so, then get going! Google Webmaster Tool is great. It gives you all sorts of guidance related to your website. It has tools that help you do proper SEO for your website. It can help remove sitemap errors. You also get messages from Google informing you about any mistake you have made. They will tell you when you're spamming, And you'll get to know if there's some negative SEO associated with your website, for example when someone points spam and cheap backlinks to your website just to harm you. This could be a real problem, so go and get yourself signed up!

Make your content user-friendly

Now this is Google's main point of focus. It's all about quality now, and the user experience. There are quite a few things I want to say here. Some people asked me to look at their websites and see why they got hit. And in them, I noticed quite a few things.

Firstly, the site navigation wasn't clear. Buttons weren't clearly visible, layout was unusual, and it was all confusing. Obviously, these things don't fare well with the readers.

Secondly, and most importantly, there were simply too many ads! I understand people are eager to make money off their blogs. But that doesn't mean you have to clutter your content with ads. In fact, this is something Google dislikes in particular. Too high an ad to content ratio, and you're staring trouble in the face!

Then, there was the post layout. It is always recommended that you use a nice long intro paragraph, with just one intro image for each post. And use a read more page-break after the intro paragraph so that maximum number of posts can be displayed on your home page.

Needless to say, you need to look at your website from a critical reader's point of view, and you'll automatically see things that could be the cause of a high bounce rate. Google doesn't like a high bounce rate.

Keyword stuffing

Look at your content again, and if you are doing this, whether consciously or sub-consciously, stop immediately! A high keyword density, or too many keywords in a paragraph or post, is a call to search engines saying "Check me out! I have the most content available". And when Google sees that you obviously spammed it, it won't be happy. Keyword stuffing is a black hat SEO tactic, and you should avoid it at any cost. Change your older posts if you have to.

Get rid of spam backlinks

There are a couple of things worth mentioning here. Firstly, never ever buy backlinks. These are cheap and automated links that do more harm than good. Stay away from SEO and links optimization. Don't use any automated SEO or links software. It is never good.

Secondly, guest posting is good, but irrelevant posting is a hazard. If you are accepting guest posts irrelevant to your niche, or even writing about irrelevant stuff, then that's not good. And if you are guest posting on other blogs not related to your niche, then you might have a bigger problem. See, Google ranks backlinks according to their relevancy as well. So if you are getting irrelevant backlinks, then they aren't much better than those cheap backlinks money can buy.

Use social media

First of all, get yourselves social media pages for your website, especially on Google+. Add sharing buttons on your posts, and encourage people to share your posts. If you socialize, then Google will give you more credit for your website.

So these were the tips for Penguin recovery. Some of these might be similar to those for Panda recovery, but that doesn't mean they don't apply here as well. There'll be one more post in this series. So stay tuned :)

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Unknown 5/09/2012