With the latest news about Penguin 2.0 coming out soon, many are hypothesizing and trying to plan ahead for their websites.

What will this update include?  Is my business safe?  

Every website owner should be asking themselves these very important questions.  The best way to protect your business from any changes of Google’s algorithim is best described by this quote:

The three essential elements of an effective SEO are effective communication, useful information and high quality backlinks. – SEO Refugee 2006

Interestingly enough, this was a quote from 2006 on the SEO Refugee forum blog, then was requoted in Technorati in 2010, and now shows up in here 2013 as still being accurate.  These three things are the most important part of any SEO strategy implemented for your website.  Many gaming strategies have come and gone during these last seven years, but these three things remain the same.

I can remember when the first major algorithm hit during my SEO career.  It was scary, even though the company I was working with wasn’t affected.  The web was alive with everyone scrambling to find out why their sites had disappeared from the search results.  Then fast forward to Penguin, it hit during my first week at an SEO agency.  Each one has offered up more and more opportunities to learn, which is why I am glad to have been in the field during these two major updates.

Effective Communication And Useful Information

Since the very beginning, I have believed in providing content that is useful and informative.  I never understood or really grasped the concept of creating content just for the sake of having a link on someone’s site.  My firm belief was, and still is, that whatever I provide for a blog should be both beneficial to the blog owner, their readers and my company.  If all of those things came together we are able to hit that sweet spot – the place where readers find our content, love what we wrote and want more.  These readers become followers of the blog and even the author, me!  It is a win-win for everyone.

If I am providing content for a company that sells baby clothes, I would provide articles to baby sites that provide useful information to moms.  For example:  “Types of Baby Clothes To Avoid For Newborn Safety”.  The article would be informative and useful for new moms purchasing clothes for a newborn and provide a source for finding safe clothes for their newborns.

During my tenure, I have learned about all kinds of ways to try and game the system (none of which I tried) – spun content, link farms, directory listings and even link wheels (something I still don’t fully grasp).  I am happy to say that all of these tactics are becoming a thing of the past.

GOOD content is GOOD content and there is no other way around it.

High Quality Backlinks

Spammy links and building quantities of backlinks were really upsetting the balance of good results for a search.  This got me thinking about future generations.  Take this example:

What happens when 20 years from now, long after “The Big Bang Theory” is gone, a child is doing their research on the big bang theory for a science project?  Are they going to be writing about Leonard, Sheldon, Howard and Raj?  If you run a search in Google for The Big Bang Theory, the sitcom outranks the scientific explanation. 

Is that right?  Is this what we want to give to the future generations?

There are a lot of theories out there about what is going to be included in Penguin 2.0.  One of the main things to keep in mind is that if you are keeping your nose clean and doing everything in the best interest of your users, you shouldn’t be affected.  If you are affected by the update, you have a good chance of pleading your case for reconsideration to lift the penalties.

Here is a list of things to watch for in SEO strategy:

  1.  Links to your site from unrelated forums
  2. Links on spammy sites
  3. Links on articles that are poorly written or unrelated to the sites they are posted on.
  4. Paying for links, especially on sites like FIVERR offering links for sale publicly
  5. Keyword stuffing
  6. Any links to “payday loans” or any other questionable sites
  7. Be careful who you hire to do your SEO.  TRUST ME ON THIS ONE!  I have personally tried to help sites that were handled by black hat SEOs in the past, it is very BAD and can cost your business.
  8. Links on porn sites
  9. Using the same copy on all of your pages or on other sites for your business on other domains
  10. Overuse of anchor text in your linking strategy

If you are doing any of the above: STOP NOW!

Are you confident that your website won’t be affected by Penguin 2.0?  Do you want to know for sure?

Sign up for a free Penguin 2.0 evaluation