Post Penguin SEO – Stop Whinging – Start Changing

I have been thinking more and more about the implications of Google’s new algorithm designed to stop their Search Engine being fooled. Much of the Bellyaching coming from established SEO Companies is along the lines of “Our Web Site has lost it’s position on Google and it’s just not fair!!”. However these companies that used obvious linking schemes to promote web sites were trying to game the Google search Algorithms to get an unjustifiably higher search position for themselves and for their clients. Now Google is trying to fight back and give their customer’s an un-spammed search experience. Google are now calling this kind of Gaming “Web Spam” and the two main indicators of this Web Spam behaviour are Keyword Stuffing and Link Schemes. By calling this behaviour “Web Spam” they are linking it (can you see the Pun?) to the just as consumer painful experience of Viagra and Penis Enlargement driven email spam.

Lets have a look at keyword Stuffing. This is the BAD SEO technique that destroyed Google’s predecessor Alta Vista. Basically stuff as many keywords into a web page as possible and thus get it ranked higher. I thought this kind of SEO had died out years ago …… but apparently not ….. here is an example from Google’s Webmaster pages ………

and then there is the BAD SEO of Link Schemes. Google say that they consider Link Schemes to be characterized by ……..

• Links intended to manipulate PageRank
• Links to web spammers or bad neighborhoods on the web
• Excessive reciprocal links or excessive link exchanging ("Link to me and I'll link to you.")
• Buying or selling links that pass PageRank

That just about covers most of techniques used by established SEO companies!!

So what is the way forward for SEO? I Believe that the way forward (and from their Webmaster Pages so do Google) is through helping our clients to produce the best On Site On Page content they possibly can, aimed at helping and informing the Clients that they wish to aquire. Then I think that good On Page SEO should be used to emphasise the (well researched) targeted keywords to find these Customers, together with good Site Design that emphasisies fast load up times for a better user experience. Lastly use Social Media to connect to the world and advertise this content to the appropriate clients and consumers. I call this approach the 3Cs of SEO ….. Content …. Code …. Connectivity .

Have a look at the Google Webmaster’s Page thatinspired this Article. 

BY SEO STEER