There has been much speculation regarding Google’s upcoming Penguin 3.0 update in reference to release date, effect and ways to avoid being penalized by it. The release date most favored by opinion leaders and pundits was the 23rd of May, which is now long gone and yet again people are left wondering – when will the new update come and rock the SEO world?
While Google as usual seems to be keeping a poker face about the release date and particular details, we know that the Penguin updates in the past were designed specifically to target the now listed Black Hat SEO techniques and are likely to continue along the same path. As far as we can tell, Penguin 3.0 is likely to focus on exact match anchor text, link strategies, search relevancy and the obvious – on-page SEO.
Of course, these are just educated guesses at this stage, but there is a good likelihood that Penguin 3.0 will primarily focus on questionable SEO tactics in an attempt to ensure relevant and meaningful content. Here are a few ways you can ensure protection for your website from Penguin 3.0.
Refrain from using exact match anchor text
Stick to relevant anchor text instead of exact match anchor text. Google is smart and will be able to determine the relevancy of the surrounding text in your URL. Gone are the days of overly optimized and keyword rich anchor texts; besides, you don’t really need to focus much on a keyword rich anchor text provided you have received your link from a high authority website. Try instead to focus on keeping your URLS short, keyword rich and meaningful.
The downfall of guest blogging
There was undoubtedly a time when guest blogging was all the rage and was invented to genuinely propagate relevant information and grow in terms of popularity by having people contribute meaningful content to a blog or website. According to Matt Cutts, however, the practice is simply too spammy to survive any longer and Penguin 3.0 is likely to crack down hard on guest blogging. We’re not saying, avoid guest blogging altogether; we’re simply saying, do it from an exposure and brand building point of view rather than an illegitimate link-building strategy. You can read more about the downfall and risks of guest blogging at Matt Cutts’ blog.
Check up on your inbound links
Auditing your inbound links is a practice that should be carried out on a regular basis, irrespective of Penguin or no Penguin. However, if you’ve been lax about this so far, you had better get to it and clean up your act. You can use programs like Link Detox to help you with this. What you’re looking for are links that come from spammy websites, sites with low quality content and links from websites that are not relevant to your field. We would suggest paying special attention to relevancy as all projections point to Penguin 3.0 cracking hard on non relevant websites.
Check up on your on-page SEO
Focus more on your on-page SEO, while repeating the mantra of relevancy. Stick to Google’s guidelines for on-page SEO like relevant anchor texts, short keyword rich URLs, linking to higher authority websites, relevant H1 tags, etc.
In conclusion
Past versions of Penguin and the wrath they brought with them has put many a webmaster on edge with the latest upcoming version and while it is not necessary the update will have an impact on your website, can you afford to take the risk? Luckily for you, there is still time to go over your website and start the weeding process.
Any thoughts and ideas on when Penguin 3.0 may come out and what it will bring?
Vipin Jain is the Co-Founder and CEO at Konstant Infosolutions and is in charge of marketing, project management, administration and R&D at the company. With his marketing background, Vipin Jain has developed and honed the company’s vision, corporate structure & initiatives and its goals, and brought the company into the current era of success.
Or send us an email at: [email protected]
