The Penguin is coming. No, not Burgess Meredith or Danny Devito…or even the venerable Ted Knight. No, Penguin 2.0 is coming—a major algorithm update from Google that will shake up the organic search engine rankings…yet again.
By way of background, Penguin 1.0 was a now infamous algorithm change that Google made last year. This change sank a number of major Web sites in the search engine rankings, many never to return. Google’s intent was to punish Web sites that relied on questionable linking techniques to gain their organic rank.
Now, Google is giving the online marketing a world a quick “heads up” ahead of their next release, dubbed by the SEO world as Penguin 2.0. Check out the video from Matt Cutts, Google’s algorithm master and chief spam fighter.
As expected, Penguin 2.0 will expand on Google’s previous efforts to uncover and demote spammy techniques, “advertorial” advertising and other techniques that Google has deemed to represent poor SEO practices.
Why is this Google algorithm update a big deal? Because Google has historically never told us so much in advance about its anticipated updates. This announcement tells search engine geeks like me to expect real shake ups in the rankings.
What does this mean to your home improvement Web site? Well, if you’ve hired a real professional to optimize your Web site, you shouldn’t see many changes. That’s assuming that your SEO resource uses “white hat” techniques and is creating lots of quality content for you. You may even find that your Web site rankings actually improve after Penguin 2.0 hits.
On the other hand, if your provider uses so-called “black hat” SEO techniques, you may experience a different effect. Link farms, spam inks, paid links and advertorials are all going to be targeted by Google.
Most locally-oriented home improvement Web sites have little to fear from Penguin 2.0. On the other hand, if you have a national distributor, manufacturer or brand-based Web site that connects with a wider audience, you’re much more likely to feel the effects—positively or negatively—of Google’s changes.
Expect Penguin 2.0 to happen in the next couple of weeks. So keep an eye on your Web site analytics to assess if it has any effect on your rankings.
If you do see any changes in your rankings following the release of Penguin 2.0, please let me know! I’d love to hear your story, and help you assess how your Web site was judged differently under the new rules of Penguin 2.0.