The most recent update to Google’s algorithm (Penguin Update) hit a number of websites pretty hard. And there was a lot of scrambling to try to recover lost rankings and change strategies to deal with the update.
It’s important to note, though, that no matter how many times Google has modified its algorithm, well-written content remains a very safe and very effective link building strategy.
The new Penguin update has made a lot of big changes, and some of the old link building tactics can now do more harm than good.
Attracting the right type of links to a website will require a lot of work, but by focusing on quality writing, usable content, and regular updates, you can still build the types of links that will survive the whims of the mighty penguin algorithm.
Page Contents
Link Building After The Penguin Update : Tips And Tricks
Blog more than you are
You may have thought you were doing enough blogging, but there’s a good chance you were wrong. New, fresh content appearing on your blog at regular intervals will serve two purposes to fulfill penguin update:
- It will start to generate new links to the site.
- It can impress the search engines with a steady stream of content.
The Penguin update penalized over-optimization, which means that constant link building with the same anchor text pointing at the same pages will not be as effective as it once was. An active, updated blog, though, will give readers a reason to link to new pages every day.
Of course, it’s not enough to simply generate content for the sake of having content. The blog must be useful to the end-user – but “useful” can mean a lot of different things. Whether your blog is funny, enlightening, informative, opinionated, or education, its purpose must be clear from the beginning. Your readers must now what to expect from your blog, and how often they can expect it so that penguin will forgive you.
Review the site
The blog isn’t the only place on your site where you can generate fresh, linkable content. Now that we’re in the recovery period after the update it might be time to take a look at your entire site and decide what elements need to be refreshed and where there are opportunities for new content.
There are a lot of great possibilities for adding supplemental content on almost any website. Shopping guides, how-to’s, and instructo graphics and other related content provide value to the customers, improving their experience, and increasing the number of links you’re likely to receive.
Power content for saving your site from Google Penguin
Soon after the Penguin update went live, a lot of information came out about how to deal with it. On the SEO.com blog Claye Stokes provided details from the SMX Toronto conference on how to start the recovery process.
The overall theme is that SEO (Post Penguin Update Steps For Better SEO) is now about optimizing data, not keywords. Link building needs to be about attracting links through accessible content, not artificially creating a constant stream of exact anchor text links.
It is also important to note that content (or “Power Content” as it is called on the blog) does not necessarily equal copy. In other words, you should focus on creating rich content that includes images, videos, quotes, infographics, and other elements to make it more linkable.
While the discussion of Power Content at the conference seemed mostly focused on web content, the principle can easily be applied to your blog. High-quality, rich content can help build your audience and give them a reason to link to it – and a constant, regular production schedule will give them a reason to do it again and again.
Read above points carefully and decide what you need more penalty or recovery from Google Penguin Storm.