What is the Penguin Update?
With the Penguin update, the Google search engine has made changes to its algorithm to make search results more authentic and better for users. The Penguin update primarily relates to data refreshes and webspam in search results. Users should always be shown the best possible results, but this is not always guaranteed due to the manipulation of algorithms by website operators. The introduction of the Penguin update is intended to reduce manipulation and unauthorized influencing of search results by websites. The Penguin update is intended to detect manipulation and penalize such sites by the algorithm.
Penguin update to combat webspam
Even today, webspam to influence search results is still widespread among website operators. The aim is to manipulate search results in order to guarantee companies higher positions in the search results. However, search engines are actually designed in such a way that only the added value of a page and the corresponding content is analyzed to assess relevance. Users who use search engines such as Google do not benefit from sites using manipulation techniques to achieve higher positions on Google. Unauthorized measures that are used for manipulation include keyword stuffing, unnatural link building and cloaking. The tools and methods that sites are allowed to use to naturally influence search results are precisely defined in the Google Search Console guidelines. If measures deviate from these rules, the ranking will be penalized after the Penguin update.
Exactly how Google evaluates and penalizes search engine optimization measures is not officially known. Site operators and companies should not be given extensive knowledge about changes to algorithms so that search engine results remain authentic and cannot be manipulated too much. Some of the sites that performed particularly poorly in the Penguin update can be used to analyze which measures are permitted and which are not.
Which measures are affected by the Penguin update?
Backlinks and other link structures are predominantly affected by the Penguin update. The main focus is on checking whether the links are authentic and whether they are relevant to the topic. The backlink profile of a page is analyzed in detail to determine whether a page is actually relevant and popular or whether it is a case of unnatural link building.
The keyword structure within the link texts is also analyzed. It used to be normal for texts to contain massive keyword links. However, this is unnatural and will be severely penalized in the course of the Penguin update. Now content and link texts must be created in which general words are also integrated.
Will purchased links be penalized by the Penguin update?
Websites are often linked between in the sense of a simple recommendation. However, if these recommendations are purchased links, these pages are downright penalized by the algorithm and the Penguin update. After all, links are not created because site operators are convinced of the content in question, but because money has flowed in. A number of link networks have already been penalized in the past because money was paid for certain links.
What happens with very fast link growth?
Site operators should make sure that it is always a natural link building process. If a large number of new links are added in a very short period of time, even though very little link building has been carried out previously, this has a strange effect on the algorithm. This can also lead to penalties in the ranking.
