Since the 25th of April
this year, many SEO professionals and webmasters have been scrambling to make
changes in the way that they have been optimizing their websites. While there
are those that have then challenged themselves to improve their SEO campaigns,
those who have been utilizing black hat techniques might have to major
overhauls with their strategies.
If you still are not very sure of what
we are trying to make sense here, we are talking about Google Penguin, the
recent update in the algorithms that Google use to rank search results. Its
release has caused concerns to website owners as to whether the rank of their
website will dip down or they have already received a Google Penguin penalty.
How
will I know if my site has been penalized?
Even when you still see your website
in the search engine results of Google, it does not exactly mean that you are
cleared off from any penalties. Yes, a blacklisted website can mean that it has
already been a consequence of the owner’s use of black hat techniques but
noticing some unusual or unexpected changes in the traffic of your website can
mean that you are being penalized by Google.
Some of the most common signs that you
should look for is an abrupt drop in your rank in the search pages of Google, a
decrease in the amount of traffic that you get for your website, and a decrease
in web inquiries.
Why
was my site penalized?
There are so many reasons as to why
your website was penalized. For one, the backlinks that you developed prior to
the Penguin update must not have conformed to the new algorithms so your site
was de-indexed or discounted.
Another reason was that your site has
gone through Google’s manual review and the team saw that your backlinks
contain no value. Because of this, they might have given you a penalty of -40, -50,
or even a -100. For instance, if you used to rank at #4 in the search results
of Google, a -40 penalty means that your site will not rank at #44.
What
should I do after a Google Penguin penalty?
If you suspect or are very sure that
you site has received a penalty from Google Penguin, it is good news that there
are some things that you can actually do to somehow redeem your rank. One of
which is to shift your focus on creating quality links. Dump the old backlinks
that you have been using. Now that you have been penalized, those old backlinks
will be of no use as they already have been discounted or de-indexed by Google.
To verify if you did receive a
penalty, log in to your Google Webmaster Account. Google will notify those
webmasters who have been participating in spammy behavior that goes against the
rules of their Penguin update. To verify if you did get a penalty, it is best
that you check your account and see if you received any notification.
About
the Author:
Kristine is an avid writer of the latest
in high speed internet and internet technology. She also performs
administrative work for Center Networks, she also writes her own opinion about
the justhost.com sucks
for the company. To find more of her helpful tips and recommendations, make
sure that you tune in for her next post.
