The search engine universe has once again been turned on its head by another major update by the engineers at Google. Penguin 2.0 was a major update rolled out by Google last week that is aimed at improving search results (i.e., getting rid of the people who are playing games and trying to fool the search engines.) At first glance the usual suspects have been affected: porn sites, game-related sites, and other generally crappy sites. Also, websites that have not been putting forth SEO efforts were significantly affected. Some surprising ranking drops came from big brands like Dish, Salvation Army and REEDS Jewelers.
Some further analysis shows certain industries got hit particularly hard by this update. According to research in our industry, the top 5 industries whose rankings were negatively affected by Penguin 2.0:
1. Retailer websites
2. Real Estate websites
3. Dining/Nightlife websites
4. Internet and Telecom websites
5. Law websites
So far our internal analysis of our clients’ websites shows that while there were some fluctuations in rankings over the past week, overall our clients have either maintained their ranking trends or have moved upward slightly. This tells us that we are advising our clients in the right direction and helping them achieve what Google wants to see. In other words, we are helping our clients do exactly what Google tells you to do:
- Have a solid website foundation
- Blog and/or change the content on your website frequently
- Participate in social media
- Control your online footprint
- Do things that are noteworthy so other people want to talk about you online
There’s no super-secret handshake that will keep you ranked high, no special relationship that your SEO has with an ex-Google employee to get insider information, no one is smart enough to have “cracked” the Google algorithm. Success boils down to consistent hard work, and a knowledgeable team who can help you execute your online marketing. If you play a cat and mouse game with Google eventually you will find yourself without a tail.
