Penguins & Pandas - Big Panic for Webmasters

Posted by Sanket Patel

May 03, 2012

SEO 15 min read

On 24th April 2012, with the release of the “Penguin” update, the war of Google on lovable critters was raised. Some protest is caused by every major algorithm update that crosses all the record levels. But, this “Penguin” update is considered to worsen than an “over-optimization” penalty. Most Webmasters and SEOs are worrying as these updates, minimize traffic and revenue as well. Here, one can find the latest algorithm update that is helpful for maintaining your websites at a good level.

(1) What we have Idea About

Generally, low-quality link profiles have been suggested by many people, but after Google’s recent attack on link networks complicated analysis of Panda, which likes to be manual and has possibly been going on for many weeks. Still, a lot of speculation is there such as Aggressive exact-match anchor text, Overuse of exact-match domains, Low-quality article marketing & blog spam, and Keyword stuffing in internal/outbound links, but likely culprits.

  • About the Timeline

April 24th was the official roll-out date for Penguin and in a single day, it seems to have rolled out while on April 19th, Panda 3.5 rolled out. Many sites are tagged as parked domains mistakenly are caused by a data glitch on 16th April. In the month of April, a large number of unnatural link notices are to be sent by Google through Google Webmaster Tools. For many webmasters, the month of April was the cruellest month.

  • Is It Going Away?

Webmasters must be thinking about Penguins.  Penguin wasn’t accidental as Google is serious to fight for spam tactics, which are lasting for long time. Google doesn’t make any kind of adjustments, but it is likely to continue to tweak Penguin.

(2) What to Do

The advice of overlapping timelines is applied to any Google update, not for Penguin. As we all know that algorithm is changing continually and here, you will find some tools that are helpful for surviving not only Penguin, but also Zebra, Skunk, Orca, and any other black-and-white animals.

  • DO Take a Deep Breath

It doesn’t matter how hard Penguin affect your website, you just have to take a breath and assess the damage. It is advisable for you to excavate into your analytics and search out reasons for sustained losses. Through channel, engine, keyword, and page, you can also segment your data as much you can. It is advisable to gather information related to the traffic that your website has lost.

  • DO Check the Timeline

Even if, the core Penguin factors are very difficult to analyze with the overlapping timelines, the actual timeline is identified at the time of Penguin rolled out is clear. It is being considered by evaluating major traffic losses between Thursday, 24th April and Friday, 25th April.

  • DO Quickly Audit Your SEO

It is advisable to ensure what SEO efforts are underway for your team as well as any 3rd-party contractors.

(3) What Not to Do

As we all know that Panic leads to harsh action. If any overreacting change has taken place in an algorithm, it destroys business. Here, you will find some points that will give you an idea about what not to do with your site:

  • DON’T Take a Hatchet to Your Links

It is not clear that how Penguin is penalized links. One of the worst things webmasters are doing is to start simply Hatchet at back-links. If you are cutting such a link, it causes some problems as a result rankings drop. It is very difficult to tackle the problem, but some of the worst culprits are

1.       Links in networks Google has recently delisted

2.       Other site-wide links with exact-match anchors

3.       Known, obvious paid links

4.       Footer links with exact-match anchor text

  • DON’T “De-optimize” Without a Plan

Most people have “wrong” page ranking complaints. In order to de-optimizing the page, one can have to get the “right” page to rank well. To make the right page rank well, one can have to add a decent TITLE tag and also deduct keywords to leave behind Swiss-cheese copy.

  • DON’T Submit a Reconsideration Request

Penguin is an algorithmic change that reconsideration inappropriate avenue. One cannot it as a manual penalty. The recent crackdown on link networks impacted your site and if you remove such link or engaged in other suspicious link-building then you have to consider requesting reconsideration. A form for sites is created by Google, which is unfairly hit by Penguin. But, it is quite difficult to suppose that it will result in a manual action.

Categories

Let's Talk