The Battle Against Penguin & PandasGetting Back Ranking and Running Future Proof SEO Strategies
Benj Arriola@BenjArriola
Ballroom G
www.internetmarketinginc.com
Detection Fix Prevention
How sure are you that you were hit by a Panda or Penguin update?
How to get back lost rankings and organic search traffic.
Why these practices work.
Case Studies
How to avoid Panda and Penguin problems.
How to avoid any future search engine update problem.
Agenda-at-a-Glance
Knowing “why” aside from “how” sometimes confuses others.But sometimes it helps others when “why” helps them understand more.
Were you hit by the Panda or Penguin Update?
Web Analytics
Google organic search traffic over time.
View the date and time range during the updates.
You can use any decent web analytics platform that records organic search traffic and can filter by search engine.
Google Analytics
Adobe SiteCatalyst
IBM Enterprise Marketing Management (Formerly CoreMetrics)
WebTrends
Piwik
Others
Panda & Penguin Update Dates
Correlate Google organic search traffic with rollout dates of the Panda & Penguin Updates.
Find them on existing blogs:
Search Engine Land
SEOMoz
Search Engine Journal
Search Engine Roundtable
SEOBook
Search Engine Watch
Others
SEOMoz Google Algorithm Change HistoryPanda/Penguin Detection: Correlate Incoming Google Organic
Search traffic trends with the Algorithm Change History
Examples of Sites Hit by Panda/Penguin(Client Product/Service: Garage Doors)
Effects of some Panda & Penguin updates may not be that obviousif your data range is too long within Google Analytics.
Examples of Sites Hit by Panda/Penguin(Narrowing the Date Range)
Overall Traffic Search Organic Google Day / Week
/ Month
It may be useful to smoothen the line by changing the chartto display daily, weekly or monthly to remove the confusion of fluctuation.
Panda 3.5 Panda 3.6Penguin 1.0
Examples of Sites Hit by Panda/Penguin(False Positive, Client Product/Service: Financial/Stocks)
Sudden Drop in Overall Traffic
June 2011 – Panda 2.2?
Examples of Sites Hit by Panda/Penguin(False Positive, Client Product/Service: Financial/Stocks)
Sudden Drop in Overall Traffic
June 2011 – Panda 2.2?Filtered, Organic Search Traffic Only
June 2011 – Panda 2.2?
Filtered, Organic Search Traffic Only
June 2011 – Panda 2.2?
Examples of Sites Hit by Panda/Penguin(False Positive, Client Product/Service: Financial/Stocks)
Filtered, Google Organic Search Traffic Only
June 2011 – Panda 2.2?????
Filtered, Google Organic Search Traffic Only
June 2011 – Panda 2.2?????
Examples of Sites Hit by Panda/Penguin(False Positive, Client Product/Service: Financial/Stocks)
Search except Google
Referring Sites
Not filtering down to Google Organic Search withinAnalytics may give misleading Panda/Penguin incorrect analysis.
Panda/Panda Update Date Details
Panda 1 Feb 23, 2011 Thin ContentContent FarmsAd-to-Content RatioContent Quality12% of queries affected in the US
Panda 2 Apr 11, 2011 Blocked SitesEnglish-Speaking Country Roll Out
Panda 2.2 Jun 21, 2011 Gradual Roll Out, Dancing Results
Panda 2.4 Aug 12, 2011 English and Non-English Except Chinese, Japanese and Korean6-9% of queries affected
Penguin 1 Apr 24, 2012 Over Use of Anchor TextKeyword Stuffed Anchor Text3.1 English queries affected
Panda 2.1, 2.3, 2.5, Flux, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 3.9.1, 3.9.2, #20
Penguin 1.1, #3
Various dates startingJul 23, 2011
Mostly minor updates, not much details were given except that the announcement of the roll outs were made either in a conference, a tweet, or on one of the Google maintained blogs.
Understanding the Panda & Penguin UpdatesPanda/Panda Update Date Details
Panda 1 Feb 23, 2011 Thin ContentContent FarmsAd-to-Content RatioContent Quality12% of queries affected in the US
Panda 2 Apr 11, 2011 Blocked SitesEnglish-Speaking Country Roll Out
Panda 2.2 Jun 21, 2011 Gradual Roll Out, Dancing Results
Panda 2.4 Aug 12, 2011 English and Non-English Except Chinese, Japanese and Korean6-9% of queries affected
Penguin 1 Apr 24, 2012 Over Use of Anchor TextKeyword Stuffed Anchor Text3.1 English queries affected
Panda 2.1, 2.3, 2.5, Flux, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 3.9.1, 3.9.2, #20
Penguin 1.1, #3
Various dates startingJul 23, 2011
Mostly minor updates, not much details were given except that the announcement of the roll outs were made either in a conference, a tweet, or on one of the Google maintained blogs.
Panda/Panda Update Date Details
Panda 1 Feb 23, 2011 Thin ContentContent FarmsAd-to-Content RatioContent Quality12% of queries affected in the US
Panda 2 Apr 11, 2011 Blocked SitesEnglish-Speaking Country Roll Out
Panda 2.2 Jun 21, 2011 Gradual Roll Out, Dancing Results
Panda 2.4 Aug 12, 2011 English and Non-English Except Chinese, Japanese and Korean6-9% of queries affected
Penguin 1 Apr 24, 2012 Over Use of Anchor TextKeyword Stuffed Anchor Text3.1 English queries affected
Panda 2.1, 2.3, 2.5, Flux, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 3.9.1, 3.9.2, #20
Penguin 1.1, #3
Various dates startingJul 23, 2011
Mostly minor updates, not much details were given except that the announcement of the roll outs were made either in a conference, a tweet, or on one of the Google maintained blogs.
Understanding the Panda & Penguin UpdatesUnderstanding the Panda & Penguin Updates
Panda Update = Quality Content Penguin Update = Quality Links
I’m bored reading your
mediocre content. Your links look
like some spammy SEO guy made it.
Panda Update = Quality Content
How can Google Measure Quality Content?
Content Layout & Site Architecture
User Behavior
Understanding the Content Itself
Manual Reviews
Quality Content
Content Layout & Site Architecture
Ad-to-Content Ratio
Less Ads, More Content
Related Updates:
Above The Fold Update, Jan 19, 2012 (Top Heavy)
Page Layout #2, Oct 9, 2012 (Top Heavy 2)
Tools
Google In-Page Analytics
ResizeMyBrowser.com
Web Developer Toolbar
Firefox, Chrome Extension
Quality Content
Content Layout & Site Architecture
Not too deep
Interesting, Informative, Link Baitable
Tip: Duplicate Content – Block, Redirect or Canonical: http://mz.cm/LAvPGn
Categorize well, consolidate similar pages, eliminate
duplicate content.
Categorize well, consolidate similar pages, eliminate
duplicate content.
Categorize well, consolidate similar pages, eliminate
duplicate content.
Categorize well, consolidate similar pages, eliminate
duplicate content.
Thin Content
Page Consolidation
Content Siloing
Site Architecture
SERP Clickthrough Rates
Bounce Back to SERPs
Blocked Sites
Back Button
Google Toolbar
https://www.google.com/reviews/t?hl=en
Google Analytics?
Time on Site & Bounce Rate
Other Platforms: Piwik
Chrome Browser?
Backlinks?
Monitor Google Webmaster Tools clickthrough rate
Monitor pages with high bounce rate coming from Google organic search.
Write better Title tags and Meta descriptions
Strong second call-to-action
Quality Content
User BehaviorMeasuring Quality Based on User Behavior Fixes
Emotional Triggers in Writing Titles: http://bit.ly/emotiontrigger
Quality Content
Understanding the Content Itself
Can Google understand content?
Every keyword you type in phrase, Google has somestatistics tied around it on how the word is used.
Every keyword you type in phrase, Google has somestatistics tied around it on how the word is used.
Quality Content
Understanding the Content Itself
Can Google understand content?
Semantics
Relationship of Words
Relevancy
Cohesiveness
Analyzed on an individual page level, or between linked pages.
Measuring Quality Based on the Words Used FixesWrite natural
# of Words
Keyword Density
Keyword Count
Synonyms and other related terms
The only people that worry about this the most are the sploggers, scrapers, content spinners.
Free Content Writing Webinar on Nov 13, 2012 at 11am http://bit.ly/TDvvZX
Leader in Semantic TechnologyPurchased by Google back in 2004.
Algorithm Change
If ranking goes down:
It is technically not a penalty, but it sure feels like one.
It will surely hit you once the algorithm propagates.
What happens if you submit a spam report?
Google may view it as a need to adjust the algorithm.
If you submit a reinclusion request:
Since your site is not penalized in the first place, they are not reincluding your site anywhere. But they may double check if your site was falsely filtered out by an algorithm. So they may view it as a need to adjust the algorithm also.
Manual ReviewIf ranking goes down:
It is definitely a penalty.
You may not get a penalty if no one from Google finds out.
What happens if you submit a spam report?
I may be added in the manual reviewers queue of sites to look at.
If you submit a reinclusion request:
Your site is reviewed if you would now pass the manual review and you took action to fix your site.
Quality Content
Manual Reviews
Forms:Spam Report FormReconsideration Request FormPenguin Feedback FormWebmaster Central Forum
Penguin Update = Quality Links
How can Google Measure Quality Links?
Content quality of link source
Natural Links vs. Artificial Links
Speed of Link AcquisitionIdeally, to appear having natural link building, number of links start small and gradually increase over time.
Speed of Link AcquisitionIdeally, to appear having natural link building, number of links start small and gradually increase over time.
Sudden burst of a large number of links, especially for a new website may raise red flags as they may be perceived as artificial link building.
Speed of Link AcquisitionSudden burst of a large number of links, especially for a new website may raise red flags as they may be perceived as artificial link building.
Although sudden burst in links, as long as they are not too excessive, is ok with older websites.My estimate would be 3 years and older.
Speed of Link AcquisitionAlthough sudden burst in links, as long as they are not too excessive, is ok with older websites.
My estimate would be 3 years and older.
Starting with a large amount of links may seem artificial but if the rate is constant, this will appear natural and this should not affect ranking. Which is often the case with breaking news reports.
PageRank DistributionNormally it is easier to get low PR links than high PR links. And as a site gets popular over time, the ratio of low PR and high PR links remain the same. Most links are low PR and high PR links are fewer.
PR
9–10
PR
6–8
PR 3–5
PR 0–2
PageRank DistributionNormally it is easier to get low PR links than high PR links. And as a site gets popular over time, the ratio of low PR and high PR links remain the same. Most links are low PR and high PR links are fewer.
PR
9–10
PR
6–8
PR 3–5
PR 0–2
A site with mostly links from very low PR sites to no PR at all with a negligible amount of high PR links may not look normal.
Spammer
PageRank DistributionA site with mostly links from very low PR sites to no PR at all with a negligible amount of high PR links does not look normal.
Spammer
A site with mostly links from high PR sites with almost no low PR sites also appear as artificial link building.Remember, diversity in PageRank is good. Where generally, there are more low PR than high PR.
Link Buyer
Use of Link TextThe relevancy of link text to your targeted keywords is very important. However naturally people link to companies and other websites using the company name, or branded products/services than generic product names/services.
Use of Link TextThe relevancy of link text to your targeted keywords is very important. However naturally people link to companies and other websites using the company name, or branded products/services than generic product names/services.
If your target keyword used too often as you link text, this may raise some red flags as artificial link building.Diversify link text with long tail variations.
IP Address of Link SourceBacklinks although coming from the different domain names, if they come form similar IP addresses, they are all on the same server and can possibly be own by one person on a shared hosting server account.
IP Address of Link SourceBacklinks although coming from the different domain names, if they come form similar IP addresses, they are all on the same server and can possibly be own by one person on a shared hosting server account.
Going a step further, often Class-C IP addresses (aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd) are also residing on the same server. If a large number of links are on the same Class-C IP address, this may suggest artificial link building.IP address diversity is also key in link building.
Other Link Quality FactorsPageRank
TextLink Text
Surrounding Text
Title Tag
Other Text
AgeOf Page
Of Domain
Of Link
Site-Wide Links vs. Content Links
Adjacent Links
Backlinks of the Backlink (Neighborhood)
TLD/ccTLD
Geolocation
Diversity in Website Type (blogs, forums, directories, articles, etc.)
Backlink Profile
QuantityGoogle Webmaster Tools
Bing Webmaster Tools
Search Engine “link:” command
MajesticSEO
OpenSiteExplorer
SEMRush
aHrefs
Sistrix
Quality (Power)Google PageRank
# of Backlinks of the Backlink
Total Backlinks of the Domain
Keyword Focused
Majestic ACRank
Follow or No Follow
Hosting Country
Site Wide vs. Single Page
Quality (Authority & Trust)
TrustRank
Google Indexed
SEOMoz Page Authority
SEOMoz Domain Authority
IP Diversity
Anchor Text Diversity
Deep Linking
Domain Age
Domain Name Extensions
.gov/.edu/.org
ccTLD
Limited
More Comprehensive CEMPER
PowerTM CEMPER TrustTM
Power*Trust
Bad & Suspicious LinksRule Total Percentage
SUSP1 4874 41.80%
SUSP10 2647 22.70%
SUSP6 1587 13.60%
SUSP9 830 7.10%
TOX1 690 5.90%
SUSP8 362 3.10%
SUSP7 359 3.10%
SUSP4 200 1.70%
SUSP5 44 0.40%
SUSP3 27 0.20%
TOX2 23 0.20%
SUSP2 8 0.10%
Power*Trust of page = 0
Power*Trust of domain < 5
May be a forum or low quality link directory. Usually generated by
automated tools or by manually by a
spamming team.
Domain link velocity trend < -70%
Past 4 months shows a significant decrease in links compared to the
past 1 to 2 years.
May be an expired domain or site that
users has lost interest.
Domains under the same domain registrar.
Links may be part of a link network.
Domains under the same DNS
Links may be part of a link network.
Domain not indexed.
Site may be penalized in Google.
Domains may also be new, or site is blocked in robots.txt or by the
meta noindex tag.
Domains have the same Class-C IPs
May be part of a link network.
Domains have the same IPs
May be part of a link network.
Not Ranking for Title
Power*Trust of Domain < 5
Power*Trust < 5
May be a penalized site
Website theme is suspicious.
May be about hacking, pornography, illegal
pharmaceutical distribution,
Backlinks from 1 Class-C IP > 10
Power*Trust of Domain < 5
Power*Trust < 5
Possible link network, or just a very unpopular
page.
Malware, Malicious, Virus infected website.
Power*Trust of the Domain = 0
Could be penalized, or just could be a brand
new site.
Bad & Suspicious Links
Evaluate, try to remove link if necessary. Attempt link removal. Increase links like these
Link Removal Services
Matt Cutts still recommends as much as possible try to remove bad links even if the Disavow Link Tool was created.
If the link really cannot be removed, then use the link disavow tool.
Tip: More on Disavow Link Tool: http://bit.ly/disavowlinkstool
Case Study (Finance/Stocks)
Organic Google 2012
Became IMI Client
Majority of work: Removal of internal duplicate content. Fix site architecture. Ran a blog. Did some
infrographics. Promoted on Social media. Submitted Reconsideration request
Case Study (Home Furnishing/Decor)
Organic Google 2011
Mainly hit by Panda 2
Minor hit in Panda 2.4 & 2.5 flux
Case Study (Home Furnishing/Decor)
Organic Google 2012
Became IMI Client
Majority of work: Manual rewriting of tons of page content and removal of duplicate content.
Our Biggest Challenge When Dealing with Panda and Penguin Affected Websites
Client
Does not want to change anything on the site.
Client tends to be spammy himself/herself and does not believe in your recommendations.
A major technical issue, with lack of technical know-how or resources.
Never allocated the right time and resources.
Panda Prevention = Penguin Prevention
Good Content Natural Links
You know your content is good
when people talk about it & pass it
around.
Good natural links are gained when people pass your
good content around.
Prevent your site from being affected by Panda & Penguin by:(1) coming up with great content & (2) doing a social promotion.
Quality Content
Content Layout & Site Architecture
Not too deep
Interesting, Informative, Link Baitable
Categorize well, consolidate similar pages, eliminate
duplicate content.
Categorize well, consolidate similar pages, eliminate
duplicate content.
Categorize well, consolidate similar pages, eliminate
duplicate content.
Categorize well, consolidate similar pages, eliminate
duplicate content.
Thin Content
Page Consolidation
Content Siloing
Site Architecture
Free Content Writing Webinar on Nov 13, 2012 at 11am http://bit.ly/TDvvZX
Common Link Building Methods
Link Begging / Solicitation / Request
SubmissionsDirectories
Articles
Press Releases
Content LinksBlog Postings
Article Directories
Blog Commenting
Press Releases
Banner Ads, Text Link Ads
ForumForum Posting
Forum Signatures
Public Email Groups
Social MediaSocial Networks
Social Bookmaking
High Quality Links
High Quality LinksInbound Link Building
Link BaitInfographic Creation
Blogging Strategy
Video Strategy
Trust Bait
Badge, Awards & Recognitions
Guest Blogging
Authoritative SourcesPress Release & Matte Release
Blogging Strategy
Common Blog BenefitsNew Fresh Content
Content Syndication
Opportunity for deep linking to main website pages
Many blog platforms are nearly good with less work on on-page SEO out of the box
Link Bait Opportunities
Study Current Blog Competitors
Blogging Strategies
Blogging Schedule
Social Promotion
Free Content Writing Webinar on Nov 13, 2012 at 11am http://bit.ly/TDvvZX
Video Strategy
Common Video SEO BenefitsLess video ranking competition than web pages
User stickiness and potential to convert well
Potential for natural video sharing of users as a link building tactic.
Link Bait OpportunitiesStudy Videos of Competitors
Video Strategy
Social Promotion
Automated Video CreationXML Feed Powered
Trust BaitAttracts very long term to permanent links from high trust value websites.
TLDs are from .gov, .edu, .org, .mil and more.
Create a high quality resource information page to divert link juice to your website. Your Site
Trust Bait Case StudyTrade-a-Plane.com
Foundational OnPage SEO already completedRankings improve by remain stagnant for two months with room for more opportunities.
Created Trust Bait PagesPromoted them through education, government, organization channels (4/26/2012 to 5/30/2012)
10 links gainedExperimental Aircraft Association Websites
EAA922.org (.edu & .gov)
EAA32.org (1999)
ProFlyersInc.com/EAA501 (2002)
ExperimentalAirplane.com (2000)
Other Airplane Pilot Groups
FlyingGators.com (1999, .edu & .gov)
AirMailPioneers.org (1998)
Educational Insitutions
COA.FIT.edu (1989)
UkiahAviation.com (.edu & .gov)
Informational/Resource Pages
CrashSiteOrkney.com
AirCrashSites-Scotland.co.uk
Trade-a-Plane.comFoundational OnPage SEO already completed
Rankings improve by remain stagnant for two months with room for more opportunities.
Created Trust Bait PagesPromoted them through education, government, organization channels (4/26/2012 to 5/30/2012)
10 links gainedExperimental Aircraft Association Websites
EAA922.org (.edu & .gov)
EAA32.org (1999)
ProFlyersInc.com/EAA501 (2002)
ExperimentalAirplane.com (2000)
Other Airplane Pilot Groups
FlyingGators.com (1999, .edu & .gov)
AirMailPioneers.org (1998)
Educational Insitutions
COA.FIT.edu (1989)
UkiahAviation.com (.edu & .gov)
Informational/Resource Pages
CrashSiteOrkney.com
AirCrashSites-Scotland.co.uk
Trust Bait Case Study
Press Release & Mat Release
Press ReleaseOptimize and identify opportunities for PR topics.
PR: It is up to the news publishers to syndicate your press release or not.
Mat ReleaseGuaranteed News Article Distribution
The Battle Against Penguin & PandasGetting Back Ranking and Running Future Proof SEO Strategies
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