Google introduced in April 2012 which has shaken the SEO sphere. They released an update called Penguin which runs real-time within the core search algorithm. About 3.1 percent of queries were affected after Google rolled out the Penguin update.
As a result of the update, plenty of websites were penalised by Google. It is due to violating the terms and using incorrect SEO tactics to boost rankings. Some had also dropped out of search and lose their rankings. Google’s Penguin update has changed the rules of the SEO world and caused mixed reaction from SEOs and webmasters.
What is a Penguin update?
The Penguin update serves as a filter designed to capture sites that are spamming the search results of Google. The regular spamming systems of Google were not able to detect some sites with spam links. Some webmasters and SEOs get away with spamming if they use tactics that cannot be detected by Google.
The Penguin update was introduced in 2012 and has been operating on a periodic basis since then. Different versions were released for all countries and languages at the same time, starting from 1.0 up to 3.0. Many sites were affected and they waited nearly two years just to get the chance to be free.
Version 4.0
In 2016, Google has officially released the Penguin update version 4.0. It now runs in real time and has become a part of the core Google algorithm. From now on, it is not just a separate filter. The primary purpose of this algorithm is to deal with websites that acquired unnatural links just to boost the rankings.
The new version of Penguin brought significant changes to the strategies used by many webmasters and SEOs on their website. It probably not fully live yet but Google mentioned it is now “rolling out.” Gary Illyes mentioned on the Google Webmaster blog that the sites affected by Penguin were periodically refreshed. It is quicker to see any changes and it takes effect shortly after the pages were crawled and indexed. All rankings may change each time Google updates the information based on the pages linking to it. Depending on the actions that have been made, the result can either bring positive and negative impacts.
The update also allows the site to recover from Google penalty faster compared before. If the site is penalised, the webmaster should do a good job in improving and removing harmful links. Positive results can be expected sooner after Google recrawls the pages of those websites.
How to benefit from the update
Due to the real-time approach, there is a need to continuously monitor the positions in search engine results page (SERP). Track keywords for the homepage and all significant subdivisions for it. It is also essential to conduct a deep backlink audit of the entire website. Setting up regular email alerts lets you get information about position changes.
Regularly check the value and quality of new and lost backlinks. See if you need to handle suspicious links to keep the backlink profile clean and precise. It is also recommended to set up properties in Google Search Console for important subdomain or subpath. Also, update any disavow file as needed.
