This is a Guest Post By Ricky.
Last time around when we covered the topic ‘vital SEO tips after penguin update’, we didn’t get into the root of the problem. The purpose was just to provide a brief summary of what should be done and what should not be. With Google’s raid on private blog networks, web 2.0 sites, forum links and links via theme selling, it is evident that the shady link building technique is matter of the past. Now, it is not a good tactic to indulge yourself in such outdated methods that often leave footprints. In the SEO business, variation has always been a key in getting a higher rank. It will not help to keep your link building campaign out of Google’s radar but will also help your campaign look more natural.
Let’s take a quick glance at what we covered in our previous post.
1. Over-optimization: From day one Google has been against on-page over optimization. Your web page depicts your thoughts, do not puke there. Instead of writing a post for search engine, try to write a post for human that attracts more engagement.
2. Social influence: Social presence and influence will play a vital role in deciding your SERP. In fact, it is no longer a secret that social mention does play a significant role in ranking factor. Guys over at SEOMoz has put together a nice case study (this link).
3. SEO Links: SEO link building is a vast subject. Looking natural is key. Try to get a legitimate link from guest post, social bookmarking and voting, quality blog commenting and several other ways. Always try to get links from authoritative resources. In a post penguin world no link is better than having spammy links pointing to your site.
4. Thwart spammers: Negative SEO has always been a debatable topic. Instead of relying on Google to thwart spammers, it is a time to step up and file DMCA whenever possible.
Post Penguin SEO Tips [Part 2]
In this section, we will take a deeper look at ‘over optimization’. I presume that most of our readers are using WordPress as their blogging platform. There are tons of SEO plugins available out there which helps in perfecting your on-page SEO.
Over-optimization mostly includes
- High keyword density
- Too many internal links from single page
- No or little anchor text variation
Let’s take a look at the each factor one by one
High keyword density
Though, there is no standard which defines what could be considered as high keyword density, a general consensus says that anything above 5% is considered as keyword stuffing. Writers should not knowingly or unknowingly stuff keyword that is above 5% density range. Sometimes, targeting two or more keywords per post could also lead to high keyword density.
Of course, there are plugins and tools out there which can measure the keyword density. Writers should be pen down his idea in a natural way without worrying about SEO at first. Try to maintain continuous flow of ideas and let your post reflect it in a natural way. In most of the cases, people try to stress too much on keyword which ruins the flow of the whole post. This is the reason why one should keep an eye on the number of keywords repeated per paragraph.
As mentioned earlier, there are certain tools available which will let you measure keyword density. Paid WordPress plugins like SEOPressor has been doing the same since its initial launch. Alternatively, you can use http://www.live-keyword-analysis.com/, an online tool which will let you find the keyword density in your post. All you’ve to do is paste your whole article in the box and enter the keywords for which you’re optimizing your post. Based on number of occurrences, it will give you a keyword density score.
Even, ever popular Yoast WordPress SEO plugin has similar functionality integrated into the plugin. WordPress SEO plugin by Yoast is a free SEO plugin which gives a useful insight on various on-page factors like,
- Keyword density
- Keyword research
- Permalinks optimization
- Meta description
- Title tag optimization
- Flesch reading score
This is the reason why bloggers prefer Yoast WordPress SEO plugin over other SEO plugins available at the WordPress plugin repository. We’ve provided a detailed guide to on how to setup Yoast WordPress SEO plugin. We, in fact, highly recommend our users to use the WordPress SEO plugin.
In next part, we will take a detailed look at ‘internal links’ and how to avoid overusing them. Stay tuned with us for more updates.
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About Amit Shaw
Things have changed after latest updates from Google…the above mentioned steps will definitely help many in understanding what strategies should be adopted now to get hold of Google.
Thanks for updating your previous post on SEO tips after Google’s peguin algorithm update…
Most bloggers are defaulters when it comes to stuffing each article with their keywords. It’s so annoying when you even read such article as a human let alone with it’s been crawled by Google. I really will advice every blogger to follow the guidelines above now so you won’t get hurt later on…
Thanks for sharing
Thanks Kelvin.
I’m glad to know that you liked my advice so much that you even suggest other bloggers to follow.
Yes, SEO changed… But these days nobody knows, what is over-optimization, and what is proper for your site… We shouldn’t rely on Google – should we?
We should definitely rely on Google, do we have any other viable option? Of course, social media networks can fetch you a good amount of traffic but it takes too much of effort to create a BRAND that people would love to follow.
BTW you have given me an idea of next post 🙂 I will try to come up with ‘what is over optimization’ post containing all the necessary information for newbie blogger
Great – so I’m waiting for your next post 😉
Hi Amit,
I’ve seen that a lot of webmaster had to dig deep into their linking structure to remove old link that they were penalized for (amongst others) – there has also been a couple of businesses who outsourced their SEO to a company who to their knowing or not used methods that was against Google’s guidelines – and therefore got penalized. Another thing people tend to do is to confuse their penalty with a panda penalty. Overall I would say you’ve covered the basic points that webmasters should pay attention to first – even if they weren’t hit. Unless you’ve gained rankings due to penguin then you need to be up to date on what is means for your business and your marketing / SEO strategy.
Hello Anton,
I wouldn’t blame SEO company for their shady tactics. Frankly speaking, one should take extra precaution before hiring any SEO firm. It is our duty to ensure whether SEO company is following guidelines or not. Most of the time people with little knowledge of SEO asks for 1000 or 10,000 backlinks for $40 (call it fiverr effect) which is next to impossible unless and until SEO firm is using automated software. There is definitely a difference between Panda and Penguin
In a layman’s term
Panda= penalty for bad content
Penguin= penalty for bad links
Google is always changing, soon in a couple of months another update to the algo will come and we will have to alter the methods once again.
Ouch..I’m sorry to say but this tactics are not new. In fact, this is the most recommended tactics that has been around for years. Google is behind spammers or shady tactics not the people
A lot of the updates have been trying to stop bad and spammy content. Just make sure to write very good quality content, and have your links as top quality as possible.
You should be fine with that.
I’ve read a lot about and written posts on the recent Google Penguin & Panda updates. Though some people have reacted negatively, I welcome the updates. I welcome the fact that Google is trying to clean up and improve the internet by only providing quality content on their SERPs.
Yes, in the short term this may affect website’s backlinks, but in the long run, it should encourage people to produce better content. No longer is spamming links on forums, or article directories, etc. going to get you more traffic, and quite right too!
As a blogger myself, these updates help me to see that quality is what Google is after. People searching content want to find quality content, so it’s in both of our interests to produce quality content. This is why the updates are a good thing!
I use the Yoast SEO plugin for my site. It’s such a great plugin, I’m not sure what I’d do without it now.
Great post Ricky!
Glad to know that you liked my post. Yes, Yoast is a must have SEO WordPress plugin for me as well.
Even, I see hell lot of complaints against this algorithm update. As mentioned in our previous post, no algorithm is perfect and it will take some time to adopt.
I’m also glad to see that most of the shady forums, private networks, private blogs have been deindexed from Google for good. It creates a friendly environment for the users and gives an equal opportunity to rank well for desired keyword.
Hello Amit,
We all know that Google is getting smart day by day and SEO is getting tougher day by day. So to be on safe side we should write content that makes our readers happy and when our readers are happy we are happy. And Google also loves content, eat content. so, keep feeding Google with quality. 🙂
Hello Ricky,
We have to focus on quality content on our blog instead of anything else because after Penguin update only high quality articles can get well rank on Google search.
Thanks for sharing your tips on SEO after penguin update.
Great tips Ricky, it’s time to shoot out that Google Penguin. Over Optimization should always be avoided in this era of Penguin.
Link building is most important step on doing SEO, always, and I do agree that we should do it naturally. My blog has gotten Google Penguin and now I’ll try to fix my error. Thanks for awesome post, Ricky.
This is true that over on page optimization Pages are affected, n i have a experience also, i can say the keyword density should be 3% to all total length of post and it loves by Google.
interesting idea on going after people with DCMA – the problem is that they often live in parts of the world that are not under the same jurisdiction that you may be in. In other words, you really don’t have a way to stop them.
Any thoughts on that?
Hi,
Nice information about Google Penguin Updates. There are many sites which were affected by this update. Site with excessive keyword density, irrelevant links, less value content will be considered as spamming and hit back by Google in SERP. Remove all spam things from your website and send reconsideration request through Google Webmaster Tool.
Regards,
Brenda.
Very good write up. Apart from quality original content, social presence and natural link building is the best and I have experienced that genuine blog commenting plays a great role in SERP. No matter if your website’s url is linked with your own name but at the end of the day it counts…Anchor texts also must be rotated in the following forms – “Keyword1”, Keyword2, Keyword3, Naked urls ), Brand name, Brand personality (Your name), Related keyphrases (Long tail), No anchors (‘Click here’ etc..)
Thanks Ricky, this is great article.
You have listed up that sites with too many internal links are punished by penguin and then why sites like Wikipedia, Dictionary.com etc., which contains 100+ links to internal site are not punished by penguin.
Great tips and advices to see on the Google’s algorithms. I am finding my mistakes and resolving for better SEO ranking. Thanks for the tips mate.
This is awesome. The most important thing with SEO is to stay current, meaning we have to follow the tips above as we move forward with SEO. I hope that this update scares the “keyword = good’ mentality out of the industry, but im fearful for all those companies who have no idea about the ongoing management of their site and the penguin effects that they havent even noticed yet.
Thanks for sharing.
Over SEO is now being prohibited by google so it is a disadvantage to those who are doing double time on their online marketing and blogging and advantage to those who are yet to minimally market their websites.
Thanks!