Google has rolled out Penguin 2.0. In a nutshell the type of websites that have been affected include porn sites, game sites and some of the bigger brands. The impact from the new update is smaller than most were expecting.
It seems that with every update made recently Google is clearly beating the same drum with its core messages, these include.
- Build a great site
- Make content that is interested and has high end-user value
- Visitors will then appear!
The reality is that there are a few other things that need to be considered. SEO used to be about tuning a website for optimal consumptions by spiders, today’s SEO is different it is about earning recognition, social speed, and backlinks though fantastic content! This means that SEO is now an ongoing, strategic ad integrated part of the overall online marketing of a business.
Some of the key SEO activities that need to be done month in and month out are;
- Content Marketing- Content marketing is said to be the new link building- Earn backlinks by giving away valuable information for free. Video is an excellent form of this and in many small businesses is very much under-utilized.
- Marketing- You have to help your audience to find you the “build it and they will come” philosophy does not work with the number of competitors etc. Content must be promoted, some ways of doing this include- social media, engagement in forums, email marketing and guest blog posting. Any kind of PR is also a brilliant way of spreading the word about your website this might include Interviews, newspaper articles and event sponsorship.
- Identify Audience demand- understanding your audience through keyword research is vital. Focusing on the long-tail keywords will render more immediate results.
To conclude, the arrival of Penguin 2013 got people worrying however SEO remains one of the best online marketing channels and real SEO should have little affect from these updates. Google will only want to make these websites more authoritative if they are doing things properly and creating great content for their audience. Forward- thinking webmasters will prepare their site for these updates in two years’ time with well-researched, end-user focused content marketing the provide value for their audience.
