LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, May 04, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) —
Whether they have yet experienced a drop in their organic search
rankings or not due to Google’s latest algorithm update, ‘Penguin’,
brands should audit their SEO strategies swiftly to minimise the risk
of any activity being interpreted as web spam by the search engine,
advises integrated PR, social media and SEO agency, Punch
Communications.
Google rolled out ‘Penguin’ last week, on 24 April. The main
objective of the update is to more effectively identify websites
that, according to Matt Cutts, head of Google’s spam team, ‘use
aggressive web spam tactics’, which do not adhere to Google’s quality
guidelines. This implies the over-use of ‘blog or link networks’,
which, often on a paid basis, offer the opportunity to include an
unrestricted number of links from pages that may be poor quality in
terms of relevance and content.
As with previous significant algorithm updates, such as the various
editions of ‘Panda’, companies cannot guarantee that their visibility
in Google’s organic search is not negatively affected. Google began
warning web users about ‘unnatural links’ in early April.
The quality of backlinks is essential and natural links are favoured
over paid ones, whilst the relevance of the linking sites is also
another key consideration for ‘Penguin’; sites providing legitimate
and trustworthy links could be favoured by Google even more than
previously. Brands can review their backlink profile to determine
whether it is being harmed and take action to avoid being penalised
in the rankings by Google.
Pete Goold, managing director of integrated online PR social media
and search agency Punch Communications, commented: “This is a wake-up
call to those who may have relied in the past on low quality sites
and suspect methods in order to build links and increase their
rankings. Many businesses may be unaware that the SEO methods their
SEO team employs, such as utilising low quality blog and link
networks, could potentially now be considered as ‘aggressive web spam
tactics’ by Google. When visibility in organic rankings is at risk,
therefore jeopardising web traffic and in turn the business’ bottom
line, it is vital that brands understand the issues involved and
prepare accordingly.
“Of course, as with every significant algorithm update, there will be
some sites that feel they have been unfairly penalised – and indeed
others that benefit from the changes,” Pete Goold continues, “Overall
it’s worth keeping in mind that Google does operate on the basis of
continually finding ways to create a fair environment and a true
representation of search results to cater for user needs. In other
words, the message to marketers is that it’s always worth taking the
credible approach, rather than looking for quick wins which might be
of short term benefit but cause longer term problems.”
If you require advice on developing your search engine optimisation
strategy or are currently interviewing search, PR or social media
agencies, please contact Punch on 01858 411600 or visit
www.punchcomms.com .
Contacts:
Punch Communications
Victoria Harris
+44 (0) 1858 411 600
victoria.harris@punchcomms.com
www.punchcomms.com
SOURCE: Punch Communications
mailto:victoria.harris@punchcomms.com
Punch Communications
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