Google Releases Update to Penguin But There’s No Need to Panic

If you’ve noticed a drop in your website’s temperature recently don’t immediately blame the frosty nights of fall. It could be due to another change to the online climate, as the latest update to Penguin was released last Friday night.

This is the sixth rendition of Penguin that has hit the market since the initial release in 2012, with the last update shaking up search engines in October of 2013, which impacted around 1% of all queries.

The Cutest Crawler On the Web

For those who are beginners in the world of backlinks and black hats, Penguin is Google’s adorably named algorithm created to ensure that any search performed by their engine produces the most relevant content and the most rewarding user experience.

This refined spam filter accomplishes such a task by downgrading content that uses negative SEO practices, improper backlinks or unearned SEO in favor of websites that follow the ever-shifting rules of SEO.

The Hunt is On

While we aren’t sure what this newest version is made to specifically target, we do know that some displacement has already occurred. Some websites have seen dramatic positive or negative movement while others have seen no significant developments in their placement.

Google has not yet confirmed if the update has finished rolling out, so Penguin’s impact might still be unfolding with these conversions only a temporary reaction to the algorithm’s new ranking system.

One thing that Google has confirmed is procrastinators will not be profiting from this round of Penguin. If you heard that a new version of Penguin was on the way and decided to clean up your site by disavowing any bad links in the three weeks leading up to the rollout, this update will not be acknowledging the changes.

How to Please The Google Gods

While expert strategists are wildly speculating on ranking impact, while parsing Matt Cutts quotes from the past year looking for hints of what this update might be doing, one thing has definitely not changed in the world of SEO – the value of quality.

These adjustments to Penguin were made to ensure even more that the best and brightest are recognized and given top billing, and earning a lasting spot on the front page is not done through back channels.

The creation of high caliber content combined with the careful curation of earned back links from credible sources and the use of first-rate optimization practices will always be a winning combination for your website and means that updates to Penguin will only help clear away the chaos to let your content shine through.