Link trust and Penguin's affects on ranking
by Andy Carroll, 11 Nov 2012
In recent articles I covered the importance of "Authority" for search engine performance. Authority is gained for certain topics or search terms by attracting good quality links from other remote sites.
In recent years SEO companies attempted to build a websites authority by creating links on remote sites. They used a variety of techniques including free directory listings, comments on blogs, link partnerships, paid links and specially created websites promoting other sites with related content or press release editorial.
Often the link anchors (the underlined text part of the link) was highly targeted to a specific term or phrase and when accumulated these targeted phrases boosted the Authority for those terms to the destination of the link.
Because Authority is so important to search engines like Google, they have started to scrutinise links more closely to ensure they are as natural as possible. Google's penguin algorithm update has gone some way to enforce a more natural authority by treating certain links with suspicion and devaluing the Authority they would normally produce. For example a term that is repeated often on remote sites is analysed for the likely hood of being artificial - a more natural selection of links would normally be spread between a variety phrases rather than be repeated too often. The effect is that many of the tactics used in past SEO campaigns have devalued and resulted in a loss of search position for a number of websites.
It is now best practice to develop links with a wider range of anchor text pointing to different pages on your website. The linking process should ideally be natural with a focus on links that are earned rather than being artificially manipulated. Websites which have recently seen a drop in ranking will need to be analysed for an in balance of natural links vs unnatural links. Google webmaster tools along with Open Site Explorer will help with your link analysis. If you believe you may have been affected I would be happy to take a look for you or provide more details.
Featured News
Recent SEO factors for Mobile and Tablet
I have received a number of questions in regard to Google's recent webmaster alerts and subsequent…
Website and Mobile App Integration
Incorporating mobile facilities into your systems can take a number of directions. From making your…
Password protected websites with account based access
Some systems involve publishing protected information and resources for access only by designated individuals.…
Improving Sales Conversion Rates
Do you question if your current website design elements, text or offers are helping or holding back…
Responsive Web Design is a technique for developing web pages with layouts that react to different device…
Andy Carroll
phone:
07 579 9554
mobile:
0275 339 855