Google’s Penguin filter moving to real time early in 2016
Ranking implications for your practice website?
This is quite a technical topic but one which all small business owners need to be aware of, particularly if they have been running SEO campaigns for their websites. ‘Penguin’ is the name given to the part of Google’s anti-spam algorithm which seeks out manipulative practices designed to improve the search ranking of a website but using techniques which are outside of Google’s publishing guidelines. We discuss it on our blog in more detail here.
Given that there have been several Penguin updates over the last few years, what’s new here and why would you need to know about it in relation to your dental practice website?
Penguin the ‘reaper’!
As some dentists will testify, the original Penguin update back in 2012, devastated their websites and also left a severe dent in new patient enquiries.
These business owners unfortunately fell foul of two particular dental marketing companies who had gained a reputation for being able to manipulate Google. However, their techniques were not sustainable, Google caught up with them and their clients’ websites plummeted; sometimes so badly it was impossible to recover.
Since the original updates, Google has become even more stringent in tackling what it considers to be aggressive SEO techniques, sometimes penalising techniques which were historically considered to be safe. There are also examples of websites which have picked up lower quality back-links quite naturally i.e. not created by their SEO partner, and have subsequently been compromised as a result of this. These cases are rare but even where a website has maintained ethical SEO, within Google’s guidelines, there is still a small risk that it could be adversely affected by an arguably over zealous algorithm update. If you’d like to read more about the long history of Google’s search updates, take a look at the link below:
Google Algorithm Update History – MOZ
The move to “real time”
The big change for the Penguin part of the algorithm is the projected move to a real-time basis; latest news suggests very early in 2016. Historically, Penguin was introduced in discrete “hits” and then not updated for many months until the next round. So even where a website had been cleaned up to remove spammy links etc, recovery could take many, many months and not until the data had been refreshed. Very frustrating for owners of penalised websites. Conversely, some spammers like the idea of periodic updates in that it gives them chance to uses “dodgy” techniques to rank a website quickly, take profit and then move on before Google catches up with them – a technique called “churn and burn”.
With real-time, it appears that Google will be checking much more closely for manipulative techniques in it’s normal mode, rather than resorting to periodic runs of the filter. So getting away with poor SEO, even for a few months, should no longer be possible.
What are the risks for my website?
If you’ve only ever carried out high quality, natural SEO within Google’s guidelines, then there should not be a problem for your website. However, if your site has been subject to poor work at some point historically and which you’ve got away with to date, then there is a chance that an algorithm update can unearth it and leave your rankings open to algorithmic demotion. Conversely, if you have been penalised historically and your web team have been undertaking a methodical clean-up, then you might be looking forward to an algorithm update.
If you have any doubts, now is the time to discuss with your web team. If they are any good they will probably already know if there is a risk, however it is impossible to track all historical SEO work, so surprises can happen.
Summary
If your website is a primary source of business and you already enjoy good search engine rankings, anything that might disrupt it, such as a Google algorithm change, can be quite worrying.
This is particularly so if your website has been subject to low quality SEO at some point in its history, as new ranking parameters can sometimes uncover and penalise work which was previously unaffected. However, if you work with an SEO partner who only undertakes ethical digital marketing, you should have no need to worry.
If you are concerned about the forthcoming Google update or have website concerns in general, please call the Dental Media digital marketing team on 01332 672548.