Google penguin, the last Google ranking update was a disaster for most webmasters and more than 70% of the websites that was ranking on the first 3 pages have been pushed deep in the results pages. And now everyone want to know how to fix this problem and improve Google ranking after this update.

We have spend the last couple weeks researching this update, and how other webmasters and SEOers are trying to fix ranking after the damage this update did to their websites. We also was reading all the articles, forum posts and blog posts about the subject, and we have reached some conclusions we will share some of them with you here.

1. “with each difficulty there is an opportunity” while most Google updates were about bringing the best results on the first pages, this update worked backward, it was created to identify bad results and push it deep on the results page, this action created an empty space on the first results pages that Google had to fill. So what Google did is bringing websites that meet one of those criteria to the first pages:

1.1. Domains that have the exact search term.

1.2. Pages on popular and authority sites that have the exact search term on its title.

1.3. Pages from other Google products, like YouTube, Google+ BlogSpot and others. And there are still spaces available, so it is opening an opportunity to new webmasters to fill in and get their websites or even create a new website to fill that space.

So if your website have been hit badly, consider creating a new website and have the exact search term on your domain, and build ranking for the new site naturally – avoiding the strategies marked as web-spam by Google penguin- instead of working hard fixing and improving your Google raking.

If you have been planning to start a new website, there is no better time to do so than now.

2. On page SEO fix. The only thing related to on-page SEO was detected on the new Google penguin update is keyword stuffing and out bound links.

To fix this problem, just try to print a copy of your page, then start mark (with red marker) the keywords you are targeting and all your outbound links, after marking just look at the page and see if it’s normal, or it all filled with red.

Do it exactly like that and you will be amazed of the results, most webmasters did this and saw a red page, that’s not normal and it must be fixed. Lose some of the outbound links, some of the keywords and make the page look less red.

3. Back links. The main Google penguin update was focused on back links, and what kind of pages linking to the site. To identify the quality of your site, by identifying the quality of pages linking to that site.

Honestly if I knew this update will happen this way, I will be spending the last months building back links to my competitors not my site.

The answer here to fix your links is not simple, some SEOers are trying to spend time removing back links from bad web-pages, and others are trying to build more links naturally. My recommendations are:

3.1. Don’t waste time on removing back links, it’s harder than building new back links and it will not be helpful.

3.2. Think natural, what links will look natural to Google, and build natural back links, link guest posting, forums, website directories…

3.3. If you were using a blog network that uses article spinning, stop it, don’t spin articles anymore. And do not use blog networks. There is one exception here that is Unique Article Wizard,, that still prove to work great and even improved ranking to its users after Google panda update and now also after Google penguin update, UAW is also a blog network and article directories, but it uses a unique way to rewrite articles, and the links coming from UAW are Good backlinks.

3.4. Stop using any link building software, like blog commenting software or social posting software. And if you are posting comments manually don’t post comments on blog posts with too many comments on them. Most of them marked as spammed pages and you need to avoid them.

3.5. Stop buying back links in masses. If there is a service that give you few back links from high authority and good quality related sites it’s OK.

The best answer for Google penguin to improve Google ranking is to diversify link building, when your site is getting back links from different sources it will look more natural.

For example if your website is gaining back links only from blogs through blog networks and blog commenting, it’s not natural, but when you website is getting back links from blogs, websites, directories, forum and social media, it will look natural even if it still getting masses of back links.

Our research of some link building services we have found that link building services that outsource and uses manual link building side by side with automatic link building are still getting good results for their customers, for example Link Emperor, have proved success rate of more than 90% after Google penguin update, and almost all their customers have improved Google ranking after Google penguin update.

We have been using Link Emperor to build new back links to some of our customers, and we have checked their ranking and were surprised that all of them have jumped in Google ranking to the first 2 pages, even one of our customers have a new blog with no posting at all, blank, and this blog went to Google #4 result for high competitive search term.

I am sure that Google Penguin will keep rolling as per their Google panda update, there are too many empty weird types of results Google cannot maintain, and the idea of having articles and news from high authority sites before sites focusing on the subject is not what people using the search box are seeking. So try to adjust not to the Google penguin itself but to the new updates that will be in the near future, by updating your content, and getting back links naturally. This is the only way to improve your Google ranking.

Good luck

Google penguin update was actually in April 2012 but most webmasters start to see and notice it’s effect at the opening of may 2012, no one online except Google staff who made the update knows exactly what it is and how it works, but a simple research will show you exactly how bad and useless this update is.

Google penguin by all measures is the worst Google update that happened yet, and I am not only talking as a webmaster but also as a Google user. I always thought that Google main interest is to provide high quality of search results to their users, and prevent useless and worthless website to appear in the search results. However I never suspected that Google engineers and programmers are so dump to eventually play it safe.

Play it safe? You ask

Will yes, the new Google penguin update is simply bringing out the safe results for each web search you make, for example a simple search I made trying some popular search terms from different niches, always brought back results from news sites, popular online communities and online forums.

Will if I was looking for an article on ABC news or CBS news or even CNN I will go directly to their site and search, why I would use Google.

While most seo bloggers and those who present themselves as experts in Google algorithm and updates and all SEO techniques, say that they cannot reveal signals and what exactly those Google updates are, I am almost 100% sure that even Matt Cutts have no idea what happened and what is Google penguin is, he just announced some nice, promotional announcement that its main focus is on search engine optimization.

When I read that announcement, I was really shucked, we as SEOers were always trying to predict what is Google doing and how it’s algorithm working so we can do better job in the SEO business, now it’s all happening backwards; now Google is trying to predict what most of us are doing and trying to create an algorithm to make our jobs worthless. For example and as an example only.

Most webmasters and SEOers use Blog networks to create backlinks and buzz to their own blogs, because blogs are favorable by Google, so most webmasters are trying to attract traffic from blog networks and backlinks, now Google penguin consider most popular blog networks as a black hat SEO technique, and those site that acquire most of their backlinks from blog networks have been hit hardly.

Here is what Google always claim:

“webmasters must  focus on creating high quality sites that create a good user experience and employ white hat SEO methods instead of engaging in aggressive webspam tactics,”

When this was the real case, we all understood Google panda update last year and page layout update early this year. When Google have the interest of users, and want to provide their users with high quality, content rich and user friendly websites as the result for their searches.

But can anyone please tell me how it could be to bring out 4 articles from popular news sites when someone searching for “Make money from home” instead of bringing a good quality website that it’s all focus is on this subject. And if you have made a research you will find thousands of examples like this one. Not only but Google is not only favorite it’s Google + social network but also all of its other products like YouTube, BlogSpot and more in the search results. Now you can also find out the domains having the same exact search terms even if it has no content of value it will pop up in the first 2 result pages.

Amazing.. No?!!!

So who will be hit?

Will if you are a webmaster and tried some link building strategies to increase your ranking, you will be hit for sure, but the main question who will be hit hard and disappear from the first pages at all, not only get a decrease in ranking. When you get a decrease in ranking, then you can adjust your effort to the new update and get back to the track with some effort. But if you lost ranking at all, hard luck, you will need to start all over again without knowing what will be in the next Google update.

How new Google penguin update identify the new term Google created “wepspam”

1. Keyword stuffing, it was all the time, but now Google giving it more importance, go figure.
2. Article spinning, all webmasters and SEOers use article marketing as an effective internet marketing and SEO strategy, and all of them (YES all of them) have started to use spinning techniques to have the maximum results with minimum effort and time investment. Will guess what, the new Google penguin claim to identify spun content and will punish links on those pages.
3. Blog networks and article directories. Will like article spinning, there are thousands of blogs and article directories created only for one reason, to give webmasters the opportunity to have more back links. Most if not all those sites have duplicate content on them or spun articles, and if your link is found in any of them it will get a negative score.

I promise I will keep researching and find out more information on Google penguin update, and I will be sharing another post here to show you how to optimize for this update and how to adjust.

Good Luck