Last Friday, Penguin 3.0 began impacting sites worldwide. Google has confirmed that this update is steadily rolling out, but has not confirmed how long it’s going to be before it’s complete. It will most likely take a few weeks to fully roll out. So far, impacting about 1% of US search queries according to SEO Roundtable.
What Does this Mean for Website Owners?
Since this update isn’t completely done rolling out yet, it’s too early to tell who all has been impacted. If your website has a history of manipulating search engines with low quality links, and you haven’t seen a drop in organic traffic now, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re in the clear. We believe this is the first of many refreshes to come in the near future. Here’s some more information on how you can prevent being penalized by Penguin.
If you’re a website owner that was negatively affected by one of the previous Penguin updates and gone through the process of removing bad links, you will most likely have a positive impact from this. When a website is hit with an algorithmic penalty, the website won’t necessarily gain much organic traction until a new update or refresh of that algorithm rolls out again. Which is why a positive impact is expected for those website owners.
What We Know About Penguin 3.0 So Far
Pierre Far from Google stated on Google+ that this is not a full update, but actually a refresh. Here’s what else we know about Penguin 3.0:
- Currently affecting less than 1% of US search queries
- This refresh will help sites that have already cleaned up bad backlinks and web spam
- Will negatively impact sites that contain any web spam
- Worldwide refresh
- Slow rollout that began Friday, October 17, 2014
What Does This Mean for Websites That Didn’t Get Helped?
Like mentioned earlier, this is believed to be the first of many refreshes of Penguin. If you have any bad links, make sure they are removed or disavowed. Then, continue to play by Google’s rules on quality link building. Always think quality. Never quantity. Instead of thinking link building, think of link earning. What are some methods you can do to earn quality links? Who are some top influencers and bloggers in your website’s niche? Reach out to them.
Closing Thoughts
As we learn more about this update, we will keep you in the loop. For now, continue to analyze your website’s organic traffic increases/decreases as well as keyword rankings to know if your website has been impacted by this. If you need help reviving your website from Penguin 3.0, give us a shout. We have experts standing by: 800-871-4130
