What you need to know about Google Penguin 4.0 Algorithm Update
When Google Penguin algorithm update arrived in 2012, it is expected to take on websites which incorporate Black – Hat SEO techniques to boost their rankings. However, companies resort to paying money and buying links via link networks in a bid to top the rankings. The arrival of the Penguin 4.0 update in 2016, serves as a knockout punch for such websites.
So what’s with the New Penguin Update?
Four years on, this is the 7th version of the Penguin ‘Behemoth’ and it is definitely ‘armed to the teeth’! In the past, the websites which were affected by Penguin were periodically refreshed. Now Penguin doesn’t need another update to take care of the affected websites. It will re-enforce its impact, by re-crawling and re-indexing the web page.
An official statement from Google’s Gary Illyes says, “With this change, Penguin’s data is refreshed in real time, so changes will be visible much faster, typically taking effect shortly after we re-crawl and re-index a page. It also means we’re not going to comment on future refreshes.”
Penguin 4.0 is Real-time
The problem with earlier versions of Penguin was that, even if the affected websites would make amends by following Google Best Practices, Penguin would need to be refreshed, in order for you to get back your rankings. However, Penguin 4.0 operates in real-time; all it takes is a re-crawl and re-indexing to get back your site ranking.
Penguin is More Specific
Web pages with spam content will definitely be penalised, however, the overall website ranking will not be affected. Only the particular webpage in question will bear the brunt of it.
Barry Schwartz is the CEO of RustyBrick, a New York Web service firm specializing in customized online technology that helps companies decrease costs and increase sales. In this video Barry Schwartz talks about the Penguin 4.0 Algorithm update and some early observations of its “aftermath”.What are Penguin Recoveries?
If you have suffered the ‘wrath’ of Penguin 4.0 and your SEO rankings have gone down, you obviously need to recover from the loss. This recovery process can take from 72 hours to several months to resolve.
The recovery depends on the below factors:
The kind of penalty
Severity of the problem you are facing
Precise identification of the faults
How soon you are able to resolve these issues
The timing of your re-consideration request. (However, this is conditional. It doesn’t apply in all cases)
Do we need to worry about Penguin 4.0 Algorithm?
Penguin 4.0 is not something to worry about, especially when you are maintaining a high level of SEO practice. Even if your website is affected, you don’t need to wait for two years for a fresh update. Penguin is real-time; you can get back what you have lost if you make the necessary amends. We will throw more light on ‘how to recover your lost SEO ranking’ in a future blog post. Do let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
