What is Penguin Algorithm?

Penguin Algorithm: The update was intended to reduce webspam and penalize websites that violate Google’s webmaster guidelines using black hat techniques to get links and manipulate search engine rankings. Also, the website rewards high-quality link profiles.

Google Penguin Penalties And Recovery

Websites punished with a Google Penguin penalty suffered rankings for years. The only way to recover from a consequence and regain Google’s trust is to remove the offending links.

The website owner or SEO agency would submit requests to remove these links. If they couldn’t remove it, a disavow list had to send to the search console. I would ask Google to ignore certain links while crawling the website in simpler terms.

The problem with this was that the Google Penguin updates were still running. Websites that have removed or rejected spam links are re-rated each time a Penguin update is post. However, this can take between 6 months and a year. Websites can be mistakenly classified as spam and have to wait for Google to re-rate them.

However, a new update to the Penguin algorithm released in September 2016 means that this is no longer the case. Penguin now runs in real-time and evaluates spam links instead of penalizing them.

Google Penguin 4.0

While Penguin is still dealing with webspam issues that initially need to fix, it has been given a lot more responsibility in its latest update. For example, it has become an essential part of Google’s core algorithm.

The “core” consists of more than 200 separate algorithms that evaluate where a website should rank for a particular search query. This suggests that the Penguin is more critical today than ever.
Other significant changes to the algorithm are:

Penguin 4.0 Devalues Spam

Instead of being penalized for spam links, low-quality links are ignored and devalued. This is good news for sites with fines for penguins in the past. However, if Penguin detects a large number of low-quality links, it may discard all links pointing to your website. This has a very negative effect on the visibility of your website.

The Disavow tool is still presented to users, and Google has encourage webmasters to use it. However, the function is to make Google aware of spam instead of protecting your website from punishment.

Penguin 4.0 runs in real-time

The latest Penguin update is running a lot faster than ever. They are no longer subject to regular data updates. Instead, it is updated in real-time. This means that links are re-evaluated continuously as Google crawls the web.

These resources that if you found to be tampering with links, you can penalize almost immediately. On the other hand, it also resources that if you’re working on removing a penguin penalty, it will also be a lot easier to win back Google’s trust since you no longer have to wait months for the update to re-evaluate.

Penguin 4.0 is more detailed

Google previously sanctioned entire websites if found guilty of creating spam links. For example, if a page has a terrible reputation on Google, the whole domain is affected.
Now the penguin algorithm has developed much more location-specific. If a page has many low-quality links, the ranking adjustments will affect that page rather than the entire domain.

How does Penguin 4.0 affect my SEO?

While this is one of the most significant algorithm updates in the past few years, the optimization process for your SEO agency has likely stayed pretty much the same.
However, there few things that need to consider carefully:

Immediate Sanctions

We hope you are not engaging in black hat link-building practices, and we strongly recommend avoiding them. However, you should be aware that you will likely face penalties almost immediately if it does. However, you can also resolve the situation much faster than before.

Range Fluctuations

Because Penguin 4.0 re-evaluates link profiles in real-time, fluctuations in ratings are likely more familiar. However, it’s important to note that Penguin is just one of many possible reasons for a classification change. Your SEO agency can help you determine if your ranking affects by Penguin 4.0.

Link Rating

There was no indication that Google changed its link quality rating with Penguin 4.0. However, it is an excellent opportunity to evaluate your link profile and ensure that you do not do anything that could trigger spam signals. If you have queries regarding this, you should ask your SEO agency to do a link audit to highlight problem links.

High-Quality Distribution of Content

Many website owners have previously relied on a specific page or area of a website to stay at the top of the rankings. As Penguin 4.0 is more location-specific, it becomes more important to distribute quality content and links evenly across a website. Ensure you are not neglecting any website area, which should not be a problem.

Also Read: What Is A Panda Algorithm