Updated: September 16, 2016
Last Friday, Matt Cutts announced the release of Penguin 2.1, a refresh of the Penguin algorithm. As expected, everyone who saw a decline in traffic that day has attributed it to the update, and the Google Ads conspiracy theorists are shouting their unhappiness from the rooftops. There’s even a poll on SEO Roundtable where nearly 60% of respondents claim to have been “hurt bad” by Penguin 2.1 – an update that only affected approximately 1% of search results.
Guys, can we have some real talk here for a minute? Because I get it. I do. It’s frustrating to see a site start losing traffic. It’s just that I’ve noticed a correlation: wherever I find people complaining that Google’s algorithm updates are a strong-arm tactic to force users to buy ads, I also find those same people looking for “quick” fixes and “easy” solutions to get back on top. I understand of course that correlation does not necessarily equal causation, but if you find yourself struggling every single time Google releases a new or updated algorithm – and especially if you tend to take the quick and easy route – you have to consider the possibility that Google isn’t the problem here.
I know some (possibly a lot of) folks won’t agree, but from where I sit, the only thing Google is trying to strong-arm us into is respecting searchers by helping them find the information they actually want. Disagree? Leave a comment and let’s discuss.
Of course, Penguin 2.1 isn’t the only thing going on this week. Let’s take a look at what’s happening elsewhere in the SEO and online marketing world . . .
Content Marketing:
- Trying to harness the power of infographics? Then you’ll love this nice list of tools to help you visualize data.
- As a cautionary tale about the importance of properly vetting guest bloggers, one author recounted her experience with a rewriter. As someone who vets guest posters here at SEO-e, I can confirm that people are shameless when it comes to shopping around poor content.
Site Architecture:
- On YouTube, Matt Cutts answered a user question by giving some great tips and insights on PageRank.
Social Media:
- Automating social media can be a huge time-saver, but it’s still important to monitor and adjust your campaigns based on current events. Find out what can go wrong when you don’t in this excellent article from the folks at Sprout.
- Hashtags have some excellent uses, particularly in an eCommerce setting. This write-up will tell you everything you need to know to find and use hashtags to promote your products.
Humor:
- Are you one of the many suffering from WTMD? Find out in this very funny video.
That’s it for this week. Hope to see you in the comments!