The shock of Penguin 2.1

On October 4th, Matt Cutts announced the release of Penguin 2.1.Similar to previous Penguin updates;

This post is planned to give you a peek behind the ended, into the world of Penguin. I will focus on three different websites, with three different outcomes.

A Penguin Recovery during the 2.1 Update:

The company was initially hit by a previous Penguin update, but late tackling their link issues as they worked on technical problems and content issues.
During late spring and summer, unnatural links were detached as much as possible, while links that could not be manually removed were disavowed. By the way, that’s the come up to I recommend. I’m not a big fan of disavowing all bad links, and I never have been.

Based on links downloaded from Google Webmaster Tools, Majestic SEO, and Open Site Explorer, the company tackled its unnatural link state the best it could. Now they just needed another algorithm update to see if their hard work paid off.

 I advise to any company hit by an algorithm update that they should keep driving ahead as if they weren’t hit. Keep producing great content, keep leveraging social to get the word out, keep building natural links, etc.

Key Takeaways:

•    Move quickly and keep a strong focus on what you need to tackle link-wise. Even though this company recovered, it delayed its Penguin work for some time.

•    Be thorough. Don’t miss links you need to nuke. Penguin is algorithmic and there is a threshold you need to pass.

•    Remove as many unnatural links as you can manually, and then disavow the rest.

2. A Penguin 2.0 and 2.1 grouping Punch

You wouldn’t think a Penguin can pack a grouping punch, but it has in several situations I’ve analyzed recently and worse, this was after thinking they addressed their unnatural link problem thoroughly.

After getting pummeled by Penguin 2.0 on May 22nd, the business gathered its troops, thought they identified all of their unnatural links, and worked hard on removing them. After what seemed to be a thorough attack, they eagerly awaited another Penguin update. When Penguin 2.1 was announced by Matt Cutts, they watched their reporting with intense focus, only to be thoroughly disappointed with the outcome. They got hit even worse.


The Second Penguin Hit

Quickly reviewing the site’s link profile exposed a problem: companies put a stake in the ground and remove as many unnatural links as they can at a given point in time. They don’t continue analyzing their links to see if more unnatural links pop up and that’s a dangerous mistake. 

I saw many unnatural links in their profile that were first found during the summer and fall of 2013. Many showed up after their Penguin work had been completed. Those links are what got them hit by Penguin 2.1.

Fresh Unnatural Links Caused the Penguin 2.1 Hit:

 Don’t think you are done with your link removals because you have a spreadsheet from a few months ago. You need to repeatedly review your link profile to identify potential problems. If this company had done that, they would have picked up many additional unnatural links showing up this summer and fall, and dealt with them so. I believe if they did, they could have avoided the nasty one-two punch of Penguin.

Key Takeaways:

•    Your Penguin work is continuing. Don’t drop the ball.
•    Have your SEO continually monitor your link profile for unnatural links (whether that’s an internal SEO, agency, or consultant).
•    The one-two punch of Penguin is killer (and can be backbreaking).
Unnatural links have an uncanny way of replicating across low-quality sites and networks. I have clearly seen this during my Penguin analyses. Beware.

Summary: Penguin 2.1 Bringeth and Taketh Away

If you’ve been impacted by Penguin 2.1, you want to download and analyze your inbound links, flag unnatural links, take out as many as you can manually, and then disavow what you can’t remove. As I mentioned in the second case above, don’t stop analyzing your links once the primary phase has been completed. repeatedly monitor your link profile to make sure additional unnatural links don’t appear. Remember, another Penguin update might be right around the corner.