From time to time, team members will share their views stimulated from a piece by an industry thought leader. Here, one of our Digital marketing strategist, Mark Bowens, discusses the recent updates to Google’s algorithm, “Penguin 4.0: what does it mean for SEO practitioners?”
On the question:
Do you think the new version of Penguin is fairer? Do you think it’s an adequate deterrent when it comes to spammy link-building?
Only time will tell, but I believe in the end, this algorithm update is fairer. The departure from periodic updates means both positive and negative SEO will be recognized much faster.
On one-hand that means good SEO will improve your rankings and traffic quicker, and on the other “black-hat” SEO practitioners can rapidly test new link building strategies to find out what works.
With that said, I’m sure with the AI improvements and the addition of penguin to the core algorithm, Google is or will get better at recognizing link spam and manipulation much more rapidly. Thus, shutting down those techniques that use to prop up a site for months or even years.
SEO’s have to choose where they will spend their time, following the rules or going against the grain. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, but Google usually always ends up winning.
I think the best way to think about how to proceed, is to rely on what is best for your clients and their customers.