Introduction

From a business owner perspective, it can get mighty confusing when trying to keep up with all the changes that are made to how SEO should be implemented. This means that a lot of business owners can walk away from a meeting with their respective marketing agencies and feel rather bamboozled by all marketing jargon!

That’s to say all that talk about Hummingbirds, Pandas and Penguins, well anybody might think they are visiting a zoo not an SEO agency!

Yet these names all have real significance to how SEO should be implemented. That’s to say if any business was to ignore what any of these updates mean, well they are probably not implementing seo correctly.

And because every update to Google’s algorithm warrants its very own blog post, we are going to concentrate on the Google Penguin update here in isolation.

So, what exactly is the Google Penguin update?

In a nutshell how you implement SEO falls into one of two boxes, that’s the box labelled “white hat seo” and the other box is labelled “cutting corners”.

Now, we only ever recommend implementing white hat seo, which means to do the job properly.

Yet, with that said there are so many digital marketing agencies that simply decide to cut corners, that’s to say they try and fool Google’s algorithm.

However, trying to fool Google’s algorithm only results in one thing, and that’s a penalty being applied to the website.

Now an old tactic that some businesses used to use, and some agencies still do use is to try and improve where the business is ranked, is to build as many backlinks as they can to a page or the homepage of a website.

This means some businesses-built links regardless of whether they came from a quality source or not- this later proved to be a totally flawed seo strategy.

The reason being is these links would most likely be deemed as rubbish by the algorithm, so the website would most likely incur a Google Penguin penalty.

So what backlinks does your website need instead? Well, that’s a really good question! The backlinks your website really requires are quality backlinks, that are relevant to your business.

So, let’s say you run a solicitors practice, and you specialise in the area of employment law. The best backlinks for your law practice would be from a respected website that publishes employment law news.

This will be the sort of website that most employment solicitors will have heard of, and the news is deemed as reliable. This is the sort of website that your law practice should obtain a backlink from.

So, when an SEO agency states they will build thousands of links for a pittance, this wont be the type of backlinks that my business needs?

Building backlinks takes a huge amount of time. The reason being is the only backlinks your website requires are quality backlinks, as mentioned earlier.

So, if you approach an online marketing agency for a quote, and they say they can offer thousands of backlinks for very little money, well this is normally a sign that they might be building the backlinks incorrectly.

Instead you need to find an seo company that uses white hat methods, that’s to say they will normally build fewer backlinks, but the backlinks should be quality. You must partner with a respected seo agency, as if your marketing agency doesn’t build the links correctly then this could result in a link penalty.  

Google’s Webmaster Guidelines

So, if a business did build the backlinks incorrectly, what would happen next?

A lot of businesses were affected by the Google Penguin updates when they were first rolled out, and it basically meant that if your website had spam links, or low-quality backlinks then your website may see its rankings drop.

So for example, say you run a dental practice, and you ranked number one for “dentists that offer teeth straightening” –  yet after the Penguin update, because your backlinks were low quality, you may drop to say page 11 of Google.

Sometimes if the backlinks were really low-quality, then your website may be removed altogether.

What does it mean to disavow backlinks?

If your website was affected by the Google Penguin updates, or has been hit by a penalty lately, then you really should consult with a respected white hat seo agency.

They will be able to tell you whether your backlinks should be disavowed, which means a request is sent to Google to ask them to ignore some of your business’s backlinks.

However, this should only be done by an expert, as disavowing the wrong links, well this could cause more of a problem.

Why should my SEO business be checking our backlinks on a regular basis?

If your website accumulates spam links, or your building low quality backlinks, this can result in a penalty being incurred.

With this in mind, your SEO agency should be checking your businesses backlinks. That’s to say if spam links, or low-quality backlinks are spotted, well your seo company should be doing something about this.

Does your business require help with its seo, then why not give us a ring?