Google recently implemented changes to their algorithms, collectively know as the “Penguin” update. Some of you may be aware of these changes and you may have heard rumors about how this may negatively impact your Google ranking. Some of you may not have heard about these changes. The following is a quick summary of the changes, some links to more information, and CIWebGroup’s commentary on these changes.  According to Google, these changes will affect 3.1% of queries in English to a degree that a regular user might notice.

In February, Google released “Panda,” a set of changes designed to weed out companies that were trying to improve their Google rankings through tricks and techniques that did not reflect rankings based on quality.  On April 24th, Google released “Penguin” which is designed to discourage over-optimization like exchanging low quality links and keyword stuffing.

[hozbreak]

There are tons of links out there talking about Penguin, however, deciphering which links are relevant can be a challenge.  Here are some links we consider to be of value.

[hozbreak]

http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2012/04/another-step-to-reward-high-quality.html (official announcement)

[hozbreak]

We, at CIWebGroup have always encouraged fresh and relevant content as the single best thing you can do to improve your web ranking. In addition, we do not encourage any of the “black hat” methodologies that would cause your website to be penalized. Our goal is to improve the usability of your site, encourage design that is Google friendly, and encourage content that is relevant and fresh, and is accurately described by the keywords, tags, and other embedded information used by search engines.

[hozbreak]