• Over the past three months, Google has been refining its algorithm with updates named after animals. The first major update was Panda, and the most recent was Penguin.
• Both updates threw the SEO world into a frenzy; websites that once enjoyed top positions on Google have been penalized for infractions such as keyword stuffing, low quality links, over-usage of repetitive anchor text and even thin content.
• Many companies believe that having hundreds of inbound links is the magic answer to getting a top ranking, but Google prefers quality links over quantity. For example, Google puts very little value – if any at all – on links that go into your website that originate from a websites whose business categories are unrelated to yours. These are called “unnatural links” and may result in a ranking penalty.
While these algorithm overhauls started in April, ongoing refreshes – much like after-shocks of an earthquake – are expected to continue through-out July and the coming months ahead. If you’ve noticed a dip in your website
