Google's Penguin and your search result
The answer may be an evil penguin. In the Batman series, the evil penguin - one of batman's oldest foes – is a criminal mastermind who carries an innocuous looking umbrella.
However, his umbrellas are full of high-tech gadgetry that may unleash a flamethrower or a rain of bullets on his enemies at any moment.
For Google, Penguin is a recent algorithm update. This algorithm is used to determine its organic search listing results. It's championed by Google as an algorithm that will help eliminate spam and encourage quality website content for its users.
Penguin has resulted in a greater focus on geo-targeted search results. So, if you're in Brisbane searching for a restaurant, local eateries will be displayed. Great! But, dig a little deeper and that shiny umbrella may throw a nasty flame.
After the introduction of Google's Penguin algorithm, your business which was once near the top of the list in Google's search engine results, may now be at the bottom of the pile.
For instance, let's say you own an Engineering firm, based in Brisbane, with clientele coming from as far as Redland City and the Gold Coast. You've invested in a website with quality content and good SEO keywords. For search terms like structural or civil engineering, boilermakers or fitter and turners you may have been ranked near the top of the first page of search results appearing on Google.
Now, if somebody searches for your business outside of Brisbane your site may not appear.
This is made worse because 30 – 40 per cent of Google searches today are being performed on mobile devices that default to location based searchers. It can spell disaster for your web traffic and your business.
Website Essentials Managing Director Mark Tull whose company specialises in SEO, says Google's algorithm change forces companies to invest heavily in Google Adwords.
"Some businesses suffered a 50 per cent decline in their SEO web traffic since the Penguin update in May (this is where a penguin turned into a panda)."
"In one case, a company dropped 53 pages based on some search terms and more than ten places overall."
"So, instead of appearing on the first page of Google results, they're now appearing on page three or four, a disastrous result for their web traffic and sales leads."
"If businesses want to appear in specific locations, they are forced to use Google Adwords. This amounts to Google monetising search terms for its existing organic customers."
Mark said that businesses should check to see if there has recently been a major drop in visitors to their site and should make sure they have Google and Bing registrations, XML sitemap registration and full page SEO.
He said by doing this Google knows you are open for business.
"There's no point setting up a website and not telling anyone you're here. You need to talk to Google, in their language, so they know you're credible and open for business," he said.
At Sustainable Marketing we believe you should optimise your website for SEO to increase your probability of success. We have organised an exclusive offer through The Web Essentials team to help you optimise your website performance.