The online repertoire of your website and essentially the trust and authority of your brand on the web serves of utmost importance to current and potential customers. Trust and authority new and existing customers with stronger brand engagement. However, the latest round of Google’s Penguin algorithmic update may potentially jeopardize the pre-existing positive marketplace perception you’ve already worked so hard for in creating.
In reality, a vast majority of website owners who continuously seem disinterested in Google’s tactics are still overlooking the importance of such intricate algorithmic update. Brand trust and authority on the web is in part established thru the reflections of other supportive entities that compliment your brand in some form or fashion. Google Penguin focus resides around backlink profile interpretation and spammy sites who may be attempting to game the index by diluting the quality of search results. So, in essence if your website domain shows signs of association with potential spammy sites in the eyes of Google, an incurred penalty may result in fluctuation of inbound traffic or loss in rankings within the SERPs.
Now, let’s break down that last sentence for a second though to paint some additional clarity around the importance of the latest Google Penguin update. Why in the world would spammy websites link back to yours? The simple answer is a variety of reasons of which some remain unexplained. Perhaps, an attempt to create relativity or steal some of that valuable link juice. If Google identifies association of your website domain with spammy websites, it could potentially invoke an unintended penalty resulting in a drop of inbound traffic. Trust and authority stands of utmost importance to Google for one simple reason. User satisfaction! Therefore, if Google serves up spammy content and links to such sites in relation to user search queries then its users will turn away from using the site as a search tool and go elsewhere. This particular determining factor may seem quite simple but in the grand scheme of things it’s precisely what attributes to Google’s domination of over 70% of the search market share as it stands.
Assessing a Potential Google Penguin 3.0 Penalty
While there are additional determining factors and correlations to be assessed in further detail to determine a potentially incurred penalty as result of this algorithmic update, there are a couple of areas in particular you can dive into deeper to locate a potential slap on the wrist by Google.
- Check for Manual Action – Google Webmaster Tools is an excellent resource for proactive monitoring of overall website performance. Under the ‘Search Traffic’ section of a website profile you’ll find the ‘Manual Action’ area. It is wise to maintain a pulse on this particular area at all times to ensure full compliance with Google Webmaster Guidelines.
- Google Penguin Penalty Checker Tool – the ReConsideration tool is another excellent resource for identifying potential traffic fluctuation as result of a Google Penguin 3.0 algo update. From a visual perspective it can create a portrait of sampled data to identify any correlation to the algo update.
- Backlink Profile Audit – as a highly suggested route, for the sake of your brand’s interpretation in the search marketplace and retaining its trust and authority, it’s imperative to consider a full Link Audit.
So, the big question to ask here. How much do you value the trust and authority of your brand?