SEO Writing Tips: 3 Ways Google’s Penguin 2.0 Algorithm Update Affects How SEO Content Is Written

June 17, 2013 - PRLog -- The rules of SEO writing changed – dramatically in my opinion—when Google did its Penguin 2.0 algorithm change in May of 2013. If you’re a freelance writer who specializes in providing this type of content, following are three of the most important things you need to know.

Search Engine-Optimized Content: 3 New Guidelines to Keep in Mind

I. Keywords are No Longer the Focus: At least not the primary focus. Why? Because after digging through a lot of data, Google’s research team found that getting a site to rank high based solely on targeting keywords is pretty easy to do. They also found that many spammers use this technique – turning out a lot of garbage content quickly.

So the search giant decided to make it harder to rank solely based on targeting keywords and churning out content. They not only want variety in the keywords you use in your content. And, they also want you to start using branded anchor text.

II. Anchor Text: Piggybacking on the last point, there are two changes the Penguin 2.0 update addressed as it relates to anchor text.

(i) No more using the same keyword over and over again as your anchor text: For the same reason that Google doesn’t want you filling your site with content that has one or a few keywords targeted, they don’t want to see this practice in anchor text either. Again, they want variety; and

(ii) No more using exact match anchor text: Spam sites are notorious for this. You see, a lot of exact match anchor text is not grammatically correct. But, because these keyword phrases get a lot of searches, many (spammers) would use them anyway.

Now, Google is like, “No way Jose are we going to reward you for this practice. The rationale behind this is that no legitimate business wants misspelled or grammatically incorrect copy on their website. So if you’re doing this, it’s a red flag, and your site could sink in rankings.

III. Backlinks: The whole point of the Penguin 2.0 algorithm update, according to Google’s SEO guru, Matt Cutts, was to penalize sites that use black hat SEO tactics and reward those that offer genuine value to web surfers. Cutts continued on, explaining that the ultimate goal was to cut back on link spamming and hacking, while giving webmasters the tools they needed to fix hacked sites.

The bottom line is, how you build backlinks is being closely watched and if you have a lot of low-quality and/or non-relevant backlinks to your site, you could be in trouble.

Google is even watching how fast you build backlinks, ie, your link velocity. Proof? The Huffington Post article, Penguin 2.0: What Likely Changed and How to Recover, explains it, stating:

"If a newer website suddenly experiences spikes where numerous links are acquired over night [sic], this serves as a red flag to Google, making it more likely the site will get "sandboxed." Search Engine Watch demonstrated this phenomenon on a line graph where any more than 75 links a day were ignored by Google."

Insight on How to Recover from Penguin 2.0

We only covered three of the changes you should be aware of as an SEO writer brought on by Penguin. There are other secondary ones, eg, producing quality content (this is a foundational part of writing for SEO); working to "earn" (not buy or exchange) backlinks from quality blogs; setting up your Google Author profile; etc.

The point is, it’s getting harder to rank well in SERPs, which spells opportunity for web writers who stay abreast of the changes in search engine optimization because your expertise will be more desired than ever.
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About the Author: Yuwanda Black has been a freelance writer since 1993. She heads New Media Words, an SEO writing company she founded in 2008. She's also the author of over 50 ebooks, which cover topics such as freelance writing, how to write SEO content (http://inkwelleditorial.com/seo-content-writing-package), self-publishing and online / affiliate marketing. They can all be found on InkwellEditorial.com, her website devoted to helping others start successful, home-based, freelance writing careers.