Update:
As we all know the last few months have been difficult for many of us in the SEO world. Many have lost their incomes, or watched them shrink. Penguin came along and was the nail in the coffin so to speak. This update was probably one of the most devastating SEO updates in the history of the industry, at least the most devastating update I have ever seen.
Now a couple weeks later, the dust is starting to settle a bit, and we are starting to figure out what it is that Google wants. What does Google want? Fundamentally it is what they have wanted all along: quality relevant links. That and natural anchor text profiles.
There is a great article by Microsite Masters, which not only confirms what I have we have been telling people for months, but also backs their findings up with actual data (rare in the SEO world). If you haven't read the article yet
click here (I am helping them diversify their anchor text profile
.
If you are too lazy to read, here is a synopsis for you. What they found is that websites that had anchor text profiles with less than 50% generic anchor text terms (
www.website.com, website.com, site name,
http://www.website.com, click here, learn more, etc..) were more likely to lose rankings with this update. They also showed that relevant links in the same niche are far more important than none relevant links, and sites with high amounts of non relevant links got hit the hardest. So in short it is important to variate your anchor text, and place your links on relevant websites.
So what does this mean for my service? Well as I mentioned above, we did see a good amount of clients get hit with this update. We also had many clients gain rankings. I have also analyzed many link profiles from clients, and came to the same conclusions that Micro Masters did well before their article came out. It just really helps having data to backup your findings.
As previously mentioned, we saw the writing on the wall when the first algorithm iteration started at the end of January and started testing our current methods. On the 20 sites we tested, none have been affected by any of these updates. Most importantly, none were affected by the Penguin update. As of March 28, we moved over to our new strategies, and so far things are doing well.
So what does this mean for our clients? Since this latest update, it is really important to be smart about your SEO strategies. The days of blasting links with the same keyword in the anchor text are over. Therefore, we need to make specific rules from here on out in order for new clients to qualify for our service.
Below are our new guidelines:
- If your site is not up to par with it's on page optimization, we can not take it on until you fix it. For example, if you site is a crappy Word Press site, with one page of spun article. No go. Don't be lazy. Your website is like your house. Would you live in a house that is missing walls or toilets don't flush? Treat your website the same. If you don't understand what is important as far as on page, then do some research. On page is one of the easiest and most important aspects of SEO that you actually have control over.
- If your link profile is crappy, or your site has been hit already, we can't make any promises. We have been working on quite a few previously hit sites, and seeing some good recovery, but it certainly takes time. So if you are going to order this service and your site got hit, or gets hit in the first month or so, don't expect it to recover overnight. It will take time.
- Expect to stay AT LEAST 3 months if not longer. Our new methods build links much slower than we used to in order to keep the link velocity as natural looking as possible. If you want to build a solid foundation of links, you should expect to stay long term. Most of my contracts outside of BHW are for at least 6 months. If you are a short term thinker, and think that you can get top 3 position in 3 months, don't even waste your time contacting me. This is the most common mentality I see with people on this forum. They expect miracles in less than 3 months. It just isn't always possible in three months, especially now. If your a short term thinker, and don't understand at least the fundamentals of SEO, this service is definitely not for you.
As usual, if anyone has any questions, please contact me.
