Gray hats seem to be focusing on content post Penguin.

Hey everyone.

I haven't done any personal testing regarding Penguin but I own an article writing business and most of my high-volume clients are white to gray hats and post Penguin they have increased their article size from an usual 600-700 to 800-1200. In recent days they have also given orders to decrease the amount of keywords in any given article.

On average it's 3-4/800 words and 5-7 per 1200.



Have any of you guys taken this route ?
It's obviously too soon to tell if something like this would have an effect but from what I read some people suggest that Penguin is heavily influenced by content. But once again I haven't done any personal testing so this is just what I gathered from a change in trend when it comes to some of my customers.

I have decreased keyword density as well.

But at the same time, I am noticing sites that had a higher keyword density than mine and they were unfazed.

_clicking_ said:

I have decreased keyword density as well.

But at the same time, I am noticing sites that had a higher keyword density than mine and they were unfazed.

Click to expand...

I've noticed this as well. One of the sites I always keep track of has an average kw density of 6.5% and is unfazed

I've noticed adding content to my sites has helped to restore rankings after Panda 3.5

I have been doing the same. My articles have been 1000+ words per page and with a keyword density of less than 1%.

That seems to work well for me.

But I also see a lot of websites ranking well with hardly any words and mostly images. they must have established some authority to get away with that.

The articles on my site range form as few as 50 words to as many as 5,000. I really don't worry about the length, longer the better, but if all I have to say about a topic if 100 words, then its fine and the page always get indexed and I don't even have to link to it.

the_demon said:

I've noticed adding content to my sites has helped to restore rankings after Panda 3.5

Click to expand...

How much content did you add?

Yup, that's the general idea people are going for. Adding more or replacing the bad content (if its just a site with a few articles, micro) and reducing the keyword density.

Also it is a good idea to future-proof your articles. When you rewrite stuff don't do it word by word, Google will get smarter eventually (if it isn't already) and your content will become worthless then. Be smart and do it properly now so that your passive income will last longer in the future.

This thread has motivated me to add new content to my site and to rewrite some of the pages I was superficial about. I guess I'll write longer articles (500+ words).

I suspect they are speculating, like many others recently.
Even Google doesn't know what they did.

I have a lot of websites, and the backlinking/content is ranging from pure blasts to pure white hat. Not a single one was affected, so my speculation on the issue - Penguin doesn't exist.

Edit: just remembered - my girlfriend's site was affected apparently, but it was very easy to recover. I dont know if was the Penguin or just some glitch in the system.

Another thing that might seem obvious is focus on quality. People go for the $1 or $2 article and that's fine if you're looking at the short term, flipping for example. IF you want passive income go for quality content, this is what I always tell to my new clients, even after I've landed them. Part of the reason why the content industry is so screwed up is because the writers ruined it.

If the industry standard for an article was $2 for 100 words and nobody lowered it, it would still be there and there would be a lot of quality content suppliers out there, but there were certain people that were ready to do anything to make a buck and I hate to tell you this but it's a bad business model, it won't work.

Even if you use crap content for flipping sites you will never get the reputation of a good seller, that's the same as being an used car salesman and selling cars that break apart 2 months after someone bought them. For passive SEO income quality content that will stand the test of time is essential. The clients are not at fault for buying crap, most of them at least, the writers are. A good writer is someone who would use the same content they sell to their clients for their own sites, a good writer educates their clients about the importance of quality content and doesn't price himself into oblivion.