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I have been reviewing the new Google Penguin updates to the famous Google algorithm over the past few days.  For those who have not heard of the Google Penguin updates, these are the newest change to the Google Algorithm.  Google changes their algorithm for search every day, but the changes over the past few days are some of the largest changes, since Google Panda last year.

What does Google Penguin mean to your online marketing efforts?

First, it is time to put to bed all of the old ideas of how we get terrific search traffic. Google stated that original, quality content is the key to search engine traffic. Those who want to use black hat techniques such as spun articles or shared articles are no longer useful. Instead, it is crucial that you have unique content that has not been duplicated elsewhere. Spun articles that make no sense are being targeted as well, since these articles generally make no sense.

The cool part is that this is exactly why my blog has been about for the past two years. Fresh, cool content 5-6 times a week. Rock on me!

Second, while this was release came earlier in the year Google is no longer allowing sites that are just ad havens to dominate the rankings. They are actually measuring how much of the content you have above the fold is actually content and not just marketing.

They even created a tool to help you evaluate this information more effectively.  It shows how much of your site will show above the fold for various browser sizes.It is really cool and useful tool that shows you how of much of your content is above the fold, or the point where users can see your site without having to scroll down. This is great for those looking to monetize their site as well.

Third, the power of backlinks is diminishing more and more. Google has been cutting down on linking schemes more and more over the past few months. While unsavory backlinks have always been discouraged, they have made some huge moves in this direction over the past month. The biggest move was when they De-indexed all backlinks from link farm BuildMyRank. This was a blog network where your content could get shown on hundreds of other blogs and give you valuable backlinks. Unfortunately, for those owners Google decided that these links were unethical and De-indexed the entire network.

What Can You Do About Google Penguin?

First, stop any black hat methods immediately. Start actually writing content at least once a week that is fresh and useful to your readers. If you need help creating fresh content then take advantage of my low SEO content post rates before they go up in the beginning of May. Contact me for more information about these campaigns.

Second, focus on keyword research. The ability to understand which keywords can provide quality traffic is a trick that can take time to master. Definitely use the Google Keyword Tool to find the best keywords available. That way you will not only be writing great content, but content that gets found as well.

Third, stay up to date on what is going on with Google. It is not possible to keep up with every change they make, but it is definitely advisable to keep up with the big updates like Panda and Penguin. If you need some additional help with the most recent update stay tuned for my new Blog Traffic Mafia. This product will go into detail about how to create a site around quality that also adheres to Google Penguins rules.

Google Penguin=Quality Content

Google Penguin is all about Google attempting to clean out their search engines of sites that do not help users. Instead, they are looking for the sites that have the absolute best content available. While these changes are not ground-breaking, it is Google new changes which officially mark the beginning of the end for the big SEO companies that would create thousands of links for their customers to push them to the top of the search rankings. They have taken a lot of marketers to their knees and asked that they we hail the Google Penguin and his Queen Content.