Links: Where We Are. Where We Are Going. A Look at Google Algorithms, SEO, and Links.

#EngagePDX @schachin Kristine Schachinger
Links Where We Were.
Where We Are Going.
Kristine@SitesWithoutWalls.com

Links are used by Google to help assess
site “authority” and topical relevancy.
Algorithms - Penguin

According to Google
Content + Links = Top Two Ranking Factors

Link Profiles.

Link Profiles

Pay for Play Links.

Along Comes Penguin.

Penguin

Penguin was not just a link spam algorithm it
was an “over optimization” devaluation
based on the Webmaster Guidelines!

Penguin was about webspam, but it was
especially devastating for links.

Penguin 2.0-3.x was angry!

Penguin devalued entire sites!
This was new.

https://goo.gl/images/EdNn4V

You could not recover until the algorithm
ran again

Penguin was also slow… to update

Penguin
- Google Penguin 1.1: March 26 2012
- Google Penguin 1.2 October 5, 2012
- Google Penguin 2.0 May 22, 2013
- Google Penguin 2.1: October 4, 2013
- Google Penguin 4.0: September 23, 2016

- Google Penguin 1.1: March 26 2012
- Google Penguin 1.2 October 5, 2012
5 MONTHS BETWEEN UPDATES
- Google Penguin 2.0 May 22, 2013
6 MONTHS BETWEEN UPDATES
1 YEAR BETWEEN UPDATES
2 YEARS BETWEEN UPDATES
- Google Penguin 4.0: September 23, 2016

Penguin Goes Real Time.

Real Time Penguin
RealTime no longer required rollouts to recover.

Penguin 4.0 (Real-time)
Rollout: Approximately September 23, 2016 It also rolled out in several phases
completing these rollouts the second week of October.
Penguin

Penguin 4.0 (Real-time)
New version of Penguin was very different from the old in there is not a focus
on whole site website demotion, more granular links devaluation.
In addition the links are being evaluated in “real time” and so changes to link
profiles will be assessed quickly.
Penguin

Real Time Penguin
Google switched its link focus to the source site.

Penguin
https://searchengineland.com/google-penguin-looks-mostly-link-source-says-google-260902

Focus NOW: Mostly links (but also other Web Spam Factors).
Sites are no longer demoted in search, links from source sites are devalued.
Links are devalued?
This means their value (passed Page Rank) to the site is removed from the site’s scoring.
In the past, the entire site was demoted in the SERPs.
This is no longer the case most of the time.
Penguin

Devaluations are much more granular
• Query Set
• Page Level
• Section Level
• NOT TYPICALLY Site Level
This makes them harder to detect as their will be a slower decline in
smaller sections of the site, rather than a distinct fall-off cliff as in
previous rollouts. Also “real-time” application.
Penguin

If you have not recovered from fixes to a Penguin update,
make sure you have also “acquired” replacement links.
Without replacing the lost link values the site could be free
of Penguin, but appear to be still demoted.
Penguin

Cliff vs. Slope
Penguin

Off-Site Devaluations
Devaluations can affect you if they hit other sites. If the sites that
link to you have their links devalued, then that link juice cannot be
passed.
Penguin

Link Free for All?
Manual Actions have taken over for Penguin
Devaluations, but they experiment on those thresholds.
Penguin

Penguin
According to Google.
No machine learning in
Penguin, no AI.
https://twitter.com/methode/status/785621866035548160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsearchengineland.com%2Fa-penguins-tale-260981

Penguin 4.0 and Link Labels.

Algorithms – Other Penguin Changes
https://searchengineland.com/a-penguins-tale-260981

Mobile First Indexing

Mobile First Indexing & Links.

Algorithms – Mobile First
Reference: CindyCrum https://moz.com/blog/mobile-first-indexing-seo

Link profiles values will be taken from your
mobile and desktop sites, not just mobile.

If you have an m. it will be very important to
make sure you have your rel=”alternative” /
rel=“canonical” tags set up properly.

Disavow

Do You Need One?

Do you need one?
Depends. Google says you only “NEED” one if
you have a manual action.
But ….
Disavow

Better Question.
Should you use one?
Yes.
Disavow

Why ? Examples.
• Letting Google know you don’t want certain links that
are pointed at your site to count
• Negative SEO attacks
• Links you know will get devalued later
• Bad link practices you are cleaning up BEFORE you get
a manual action
Disavow

Preventing Manual Actions.
When you submit a disavow the links get internally labeled as
such.
If you get flagged for a manual action and you have Penguin
labeled links that match the disavow, the reviewer knows to
ignore them.
Disavow

TIP. Remember Google looks at the portion of good links
compared to the portion of bad links.
So having bad links is normal.
Having 60%+ bad links is not.
Disavow

Disavow
Example.

Disavow
https://searchengineland.com/a-penguins-tale-260981

Can You Rank Without Links?

Can you rank a site without links?
Depends.
Ranking Without Links

You can rank for long tail queries.

Should you try to rank without links?
Probably not.

Links that aren’t links?

When is a link not a link?
When it is a citation and/or mention.
Citations & mentions can carry “link” value.

https://searchengineland.com/gary-illyes-ask-anything-smx-east-285706

Google is like a human.
If you want a human to remember you, you strategize to
get exposure so they see your name.
Google reacts to brand mentions similarly. It also can
create new keywords/queries for the site.

https://www.stonetemple.com/does-google-use-online-brand-mentions-for-search-ranking-eric-enge-with-gary-illyes-at-pubcon-2017/

Is this mentioned elsewhere?
Yes.

Where Google discusses unlinked mentions as ”links”.
- Panda Patent
- Google Quality Raters Guide (in reputation)
And Bing
Duane Forester formerly of Bing mentioned the search engine
has been using it for some time along with brand sentiment.

Sentiment.

Links: Where We Are. Where We Are Going. A Look at Google Algorithms, SEO, and Links.

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