Ross Monaghan of Zeon Solutions explains what algorithm changes Google has made in the past few years. Why they made them and how you can deal with it.

1. Algo’s or Mammals?
Ross Monaghan
OCTOBER 11, 2012
SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING
© ZEON SOLUTIONS INC.

2. About Me
• Director of Search Engine Marketing
• 6+ Years Experience
• Global Optimization Experience
• B2B & B2C Small - Fortune 50-1000 Clients
• Connect via LinkedIn or @rossmonaghan

4. Periodic Table for “SEO”

5. Panda

6. Penguin

7. Exact Match Domains (EMD)

8. Exact Match Domains (EMD)

9. Above-the-fold Algorithm

11. Definitions please…

12. Panda

13. Panda Vulnerabilities
Targets: Content
• Low quality content
• Thin content
• Duplicate Content
• Low engagement rates on page or site (high bounce
rates, low time on site, etc.)
• Lack of original content
• High amount of irrelevant adverts
• High % of boilerplate content

14. Panda Timeline
• Panda Update 1.0, Feb. 24, 2011 (11.8% of queries; announced; English in US only)
• Panda Update 2.0, April 11, 2011 (2% of queries; announced; rolled out in English internationally)
• Panda Update 2.1, May 10, 2011 (no change given; confirmed, not announced)
• Panda Update 2.2, June 16, 2011 (no change given; confirmed, not announced)
• Panda Update 2.3, July 23, 2011 (no change given; confirmed, not announced)
• Panda Update 2.4, Aug. 12, 2011 (6-9% of queries in many non-English languages; announced)
• Panda Update 2.5, Sept. 28, 2011 (no change given; confirmed, not announced)
• Panda Update 3.0, Oct. 19, 2011 (about 2% of queries; belatedly confirmed)
• Panda Update 3.1, Nov. 18, 2011: (less than 1% of queries; announced)
• Panda Update 3.2, Jan. 18, 2012 (no change given; confirmed, not announced)
• Panda Update 3.3, Feb. 27, 2012 (no change given; announced)
• Panda Update 3.4, March 23, 2012 (about 1.6% of queries impacted; announced)
• Panda Update 3.5, April 19, 2012 (no change given; belatedly revealed)
• Panda Update 3.6, April 27, 2012: (no change given; confirmed; first update within days of another)
• Panda Update 3.7, June 9, 2012: (1% of queries; belatedly announced)
• Panda Update 3.8, June 25, 2012: (about 1% of queries; announced)
• Panda Update 3.9, July 24, 2012:(about 1% of queries; announced)
• Panda Update 3.91, Aug. 20, 2012: (about 1% of queries; belatedly announced)
• Panda Update 3.92, Sept. 18, 2012: (less than 0.7% of queries; announced)

15. Have you have been Panda Kicked?
• Check organic traffic on dates of algo changes
• Analyze Webmaster Tools Impression Share
• Analyze Rank Changes for Top KW’s

16. Ok…I was hit…HELP!
• Isolate problem
• Which pages were affected
• Find pages which were not affected and
identify differences
• Analyze content vs. quality high ranking sites
• Remove weak content
• Edit “over-optimized” data to be user rich

17. Penguin

18. Penguin Vulnerabilities
Targets: Webspam
• Unnatural inbound links
– Exact same anchor text as on-page optimization
– Irrelevant sources of inbound link
– Paid links using exact match anchor text
• Over Optimization
– Spammy title tags
– Keyword stuffing
• Low-quality article marketing & blog spam

19. PenguinTimeline
• Penguin 1.0 April 24, 2012

20. Have I been hit by Penguin?
• Check dates associated with algorithm
updates or Matt Cutts tweets 
• Significant traffic or ranking changes
• Webmaster Tools direct messages

22. Panda & Penguin
• Updates have been rolled out periodically
• Don’t hack your links
• Don’t waste time changing content
Until…
You have truly identified which algorithm you
have been impacted by…otherwise you are
WASTING your time

23. Final Thoughts…
• Focus on developing content to support a
fantastic user experience that is useful,
sharable, or insightful
• Leverage the entire marketing mix to
support digital efforts
• Target the user and NOT the search engine

24. Thank You
Additional Questions or Need Support:
Ross Monaghan
Director, Search Engine Marketing
Zeon Solutions, Inc.
www.zeonsolutions.com
ross.monaghan@zeonsolutions.com
Twitter: @rossmonaghan
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rossmonaghans