Alright, you’ve already heard about the recent Penguin 2.0 update but what are you going to do about it? Do you have any reasons to be worried? Do you have a game plan in place?
Are you concerned how Matt Cutts looks strikingly similar to Darth Vader in his recent Penguin update video? (Scroll down to the bottom of this post for the full Vader-Cutts comparison)
*See bottom of this post for 5 irrefutable comparisons between Cutts & Vader.
We’ve Got Some Data Now
As expected, there have been some early losers with the 5/22 Penguin 2.0 rollout but rest assured, there is much more to come this summer. In fact, Cutts said the following in his video:
“We’re also looking at some ways to go upstream to deny the value to link spammers–some people who spam links in various ways. We’ve got some nice ideas on trying to make sure that that becomes less effective and so we expect that that will roll out over the next few months as well. And in fact, we’re working on a completely different system that does more sophisticated link analysis. We’re still in the early days for that, but it’s pretty exciting. We’ve got some data now that we’re ready to start munging and see how good it looks and we’ll see whether that bears fruit or not”. [Matt Cutts, video segment 3:12-3:43]
The True 2.0
So what data is he referring to? Could it be all those domains we’ve been sending to the Google Disavow Links tool? Yes, it would certainly seem so. For months now, SEOs and business owners have been sending a steady stream of URLs to Google Webmaster Tools and essentially “tattling” on undesirable link sources. Whatever new information Google has up their sleeve, they’ve felt confident in calling this release the “the true 2.0” – not just an incremental iteration of the original 2012 Penguin.
Tips & Resources
But before you panic, take a look at this great list of resources to help you prepare for this summer’s Penguin 2.0 updates:
The video that started it all. – What should we expect in the next few months in terms of SEO for Google?
Marc Geeenwald from i7marketing.com – It’s about the links pointing to your so check out your site with the Panguin tool (this is not a typo).
Roy Reyer from seotraingsw.com – 3 strategies to beat the update
Upstream Linking, Becoming Awesome and Building your Brand. Ellis McGrath from searchenginejournal.com – Are you Ready to Take the Big Blow
Amberly Dressler websitemageazine.com – Avoid Google Penguin 2.0 Slowdowns
Barry Schwartz – seoroundtable.com – It will be Big!
Jody Nimetz from meditative.com – The End of Traditional Link Building
Shay from salesrenewal.com – Three Ways to Prepare for Penguin 2.0
From seo-assistant.com – 8 must do steps to get ready for Penguin 2.0!
Judy Riojas from drumbeatmarketing.net – What Can it Mean for You
Eric Enge from searchenginewatch.com – Forewarning: The Google Perspective on Links
Manish Dudharejia from e2msolutions.com – 8 Pro Tips to Dodge Penguin
Joshua Gill from inboundauthority.com – Are You Ready?
Harry Clark from Cyberduck.co.uk – Summer Fun with Penguin 2.0
Laura Crest from seocopywriting.com – Should you Rewrite Your Evergreen Site Copy?
Kev Massey from seo3d.org – Penguin 2.0 and Future Google Updates
Gareth Cartman from cleverlittledesign.co.uk – Penguin 2.0 is on it’s way…best to stay indoors
Eric Siu from entrepreneur.com – What to Expect
Neil Patel from quicksprout.com – How Guest Blogging Will be Affected
Joel who is the best looking man in the world from his post on myopenletters.com – Breaking the News to Clients
Rosh Sillars from roshsillars.com – Should you be worried (Podcast)
Pete Campbell – You’ll love this. Has Penguin Hit Yet
Check out this Google Penalty Checker
Back to the Important Matt Cutts / Darth Vader Comparison
- Cutts is trying the Vader choke-hold on all link spammers, via YouTube.
- They are both wearing jet-black.
- That seemingly innocent Firefox logo on Cutts’ shirt is nothing less than a planet being engulfed by flames (young Anakin probably sported similar threads before turning to the dark side).
- Vader is in the Death Star en route to destroy the planet Alderaan. Behind Matt is a Google map of a large continent, quite possibly a target for total annihilation with Penguin 2.1.
- Neither Cutts or Vader are wearing Google Glass.