In either the case of the Panda or the Penguin, humans apparently are not necessary.

Google, trying to fight webspam tactics, created the Panda algorithm – sans humans for interaction – as a way to fight against over-optimization, and keep search engine optimization on the allegedly straight and narrow path.

Google says it’s targeting low quality web sites which don’t play by rules normally adhered to by proper ladies and gentlemen. Click here to view Google’s guidelines. But, the result is many good guys are getting caught in Google’s net and causing headaches even for legitimate web sites seeking legitimate results.

The Panda did not work effectively; the Penguin update is supposed to take over from the Panda and be more effective. Some results showed Panda algorithms effected 22% of queries while causing heartburn for SEO programs, but the new and improved Penguin affects only 3% of queries to fight what the bird-which-cannot-fly thinks is spam.

Estimates are the overall effect on search queries will be lower with Penguin than Panda, and Panda is not all gone, but the Penguin update seems to have in place strategies to wipe out real spam altogether with no manual (human) intervention

The lack of human intervention means if your SEO program was hit by the Penguin and you sent a request to Google Webmaster for reconsideration, the chances are very low of getting your request reconsidered since there is no human behind the penalties. It is an actual algorithm change taking place automatically.

So, what to do? One way is to post in the webmaster forum about your problem and hope for a reply. This should occur quickly, because you would want to explain to Google as to what your end-user/customer is missing instead of what you have lost due to the Penguin penalty on the site. You can also follow our tips on how to recover from the Penguin update.

This brings to the forefront of the discussion of what’s the most important: while many bury themselves in the technical details of it all – very easy to do – the main focus should always be what is best for the goals of the customer, either through driving revenues or driving responses as a result of your SEO program. All animal and fowl names, algorithms, and non-human intervention aside, customer results are what matters most; the rest can just be debated nearly endlessly.

Don’t worry it’s not the end of the world.  Take a deep breathe, relax and keep reading this article to learn how to recover from the Google Penguin update.

Webspam or search spam was targeted.

Many of the sites didn’t follow Google’s Guidelines.

1. Keyword stuffed their websites, links, content, meta tags
2. Participated in link schemes or link wheels
3. Had a large amount of low quality websites linking to them
4. Purposefully duplicated content to boost their rankings
5. Cloaked sites, redirected in a sneaky way or had some doorway pages for search

Tips on how to recover from the Penguin Update

Keep in mind Matt Cutts himself encourages SEO.  So SEO isn’t bad.  It’s the shortcuts that are targeted and the shortcuts that are bad.  High quality fresh content with quality backlinks that provide valuable resourceful information is the key.

1. If you feel you were unjustly de-ranked you can click here to submit to Google for reconsideration.
2. Submit a newsworthy press release, get it written professional, yes it is expensive, but you will get great press and tons of quality backlinks.
3. Get quality backlinks, I am going to say this again QUALITY.  You can check your backlinks here don’t buy the full version, save your money. Don’t buy them.  Get creative.  Do something newsworthy, write a funny article, share a funny picture, go viral, have fun, market creatively.  That’s the best way to build links by not actually building links.
4. Blog your ass off.  Or hire a professional blogger to write great original content for your website and your blog.  Share these posts via Social Media websites, it’s not too hard to setup a social media dashboard and funnel your blog content to multiple networks.
5. Fix all onsite issues with your website, does it validate?  You can check here.  Is it easy to use?  Does it load quickly, you can check here.  Is it easy to navigate?  Are there any dead spots for the user?
6. Stop taking shortcuts and be patient.  Good SEO takes time.  Good SEO doesn’t tank when updates are released.  Be patient and work hard and you will be rewarded.

Keep in mind many websites were wrongly de-ranked, after all it’s a computer program that was responsible if you feel you were unjustly de-ranked you can click here to submit to Google for reconsideration.