The entire internet marketing world is buzzing about Google’s Penguin 2.0 search engine algorithm update.  Were you affected? Are you wondering what to do now?

I was on the phone the other day with a Main Street Inner Circle member who was upset and scared.  She was pleading with me saying she had no idea the SEO company she hired was going to get her website kicked out of Google.  I really felt awful for her because she thought she was “playing by the rules,” but unfortunately there was nothing I could do. The damage had been done by yet another shady SEO company.

One of the reasons I started Main Street ROI and why we’re dedicated to educating and training business owners is because of all the horror stories I’ve heard about people getting ripped off or taken advantage of.  There’s so much misinformation flying around online that it’s hard to distinguish the facts from opinions.

So today I want  to help you figure out whether you or your SEO company is doing a good job with your SEO.  Or whether you may be at risk of getting penalized or kicked out of Google’s search results.  This is a tiny bit technical, but if you can use Excel then you should be able to run this analysis easily.

 

The Post Penguin 2.0 SEO Audit

Here’s what I recommend you do to check the health of your SEO campaign:

  1. Go to OpenSiteExplorer.org (if you don’t yet have an account, then sign up here first and log in: https://moz.com/community/join)
  2. Type your domain into the search box (i.e. www.yourdomain.com) and then click Search
  3. Click the link that says “Export to CSV” to export all of your links.  Then you can open them up in Excel or some other spreadsheet program.
  4. Review your link profile.

 

Not sure how to review your link profile?  Here’s what you’re looking for:

  1. Do you have links from other websites?  If not, then your SEO company is not doing anything for you.
  2. Are most of your links from just a few domains?  Domain diversity is an important factor because it tells Google a lot of different websites “like” you.  In turn, that helps your rankings because it shows that you’re a respected website.
  3. Are most of your links “self-created.”  In other words are they from blog comments you wrote, articles you wrote and posted in article directory websites, or blog posts on websites you created yourself?  That’s a huge red flag and this is what Penguin 2.0 was designed to search and destroy.  The “old school” tactics of building your own links will now get you into trouble so if that’s what you’re currently doing you need to stop immediately.
  4. Are most of your links from directories no one really uses.  This is similar to #3 above.  If the majority of your links are from low quality directories, then you’re at risk of a Google penalty.
  5. Are most of your links from irrelevant domains and/or irrelevant websites?  That’s usually an indication that you created the links yourself, unnaturally.
  6. Are most of your links using the same anchor text?  Anchor text are the words used in the hyperlink.  If the majority of your links use the same anchor text, then that’s a tell tale sign you’re trying to manipulate Google.  Again, Penguin 2.0 was programed like the Terminator to search and destroy websites trying to manipulate Google’s results using this tactic.

 

If you run this analysis and find your links are from a diverse number of relevant, reputable websites and the links use a lot of different anchor text, then you can relax.  You or your SEO company is doing a good job and you’re not in any risk of getting penalized from Penguin 2.0.

Related article: 10-Minute Google Penalty Checker

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