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Hi guys

I had a a crappy 8 page adsense site from years ago get hit by, what i'm pretty sure, was the penguin update. It was making around 25-30 GBP per month. Not completely surprised it got hit as it was a really ****ty site. It was my first proper one and I always intended to do it up and turn it into a really good authority content site eventually as it was my first ever site.

I'm fairly sure it was a penguin hit because of the date all my adsense earnings completely vanished. I was expecting a panda hit if anything. From my limited knowledge of penguin sites, its usually caused by keyword spamming which I don't remember doing when I made it.

Penguin is supposed to be an algorythmic thing so I should supposedly be able to get it back in the high Google rankings by making the appropriate changes. I had a load of even more shockingly bad quality sites from when I first started learning about Google originally but none of those have been hit.

Let's treat it as a case study, how to get your site out of the penguin. The link to it is in my signature.

I'm doing this because I thought it might be valuable for people who have experienced the same kinds of problems. Please don't be dickheads and do nasty stuff to my website.

I'm really busy with other projects at the moment but will try to make the necessary changes when I can. What kinds of things do you guys suggest I change to get it back into the SERPS? I will try most reasonable suggestions.

Hope this might help others learn how to correct their mistakes.

cheers guys
#case #penguin #study
  • Profile picture of the author noble
    Good to see, we just wrapped up a bunch of our testing on the Penguin algo. Fortunately it wasn't as scary as most people made it out to be if you took the necessary changes
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    • Profile picture of the author birdman87
      Originally Posted by noble View Post

      Good to see, we just wrapped up a bunch of our testing on the Penguin algo. Fortunately it wasn't as scary as most people made it out to be if you took the necessary changes

      Awsome. Looking at my site, what would you suggest I do to it??
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  • Profile picture of the author RevSEO
    Without even diving into your links, your onpage design is horrible and I'm willing to bet the reason you got crushed.

    Your site is nothing but images/advertisements when viewed in 800 x 600. These are the exact style of sites that Google DOESN'T want ranking well. There's nothing of value above the fold.

    If you are serious about testing, move your content up, pull your big adblock down below the fold (and WAY down).

    Backlinks:

    You have LITTLE diversity in your backlinks, they are all using the same anchor text 'Ear Plugs for Sleeping' and nearly all point to your homepage. Build some natural links, backlink more pages than just your homepage.

    I don't doubt that if you follow those two pieces of advice, you'll be back ranking again within 30 days.
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  • Profile picture of the author inter123
    These sorts of sites used to be on the first page all the time for low competetion keywords. But I have not seen a single one of the first page post Penguin. Maybe if someone can list such a site on the first page, it will confirm that these sorts of sites still work? Lost of few similar types of sites with Penguin.
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    • Profile picture of the author mrtrance
      Originally Posted by inter123 View Post

      These sorts of sites used to be on the first page all the time for low competetion keywords. But I have not seen a single one of the first page post Penguin. Maybe if someone can list such a site on the first page, it will confirm that these sorts of sites still work? Lost of few similar types of sites with Penguin.
      I got pretty much wiped out with these type of sites as well. I did find a site that use same setup and still ranking on the first page for it's main keyword. So I don't know what strategy they used since their onpage SEO is pretty much similar to what I was doing, but my sites took the hit.

      Here is the site I found..."www[dot]cordlesstablelamps[dot]org". The site is ranking #7 for it's main keyword "cordless table lamps". So I guess some sites still rank, but I too have noticed that majority of them are no longer on the first like before when I was doing keyword research and a few of them would pop up on the first page.

      I'm might just start new sites with the ones that were profitable since I don't think it will be any time soon where my sites will recover since they got pushed from being in the top 3 to all the way to pages 25 and beyond.
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  • Profile picture of the author ale88
    The problem is a over-optimizacion of anchor backlinks: Look what majesticseo says about your backlink profile:



    Source URL: Fharper EEMS |
    Anchor Text: ear plugs for sleeping
    Target URL: http://www.earplugsforsleepingpeacefu... 2 Source URL: Umbilical Cord Banking
    Anchor Text: ear plugs for sleeping
    Target URL: http://www.earplugsforsleepingpeacefu... 3 Source URL: http://www.diversityforlife.org/category/florid...
    Anchor Text: ear plugs for sleeping
    Target URL: http://www.earplugsforsleepingpeacefu... 4 Source URL: http://www.lanubenegra.com/health-and-fitness/s...
    Anchor Text: ear plugs for sleeping
    Target URL: http://www.earplugsforsleepingpeacefu... 5 Source URL: http://www.starfishfood.com/health-and-fitness/...
    Anchor Text: ear plugs for sleeping
    Target URL: http://www.earplugsforsleepingpeacefu...
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  • Profile picture of the author LarryHaywood
    I'm assuming 'ear plugs for sleeping' is your main kw?

    I noticed you have 3 links on every single page pointing to your index, 2 of these in the footer(one points to index.html and the other to your root. In my opinion, I would change this by linking my header to my index using the main kw phrase and removing the 2 links in the footer. I would also keep it constant, if you link to index.html, use the same thing if you link again.

    Then, I might change the alt text of the image to match my kw phrase, but I doubt this will have much weight.

    Overall, the site looks pretty thin and I would probably add more content to the website. The products review page is still a "coming soon" type of thing...

    I wouldn't make any big changes, but take small steps and see how it does. Hope this helps some...
    Signature

    Doing what everyone else is doing? You'll get the same results... 97% fail. Are you a sheep or a wolf? My team and I are changing the game. It's not as hard to make it online as you might think. Let's connect and see if we can help you.

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  • Profile picture of the author LarryHaywood
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author birdman87
      Thanks for the feedback guys. All pretty much things I was thinking needed changing but it's even more clear for me now.

      I think I will change things one by one. Therefore, I might be able to pin it down to just one or two things that made the biggest difference and, hopefully, that will help others.

      Haha I'm quite embarassed about it now. It was my first major MFA attempt when first started out so I was backlinking the hell out of my chosen keyword.

      I thought the site design would need changing. I will do that when I get round to it as well. Just a quick question, I thought google only reads html? How does it form a picture of a sites graphical layout and judge it? interesting...

      By far the hardest thing to do would be making my anchor text more diverse. I don't know how to recall backlinks that I've forgotten from years ago. I guess the only way to improve things would be to add more links to the site with lots of url anchor text, "click here" type stuff and other more random text.

      Google must be having some serious success with these new updates as nearly all the MFA sites have been knocked off. There was a guy right at the top just above me and, although he hasn't been completely wiped off, he has been knocked to second page now.

      Will update you guys with results from the first stages once I get round to implementing the changes.

      Thanks again
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  • Profile picture of the author backlinkxone
    The problem is occurred for over search engine optimization.
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  • Profile picture of the author georgem78
    Over stuffing of keywords is a dead strategy since quite some time. Seeking the help of a good professional would have spared the site from getting penalised.
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    • Profile picture of the author birdman87
      What's the best way to deal with the unvaried anchor text? Do I have to try to remove old links or should I create new back links with different anchor text?
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  • Profile picture of the author Mantasmo
    Build loads of "naked" links - simple mentions of your site URL. Also build a bunch of links with your page titles as anchors (unless ofc your titles are EMD keywords).
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    • Profile picture of the author cooler1
      Originally Posted by bnetwork View Post

      Build loads of "naked" links - simple mentions of your site URL. Also build a bunch of links with your page titles as anchors (unless ofc your titles are EMD keywords).
      Does building a "naked" link mean that no anchor text is used at all or does it use your URL as the default anchor text?

      What about if your site URL contains the keyword you want to rank for, do you still recommend building lots of "naked" links?
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  • Profile picture of the author Texjd
    I guess it all comes down to ROI (return on investment). Is the website even worth saving? I have about 8 of these types of websites, each with about the same revenue.

    I can't decide whether to even bother since the whole site would need to be re-written and money or time spent on trying to balance the link profile. Would the time and effort be better spent on new website?

    Another important issue is the under adsense business model, you will especially be at the mercy of Google. And these latest changes are really not "new rules", just implementing/enforcing the basic rules better. So who's to say what's coming next?

    I think I'm going to go with spending the time on new websites, with products that can be sold (mine or affiliates) and start moving away from adsense entirely. You still have to deal with Google on organic traffic but not the adsense issues.

    With the time and effort it takes to get a website up and ranking these days, not sure a known $50 per month site is worth it long term.

    And I haven't really seen much mention around here but on other forumns the amount of people getting banned on Adsense appears to be on the rise. It reminds me of the first Panda update on spammy sites, now their going after accounts that create spammy sites. Some pretty big names in that group, and both huge and small dollars involved.
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    • Profile picture of the author alphadude
      By salvaging it you'll get an idea of what works and what does not. Then use that strategy on new sites.

      Originally Posted by Texjd View Post

      I guess it all comes down to ROI (return on investment). Is the website even worth saving? I have about 8 of these types of websites, each with about the same revenue.
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      • Profile picture of the author birdman87
        exactly, it's more a case study than anything.

        Even though my big mortgage site seemed to fair pretty well through panda and penguin, it makes me concerned. Rather than being scared I'd quite like to have an experience of exactly what is causing these issues. It's interesting for me. I was earning just under thirty quid a month and ranking mid to bottom of page one. There was a massive load of potential in that niche and I plan on building an authority content site. as many pages as i can write about the topics.

        also, it was my first proper site so i'm kind of attached to it from a nostalgia point of view. a few quid in the bank every month doesn't sound like much now, but when i first started earning it it felt tremendous!!!
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  • Profile picture of the author TorremochaJ
    I check your site on google through this kw "ear plugs for sleeping peacefully" and your are sitting position 3. I think you are really near to position 1.
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  • Profile picture of the author SirKonstantine
    Penguin Analysis: SEO Isn't Dead, But You Need to Act Smarter | Microsite Masters

    Increase your keyword diversity.

    Change that link in your sig from your main keyword to something like "click here."

    Blast lots of generic (click here), phrase (the best ear plugs for sleeping), and URL backlinks to the site.

    Worked for me several times.
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