Penguin Updates Are GOOD For Niche Sites

by JoshN
14 replies
  • SEO
  • |
I have a small portfolio of niche sites and at least from what I can see, myself as well as my nich site competitors are doing just as well as ever. I see it basically going 2 ways.

Either my competitors dropped off the map completely or they improved ranking (and most improved) quite a bit with each subsequent Penguin update.

It seems like MOST of the back linking tactics we use are still working until a site reaches a certain thresh-hold or criteria, then it's labeled spam and dissapears.


It sure looks like despite what Google says about turning down the importance of EMDs they seem to hold more weight now than ever. I even look at the back link portfolio of some of my top competitors and they are using link farms and other junk but they have EMDs. I moved up with them but now they are #1 and I'm #3 say up from #5 or #7 (just an example).

Keep fearing Google, but I'd be willing to bet that every 1 person complaining about their site getting nuked there are probably 10 or more others who had their ranking improve.

These updates, just seem like fear tactics.. I see more motion in the ranking of my sites every Sunday than any algorithm change.
#good #niche #penguin #sites #updates
  • Profile picture of the author GodMode52
    I think that I will probably vomit if I see another useless PENGUIN thread.
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    Want Google Page ONE Rankings? [YES] [NO]

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    • Profile picture of the author JoshN
      Originally Posted by GodMode52 View Post

      I think that I will probably vomit if I see another useless PENGUIN thread.
      Coming from the guy with the Panda link in his signature.
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      • Profile picture of the author retsek
        Originally Posted by JoshN View Post

        Coming from the guy with the Panda link in his signature.
        Lol. Probably mad Penguin has taken all the attention from Panda.
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      • Profile picture of the author GodMode52
        Originally Posted by JoshN View Post

        Coming from the guy with the Panda link in his signature.

        There's like 200 threads about Penguin , and you are adding absolutly nothing here. This is a SEO forum not your personal blog.
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        • Profile picture of the author JoshN
          Originally Posted by GodMode52 View Post

          There's like 200 threads about Penguin , and you are adding absolutly nothing here. This is a SEO forum not your personal blog.
          I think my first post is 10x more useful than anything you've contributed to this thread thus far.


          Out of the "200 threads about Penguin" most are of people who have lost ranking, or people talking about how bad it is for niche sites.

          I wanted to provide another point of view as I feel a lot of people have lost perspective.
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  • Profile picture of the author beloed
    thanks, penguin like good sites
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    • Profile picture of the author JoshN
      Originally Posted by beloed View Post

      thanks, penguin like good sites
      I wouldn't go that far...

      My niche sites rank ahead of sites I would say have better content.


      I just want to convey that there seems to be a breaking point now.. a very specific formula that allow niche sites to rank very well vs being labeled as spam.

      My thought is that if we can figure that system out with some testing and time it will be easier to rank than say a year or 2 ago.
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      • Profile picture of the author marcp
        Originally Posted by JoshN View Post

        I wouldn't go that far...

        My niche sites rank ahead of sites I would say have better content.


        I just want to convey that there seems to be a breaking point now.. a very specific formula that allow niche sites to rank very well vs being labeled as spam.

        My thought is that if we can figure that system out with some testing and time it will be easier to rank than say a year or 2 ago.
        Why would a bestsmallbluewidgets.com site be considered spam? Or how would a site be spam or do spam?
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    • Profile picture of the author JSProjects
      Originally Posted by beloed View Post

      thanks, penguin like good sites
      I wish that was the case. Or, it was as easy as "creating great content and ranking well." But it's not.
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      • Profile picture of the author seotrafficsearch
        Originally Posted by JSProjects View Post

        I wish that was the case. Or, it was as easy as "creating great content and ranking well." But it's not.
        Everybody wishes the same. It's just that hard work pays off and unless you do real good stuff over the web, you don't get recognition. Penguin justifies the good and the bad.
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  • Profile picture of the author glock67
    i am very confident in my sites so i am not raelly concerned about penguin updates
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  • Profile picture of the author cooler1
    Originally Posted by JoshN View Post

    It seems like MOST of the back linking tactics we use are still working until a site reaches a certain thresh-hold or criteria, then it's labeled spam and dissapears.
    That seems to be the case. Have you any idea what # of backlinks the threshold is?

    I checked one of my competitors site who is ranked #1 for their primary keyword post Penguin and they only have 9 backlinks to the domain. My site which got hit by Penguin and is no longer in the top 100 has about 90 backlinks. The problem is that a significant amount of these links are on sites which I don't control so I can't remove them.

    My sites use EMD's, but most of them were negatively affected by Penguin.
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  • Profile picture of the author smodha
    I know guys who have lost 1 year+ domains with completely unique, unspun content and natural backlinks. The fact is Google runs automated updates which doesn't always discriminate. There is plenty of garbage on the Internet that's made it to Page 1 post Panda/Penguin. Algorithms CAN and DO make mistakes.

    And let's be honest here. Google doesn't care about your business. Between the search engine and YouTube it pretty much controls the Internet. Priority will always be given to paying customers i.e. Adwords.
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    I Sell What People Want. The Money Is A Bonus..
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  • Profile picture of the author radivoj
    Definitely is good because it doesn't required keyword stuffing and H1 H2 H3 tag's as used to be, problem with this is having search engine optimized sites it will significantly decrease conversion rate and that's where most the affiliate failed "conversion rate" they don't know how to convert traffic into sales, if you look up some high converting copy-writing sales pages you will Not notice they don't have any keyword stuffing or H tag's ...
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