Google Slap = “what we need to do more of” strategy

We recently got our first ever Google “slap” a few weeks ago when Google  launched the Penguin update to their search algorithm.

So many people posted solutions and possible interpretations of the algorithm changes and we tried everything they recommended. For the most part, we have now recovered.

Now, looking forward I have pointed a few things (having read this article) that we NEED TO DO, moving forward – things that will not only ensure we avoid future slaps, but also things that may help us win the SEO battles ahead:

  1. Publish content that gets natural links because it just is INTERESTING – ensuring people we don’t even know are doing the SEO work for us.
  2. Build links slowly and consistently – not too fast and not in short bursts. A link a day keeps the Google slap away
  3. Build deep links – not just to the homepage as this looks suspicious
  4. Vary anchor text – avoid using only your url.
  5. Focus on more than PageRank for links – look at age & content quality (sites whose PR will likely go up too)
  6. Conduct competitive anaylsis for link sources – who our competitors are using
For Diamonds in Africa we are completely reviewing our link building strategy and for Rare Pink we are likely to start off with this new strategy very soon.