Many websites were hurt as far as ranking of their website on search engines for Danville businesses with the Google Penguin updates earlier this year. It appears, however, that Google isn’t finished yet and will be releasing further Penguin updates. Business websites can expect the search engine giant to adjust the way websites are ranked as well as the way it analyzes your website’s place and presence on the internet.

If your website was not adversely affected by the previous Penguin update, count yourself lucky. To help you understand, Penguin is the nickname Google gave to their most recent algorithm update used to analyze websites. In short, the algorithm analyzes each website and ranks it according to its own content and the reputation the website has compared to other websites. The most recent update was damaging in its changes, and since no one knows what the algorithm includes outside of Google, no one understood what the changes would mean for websites. The same can be said for any new updates to Penguin that are still to be released.

For websites that were affected by the Penguin update, here are some suggestions of ways you might be able to gain back some of the ground your website lost:

• Write for those who visit your website rather than writing for the search engine. If your website includes pages that are optimized too much or that are there only to increase your search engine ranking, it is likely the site will be penalized in future Penguin updates. Content that is informative, original and well-written will improve your website’s ranking.
• If you find something on a website that pertains to your business, be sure to rewrite the article rather than copying it from another website. Duplicate content is frowned upon by search engines. Use the ideas from the other website but not the actual text.
• When writing content for your website, use keywords that are relevant to the page for which it is written and make sure the keywords sound natural when reading them.
• Be honest in your optimization. Google, and other search engines like Yahoo! and Bing, have specific guidelines on how they rank a page. Avoid using tricks to make ranking your website on search engines in higher.
• Obtain links to your website through honest means rather than using sites where you can buy links. You also want to avoid “trading” links simply to increase your incoming links. There are ways to get links to your website that are honest and search engines will continue to honor those. Make sure any links you get from other websites are relevant to your own website. You want to be sure there is a reason why you’ve chosen to link to the other site and vice versa.
• Take the time to do any work to your website on your own, or outsource your website updates, rather than automating the updates. If you do use software such as WebCEO or IPB, use a proxy server to lessen any chance that Google will link your IP address and the automated software.
• Be sure to monitor your website, its search engine ranking and traffic coming to your website. You will also want to determine which websites are linking back to your site, if possible. Use the tools Google provides, such as Google Webmaster Tools, so you will be able to tell if some is trying to hurt your website by creating “bad” links to it.
• Take advantage of social media. Encourage others to share your website by providing quality content and buttons that make sharing easier. Links from Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and other social media sites are being looked upon by Google and other search engines in a different light. In many cases, they are being weighted heavier in the algorithms.

If the Penguin updates have you scrambling to make up for lost search engine ground, don’t give up. It is possible to regain your ranking for websites on search engines for Danville businesses. Follow the tips above and chances are your website will avoid further penalization for Penguin updates.