Presented at SEMpdx's October 2012 event "Penguins & Panda's". Features a diagnosis of a site that was nailed by Penguin (and Panda) and covers potential methods for recovery.

1. SEMPDX
Penguin Case Study
Twitter: @AmplifySEM

2. Amplify Interactive
Overview
Boutique Agency – All We Do is Search
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Pay Per Click (PPC)
• Link Development & Site Marketing
• Social Media Optimization
• Web Analytics
2010 AMA MAX AWARD – BEST SINGLE MEDIUM ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN
Clients benefit from industry experience and strategic perspective
• Established agency – Started 2003
• Established experts – Ben Lloyd started in 1998
• Experts: Speaker at Search Engine Strategies, SEMpdx & more
• Results: Work wins awards
• Approach: Established, proven strategies, tactics and processes
Twitter: @AmplifySEM

3. HANK: CHIEF MORALE
OFFICER, COLUMNIST, CELEBRITY
Hank’s Primary Areas of Responsibility:
• Welcome visitors
• Provide tension relief
• Break time compliance specialist
Experience, Credits & Qualifications:
• Monthly Columnist, Hollywood Star News
under pen name “Hollywood Hank”
• Certified napping expert
• Typical Work Day Schedule:
• 8:00 - Greetings, Tail Wagging
• 9:00 – Nap, attend meetings as needed
• 10:00 – Break Time / Tug of War
• 12:00 – Lunch inspection
• 1:00 - Nap, attend meetings as needed
• 3:00 – Snack, Tug of War
• 5:00 - Head home for dinner and a nap
Twitter: @AmplifySEM

4. PENGUIN SLAPPED
A Case Study
Twitter: @AmplifySEM

5. Disclaimer
• Outdoor furniture site
• I THINK I hid the ID of the offending site
• Not a “client” – we didn‟t do this to
their site 
• Fess up – who‟s got Penguin problems?
Or a client w/ problems?
Twitter: @AmplifySEM

6. Penguin ToolKit
• Dates: Penguin 1.0 = 4/24/12
– http://www.seomoz.org/google-algorithm-
change
– MozCast
• Analytics
• OpenSiteExplorer
• Google Webmaster Tools
– You will not get a notification
Twitter: @AmplifySEM

7. Site Affected by Panda + Penguin
• 3/23: Panda 3.4 – Over-Optimization
• 4/24: Penguin 1.0 – Spammy Links
• 5/30: Memorial Day - Seasonal Decline
Twitter: @AmplifySEM

8. Analysis: Pre/Post Penguin
• 2 weeks before & 2 weeks after
• Doesn‟t look like much – 39% difference
• 1 specific referring keyword sticks out
Twitter: @AmplifySEM

9. Any Guesses?
Anchor Text Profile
Branded Anchor
Text adirondack chairs
adirondack chair
wooden adirondack chairs
cedar adirondack chairs
wood adirondack chair
Twitter: @AmplifySEM

10. HOME PAGE COMES IN 2ND
Inbound Links by Page
http://www.domainname.com/adc
hair1.html
http://www.domainname.com/
http://www.domainname.com/pot
tingbenches.html
http://www.domainname.com/fire
woodracks.html
http://www.domainname.com/cat
dog.html
http://domainname.com/
http://www.cedarwoodfurniture.co
m/porchswings2.html
http://www.cedarwoodfurniture.co
m/windowboxes.html
http://www.cedarwoodfurniture.co
m/homegarden.html
Twitter: @AmplifySEM

11. OUCH
Guess which
product page
DOESN‟T
have exact
match anchor
text pointing
at it?
Twitter: @AmplifySEM

12. The Types of Links That are Spammy
Links by Domain
patiowoodfurniture.org
buygardenpergolas.com
poolmerchants.com
suburbanreef.com
outdoorfurnitureplus.com
askives.com
ezinearticles.com
northcedar.com
woodoutdoorbenches.net
artipot.com
furniture-reproduction.com
aolstalker.com
redwoodpicnictable.net
articlesbase.com
articlesnatch.com
hgtv.com
rebeldjs.com
Twitter: @AmplifySEM

13. Who‟s Linking? And Why?
Links by Page Authority
600
500
400
300
Number of Links
200
100
0
63 55 49 44 39 34 29 24 19 14 9
Page Authority of Linking Page
Twitter: @AmplifySEM

14. I Found Sites Like This
Twitter: @AmplifySEM

15. I Found Articles Like This
Most of the chairs you can find for outdoor
use are mere replications of the designs
that you can see for indoor use. If there are
deep-seating sofas in the living room, arm
chairs in the dining room or recliners in the
den, you can always find that they have
their corresponding counterparts in the
patio furniture. If you wish, however, for an
exquisite and unique design that is built
specifically for the outside setting then you
should go for Adirondack chairs.
Twitter: @AmplifySEM

16. I Found Comments Like This
Twitter: @AmplifySEM

17. Soap Box Time
• How do tactics like
this add value?
• Easy to get = low
value
• How does this
showcase your
uniqueness?
• Why should I give a
sh!t?
• Rankings are not a
business metric
Twitter: @AmplifySEM

18. Penguin Recovery
Options
Delete
Destroy
Dilute
 Beg for mercy
Twitter: @AmplifySEM

19. Penguin Recovery: Delete
• Delete bad links
• It will work… if you can do it.
Twitter: @AmplifySEM

20. Penguin Recovery: Destroy
Inbound Links by Page
http://www.domain
name.com/adchair1
.html
 404 offending http://www.domain
name.com/
pages?
 Move to a new http://www.domain
name.com/pottingb
enches.html
domain?
http://www.domain
name.com/firewood
racks.html
Twitter: @AmplifySEM

21. Penguin Recovery: Dilute
Dilute your bad links by getting good links
• Content Marketing Strategy
1. Create great content
2. Market your content
3. Get links
Sounds easy enough…
Twitter: @AmplifySEM

22. The Problem With This Approach?
SEO‟s
• Most SEO‟s then look for the „smartest‟ way to do things:
– Buy lots of articles for $20 a pop
– “Only 2% exact match anchor text”
– Buy likes: Link/like/share networks
– Find “dofollow” blogs to comment on
– Buy software to remove links
– Buy stumbles
Twitter: @AmplifySEM

23. Survival of the Fittest…
True to form – the site owner says:
“So we should just build more branded
links to those pages, right?”
Twitter: @AmplifySEM

24. Survival of the Fittest…
This is me… because I know what they
mean by this…
Twitter: @AmplifySEM

25. Penguin Recovery: Dilute
Who Knows What This Means?
#RCS
Twitter: @AmplifySEM

26. YOU BE THE SEO
What Would You Do?
Twitter: @AmplifySEM