Google has been trying hard to make the internet a better place for everyone since early 2011 when it first rolled out the devastating Panda Update. The update proved to be costly for millions of web masters across the world, whereas helpful for many other websites. Rankings were destroyed and webmasters had to rethink their strategies and hire SEO companies to recover from Google Panda updates. Hardly a year has gone by that Google released another major search engine algorithm update known as the Penguin, which went live during May 2012.

How to know you have been affected from Google Penguin Update?

1. Lost rankings - Your rankings might have suddenly disappeared.

2. Drop in visitors - Having a look at your Google Analytics account can tell you about your visitor stats. If your visitors suddenly dropped during the month of May 2012, then it is due to Penguin Update.

The current Penguin update only affected about 3.01% of the internet search results. However, if your site was affected, then try the following tips:

1. Understand the bigger picture - It is important to understand what caused your site to be kicked out of SERPs. Were you using copied content? Were you purchasing thousands of backlinks? Answering these questions would shorten your time in recovering from Penguin updates.

2. Fill your site with relevant links - If your website or blog is about finance, and you are accepting guest posts on sports, medicine and other topics not related to your website niche, there are high chances that your website is filled with irrelevant links. Get rid of these blog posts and delete all links pointing to irrelevant websites. Your website should only contain content related to finance niche.

3. Get a variety of anchor links - Trying to get anchor links from one competitive keyword like "forex trading" is an awkward practice. Try to get anchor links from related keywords similar to the ones in your niche.

4. Do not over emphasize your website with advertisements everywhere - Make sure that your website is not over-loaded with advertisements because it creates an annoying experience for your website visitors. Keep advertisements limited improve your website's navigational experience for your visitors.

5. Your website should have a strong internal linking structure - Instead of just focusing on gaining backlinks, it is more important to have strong internal linking structure on your website. For example if your site has 20 pages of content, they should be interlinked with each other so that visitors can easily move from page to page without having to browse for links.

It is going to take time to recover from Penguin aftereffects, so make sure you are patient to witness the results. I have seen many websites recovering from the Google Penguin update within just 2 months of being hit. Just avoid unethical SEO techniques and you are all good to go.

The Panda and Penguin updates have resulted in webmasters loosing their rankings in SERPs. Do not blame the search engine algorithmic updates for the loss. Improve your website and make sure it is in line with Google's Terms & Conditions.