Key thrust of Penguin 2
First of all what conclusions can we draw about Penguin 2, now that we are a few weeks on?
Well in short, there really seems to be nothing new here, just more of the same:-
- Continued negation of spam links/ automation link services – good
- Continued focus on the web user-experience and having sharable/ unique & useful web content – good
- Greater policing of the web wildcats i.e. payday loans, porn, gaming – also good

See Matt Cutts video – talking about Penguin Updates: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNbWw2OUUAc ..this is all good no?

Is Penguin 2 Good or Bad for SEO’ers?
As someone who has worked in the SEO space for over a decade, the cause for concern for me, is not so much the nature and thrust of the changes, it is the frequency of the updates, and the uncertainty that this creates for Companies/ web site owners in general.

Of course the knee-jerk reaction can be ‘why bother with SEO, when another set of potentially damaging changes are just around the corner’. This is totally understandable. The goal posts are moving constantly (far more rapidly than other marketing channels), which is bound to put some people off investing in this channel.
Cynically speaking, will these changes drive more custom to the more rock-steady pastures of pay per click?

I for one don’t believe the end-game here is a cynical plot on behalf of Google to drive ad revenues and destroy the SEO industry over time. I think there is a genuine desire (and need) to improve the quality of sites ranking highly on related search terms. Google and web users have a vested interest in this happening.

The frequency of updates is a cause for concern within the SEO world, and how Brands/ Site owners will react. I believe there is also now a pronounced air of confusion within the SEO world and outside, as to what makes a successful, and importantly a sustainable SEO strategy now.

Post Penguin SEO Pointers
How should SEO’ers respond to recent changes? Good, long-term, sustainable SEO practices remain unchanged in my view – SEO’ers need to direct / guide the creation of compelling, engaging content, likely to create inbound linking and user engagement, as opposed to artificially boosting links through tired and ineffectual sources.

Implications for link building
Is link building a thing of the past? I don’t believe so, but it must change, and those ‘on the money’ will have already changed their strategies some time ago, to develop great content likely to promote user engagement, and to increase ‘shares’, ‘likes’ and links.

There is still scope for some proactive link building, to pursue good quality links, on good authority sites, containing related and complementary content.

Anything remotely automated is clearly a ‘no no’ and has been for a while, but does that include PR newswires? The one last-bastion of paid link building that still actually works? The Jury is out and time will tell.

These tactics I believe will be the main stays, alongside increased focus on site performance, speed, and index-ability.

One of the big outputs here for the SEO world I believe is setting expectations, SEO is not a quick-win, and this is even more true now, post Penguin. Success will rely on developing good, unique, interesting content, and developing shareable content, over time, that people/ sites will link to, naturally.

This is good news to ethical SEO’ers, bad news for the quick-win merchants, link-builders for out and out SEO purposes. Black days for back hat (good).

About the author of this blog:
Scott Muir is MD of Regroup Media – and has worked in the SEO industry for over a decade.

Global Energy Systems is a British, renewable energy manufacturer and installer supported by over 50 years of international engineering experience. Three generations have been involved in the company, each innovating and developing engineering excellence.

Reports suggest that Alibaba also has the rights to extend this stake in the future to a 30% overall stake in Weibo.

The move, which cost Alibaba £378 Million, firmly puts the Web giant in the social space in China, alongside with it’s already well established presence in the e-commerce sector.

China is the largest online market in the World, with over half a billion netizens. This figure will increase, with some reports suggesting a doubling in a matter of years.

Why has the deal been done?

This is a mutually beneficial deal.

Alibaba will without doubt benefit from the traffic potential from Weibo, to it’s owned sites such as Taobao, the Ebay of China.

The deal will help generate additional advertising revenue for Weibo. The firms believe that the deal will be worth an estimated $380 million in advertising and commercial revenues within a 3-year period.

The move puts Social at the heart of Alibaba’s growth plans, highlighting clearly the importance put on Social Media channels in China (like the West) for commercial uplift.

Jack Ma, the charismatic Chairman of Alibaba stated “We believe that this strategic alliance helps to create a stronger Weibo. It affirms our view of the vitality and importance of social media in unleashing value in e-commerce activities.”

Alibaba.com connects businesses across the globe to Chinese manufacturers. Alibaba also runs online shopping sites in China and own their own online payment service Alipay.

Meanwhile, social media sites such as Weibo have seen huge growth in China in recent years.

Charles Chao, chairman SINA, (Weibo’s parent company) stated “Weibo and Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms are natural partners, together we provide a unique proposition not only to existing online merchants, but also to individuals or businesses, who wish to offer products and services on social networking platform to take advantage of the traffic shift toward social and mobile internet.”

Interesting times ahead for Alibaba, as they continue their march on digital dominance in the East.

More information: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/29/net-us-sinaweibo-alibaba-stake-idUSBRE93S0DA20130429