Jagger is the name of the latest major Google Algorithm update. This update was done in three phases: Jagger 1, 2, and 3. These major updates are referred to as the ‘Google Dance’ and used to be done on a monthly basis before they switched to a continual update of the SERPs with major updates every three months.
Since this latest Google update, it has caused many sites to drop in rankings or disappear completely from the SERPs. Many of these sites disappearing used linking strategies like link exchanges.
Reciprocal linking appears to be on the decline as a linking strategy and effective link building has to come from a variety of links built using three-way linking, article submissions, press releases, and purchasing quality one-way links. This truly is the better way to maintain high rankings long-term. While reciprocal linking strategies work for Yahoo and MSN at the moment, it’s likely that time will change this as well.
This goes for link networks like Powerlinks as well. Link networks where you can join a program and immediately gain hundreds or thousands of link partners automatically are very easily detected by the search engines. If you’re relying on these for your rankings, be ready for the drop in rankings if you have not been dealt a blow yet. That time will come sooner than you think.
Directory submissions are still a part of any Search Engine Optimization campaign (albeit a small part). Good link building involves being able to get good links that will count, especially in directory submissions which many SEOs do as part of an overall Search Engine Marketing arsenal. In the case of directory submissions, you’ll want to vary the link text and surrounding text every couple of links to ensure that you get credit for those links. If all one-way links pointing to you contain the same link text and description, you could be setting yourself up for duplicate content filtering, rendering those links useless in Google. One of the ways that can be accomplished is through not just varying of your link text, but also varying of your surrounding text in a link. While difficult to implement on Google’s end, it’s very possible that the way they can detect artificial linking is through analysis of the surrounding text of a link. Clearly, if the link text is all the same and the description is as well, it signals to Google that this is an artificial link strategy and can lead them to discount the link value. One-way links and three-way links are preferred over reciprocal links because they appear more natural.
Chasing the latest search engine algorithms is a rather futile effort. Rather than tricking the search engines or reverse engineering the algorithms to find its weaknesses, develop a site worthy of being ranked through great content that’s unique and well-optimized. Getting ranked on Google gets increasingly difficult with each passing day. The other search engines are also following suit by getting better at filtering spammy results. If you still want to manipulate rankings, use advanced linking strategies like randomizing text in articles and inbound links that won’t alert the search engines to your activities.
As a SEO, I would never optimize any site if it did not already contain a lot of useful content for visitors. Focusing on building a quality site with lots of relevant non-duplicated content (available on-site and off-site), gives you a big boost in rankings. You really can’t go wrong with content because if you provide excellent value to your visitors and actively promote it, there’s no reason why your site should not be easily found in the SERPs.