Google Penalties
As Google continues developing the search algorithms that help it rank websites, it’s increasingly clamping down on SEO methods that result in a poor user experience. Poor link-building strategies can result in Google penalizing your website. Google penalizes websites manually or through algorithms for using black hat SEO techniques, including poor link-building strategies. A manual penalty results when someone from Google goes through your site and determines it has breached one or more of their link-building guidelines. An algorithmic penalty results when your site automatically trips one or more of the safeguards inbuilt into Google search algorithms.
Algorithmic penalties can either be Panda-type or Penguin-type. Panda penalties relate to the quality and usability of your web content. Pandas are rolled out by Google once per month. Penguins, on the other hand, relate to over-optimization. Penguins are rolled out several times a year and are usually accompanied by an announcement by Google.
Some of the common link-building practices that are likely to land you in trouble include:
- Your site has too many inbound unnatural links including from websites that are not related to your own.
- Using link networks by tools such as Build My Rank.
- Exchanging links between two websites.
- Using too many links on sidebars
- Using repetitive anchor text
- Using the services of paid directories
If Google penalizes you manually, you will likely receive an email explaining why you are slapped with a penalty. Most penalties involve your website moving down 10-100 places on SERP, though a website can be banned entirely in severe cases.
To check whether you have suffered a penalty, log in to your Google Webmaster Tools account and then check the messages. Google, however, does not categorize Panda and Penguin updates as penalties, and you might not realize you have been penalized. You will likely be hit with a Panda or Penguin if you believe you have been penalized but receive no messages.
Your SEO Traffic And Ranking Recovery
After several months of hard work, following your online marketing plan to the T, using honest SEO tactics, you will find your website on Page 1 of Google. You have achieved what you set your business out to do. Then, one day, it’s gone.
Your rankings have plummeted. Your business’ website is in the back pages now, you are at a loss as to what happened, and most importantly, your business is being affected because nobody clicks on page 8 websites. What and how did this happen? You probably do not know, but Search Marketing Group® does: it is called “lost rankings”.
When your website experiences “lost rankings,” it is often the devastating effect of not following Google’s algorithms and search protocols. Whether it is due to an individual accidentally or purposely trying to raise their Google rankings, the search engine giant knows when something is not suitable during searches. Its algorithm constantly monitors websites and sees how and why they rank. When the protocol is broken, they penalize you by dropping you down the rankings. All that hard work has gone in less than a click of a button.
The problem is, you might not know why this has happened. It is a confusing period and can severely affect your business’ sales, profits, and ROI. As professional SEO in Melbourne, Search Marketing Group® can look at your website and get it back to the top where it belongs by altering your website’s off-site and on-site protocols and content. Our strategy will focus on returning your high rankings and guaranteeing that they stay high through honest and efficient SEO tactics.
Find the Panda. Keep your Rankings And Traffic.
One of Google’s most common updates when it comes to checking its ranking system and index is the Panda update. Much like Google’s other notorious update, Penguin, Panda contains websites for authentic and honest SEO strategies to see if users have manipulated content to push up their Google rankings. Panda updates happen from time to time and should be treated very seriously; it can have a disastrous effect on a business’s website and online reputation.
Search Marketing Group® knows this because it has seen it happen to clients time and time again. Luckily, it has the experienced content team to guarantee that such effects, such as the dropping of rankings, the loss of profits, and a smaller ROI, do not happen but only increase over time.
Panda updates focus on the effects of your “on-site” content. This update keeps an eye on what your website shows in the public domain. Suppose Google notices that your range is full of keywords in the wrong places (“over-optimization”), that the content is duplicated or not unique, and there is too-much SEO on it. In that case, the Panda update will most likely penalize your website. The update aims to eliminate “thin” or “poor content” websites that use black hat tactics to increase their rankings.
This is where our white-hat and honest SEO tactics can put your website back on the running to Page 1. By cleaning through your content, we will look to provide fresh, unique, and ever-changing content that pushes your business back to the top of the searches of your industry. By constantly refreshing and updating content, your website will not become recognized for its honest approach but for providing users with top-quality and engaging content.
Avoid the Penguin. Restore your Site.
The Penguin Update is notorious throughout the SEO world. The reason? It has the potential to completely drop a website’s rankings from the very top to the very bottom. These updates do not happen on a consistent level. Google announces Penguin updates weeks in advance for preparation. Regardless, if your website is caught in the Penguin sweep and if you have not used proper SEO tactics, your website and business will face the consequences.
Search Marketing Group®, though, is prepared for such consequences. Our methods see us only using honest SEO tactics that will not see your website face punishment. Yet, if your website is caught in the Penguin’s sweep, do not worry; we have the methods, techniques, and tactics to get it back to the very top, authentically and honestly.
This type of recovery focuses on the effects of your “off-site” pages. Penguin updates aim to decrease search rankings of websites that break Google’s Webmaster Guidelines with black-hat SEO tactics of manipulating the links to the website. This means links with no connection to a business, too many going to one page, low-quality backlinks, connections generated from directories, and foreign and article sites will all be caught in Google’s crossfire.
Whether you meant to put these links or not, they are wrong in Google’s eyes, affecting your business. To get your business’ website back up to Google’s standards and ensure that your online reputation is not harmed, you will have to clean up your website’s backlinks and build a more solid and results-driven strategy. This is where our white-hat and honest SEO tactics can work. We refresh your campaign with solid tactics to make sure that you will never face such a devastating blow to your website and business again.
Disavowing Links
If Google decides that your links contravene its guidelines, it will usually give you the option to remove the links and forward the report outlining the measures you have taken or let Google do it for you. Usually, it’s better to do it yourself, just in case Google goes over the top and removes even some non-spammy links.
Disavowing links is the process by which you use the Google Disavowing Tool to disable links from low-quality websites. Google explains the process of disavowing backlinks clearly on its website. All you need to do is check your Webmaster Tools home page, click Search Traffic, and click Links to Your Site. All the websites that have linked to your website will be displayed. Download all the links you would like Google to disavow into a file.
Upload the file containing all the links that you would like Google to disavow, go to Disavow Links Tool Page , then click Disavow Links. It’s a fast and easy process that can save you from getting into trouble.
Search Marketing Group® is an expert Melbourne-based Seo company that can help you understand which link is good or bad for your site and help you prepare a suitable Disavow file that will improve your Google rankings. Get in touch with us today for a free quote.