[Hot] Negative SEO: What You Need to Know
A top organic search engine ranking is a key goal of organic SEO. As we noted last week, the value of SEO can be partly attributed to the increased traffic a top ranking attracts: "In the end, dollar value is simply a measure of how increased traffic and clicks leads to more conversions."
By the same token, a decrease in search engine rankings will inevitably lead to less traffic and clicks, and less conversions. This happens to most websites--fluctuations in ranking are part of the competitive landscape.
But sometimes a ranking decrease can be attributed to factors beyond competition, including algorithm changes or manual penalties from the search engines.
Happily most of these issues can be easily fixed by a good webmaster. SEO Power Suite published a rankings recovery guide with a list of symptoms and tips to fix any issues. If your concerned about a ranking drop, study this list and work to correct all problems.
A more insidious cause of a ranking drop is Negative SEO, the practice of harming another site's search engine rankings. Negative SEO is rare, and fortunately, most webmasters understand how to recognize and deflect attacks. However, not all webmasters understand the potential danger.
What can you do to defend your website? The first step, of course, is knowledge.
The Heart of Negative SEO: Bad Links
Four years ago, Search Engine Roundtable, conducted a poll on Negative SEO. 75% of the respondents agreed: "Negative SEO is Easier" thanks to Google's recent algorithm updates.
At the time, WebProNews posted a detailed article with links to various articles and forums that debated the viability of Negative SEO. The consensus matched the poll: Negative SEO was certainly easier.
The problem, which still persists today, is Google's practice of penalizing companies for bad incoming links--links from disreputable or spammy sites. Unfortunately, it's impossible to entirely control bad incoming links--and so, theoretically, your website could be "attacked" by negative SEO.
Last year, in a comprehensive review of the types of Negative SEO, Search Engine Land cited the example of WP Bacon, a podcast site:
"Over a short period of time, the site acquired thousands of links with the anchor text 'porn movie.' Throughout 10 days, WP Bacon fell 50+ spots in Google for the majority of keywords it ranked for."
Search Engine Land cites other forms of Negative SEO, including website hacking and content scraping (the practice of copying your site's content and posting it across the Internet). But bad links are the heart of Negative SEO.
Negative SEO & The Penguin Algorithm
The existence of bad links stems from the earliest days of SEO, when Google's algorithm placed a high priority on the quantity of incoming links. Black Hat SEOs took advantage of the algorithm by creating link-building schemes. These schemes took on many forms, but the basic version looked like this:
A primary website created multiple websites--sometimes ten or many more--all owned and operated by the primary website for the purpose of creating incoming links. With an abundance of incoming links, the primary website favored well in the Google rankings.
The Penguin Algorithm was created, in part, to combat this type of abuse. At the time, Google clarified its definition of a "bad" or "artificial" link: “Any links intended to manipulate a site’s ranking in Google search results may be considered part of a link scheme.”
Since Penguin, it wasn't the quantity of links that improved your site but the quality. This seemed to be a good sign. As we wrote in a previous post, "Bad Links? Bad News!":
"Many SEO specialists lamented the change. Some even wondered: 'Is link-building dead?' At the time, however, good SEOs rejoiced! After all, the purpose of the new algorithm, to punish those websites and SEO specialists that built bad or artificial links, could only advance the work of the SEOs who had played by the rules and built links based on relationships, integrity, and quality content."
With Penguin, a site could not improve its performance by creating multiple incoming links. Unfortunately, successive updates have seemingly made it easier to do the opposite: to harm a site's performance by creating multiple incoming links.
Negative SEO: What You Can Do
So what does this mean for you? If you think your website is too small, think again. Websites both large and small can easily be harmed by incoming links. If you believe you are the victim of Negative SEO, contact a reputable link removal service or an SEO firm like Stepman's SEO.
With proactive measures a website can recover. The story of WP Bacon, for example, has "a happy ending: the webmaster disavowed the spammy domains, and eventually, WP Bacon recovered most of its rankings."
As apart of the audit, Stepman's SEO will provide a detailed report showing you the quality and quantity of your links.
To take advantage of this limited time offer, call Stepman's SEO now: 215-900-9398.
By the same token, a decrease in search engine rankings will inevitably lead to less traffic and clicks, and less conversions. This happens to most websites--fluctuations in ranking are part of the competitive landscape.
But sometimes a ranking decrease can be attributed to factors beyond competition, including algorithm changes or manual penalties from the search engines.
Happily most of these issues can be easily fixed by a good webmaster. SEO Power Suite published a rankings recovery guide with a list of symptoms and tips to fix any issues. If your concerned about a ranking drop, study this list and work to correct all problems.
A more insidious cause of a ranking drop is Negative SEO, the practice of harming another site's search engine rankings. Negative SEO is rare, and fortunately, most webmasters understand how to recognize and deflect attacks. However, not all webmasters understand the potential danger.
What can you do to defend your website? The first step, of course, is knowledge.
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| Negative SEO can feel like Voodoo , but a savvy webmaster should be able to recognize and deflect all attacks. Is your webmaster literate on Negative SEO? |
The Heart of Negative SEO: Bad Links
Four years ago, Search Engine Roundtable, conducted a poll on Negative SEO. 75% of the respondents agreed: "Negative SEO is Easier" thanks to Google's recent algorithm updates.
At the time, WebProNews posted a detailed article with links to various articles and forums that debated the viability of Negative SEO. The consensus matched the poll: Negative SEO was certainly easier.
The problem, which still persists today, is Google's practice of penalizing companies for bad incoming links--links from disreputable or spammy sites. Unfortunately, it's impossible to entirely control bad incoming links--and so, theoretically, your website could be "attacked" by negative SEO.
Last year, in a comprehensive review of the types of Negative SEO, Search Engine Land cited the example of WP Bacon, a podcast site:
"Over a short period of time, the site acquired thousands of links with the anchor text 'porn movie.' Throughout 10 days, WP Bacon fell 50+ spots in Google for the majority of keywords it ranked for."
Search Engine Land cites other forms of Negative SEO, including website hacking and content scraping (the practice of copying your site's content and posting it across the Internet). But bad links are the heart of Negative SEO.
Negative SEO & The Penguin Algorithm
The existence of bad links stems from the earliest days of SEO, when Google's algorithm placed a high priority on the quantity of incoming links. Black Hat SEOs took advantage of the algorithm by creating link-building schemes. These schemes took on many forms, but the basic version looked like this:
A primary website created multiple websites--sometimes ten or many more--all owned and operated by the primary website for the purpose of creating incoming links. With an abundance of incoming links, the primary website favored well in the Google rankings.
The Penguin Algorithm was created, in part, to combat this type of abuse. At the time, Google clarified its definition of a "bad" or "artificial" link: “Any links intended to manipulate a site’s ranking in Google search results may be considered part of a link scheme.”
Since Penguin, it wasn't the quantity of links that improved your site but the quality. This seemed to be a good sign. As we wrote in a previous post, "Bad Links? Bad News!":
"Many SEO specialists lamented the change. Some even wondered: 'Is link-building dead?' At the time, however, good SEOs rejoiced! After all, the purpose of the new algorithm, to punish those websites and SEO specialists that built bad or artificial links, could only advance the work of the SEOs who had played by the rules and built links based on relationships, integrity, and quality content."
With Penguin, a site could not improve its performance by creating multiple incoming links. Unfortunately, successive updates have seemingly made it easier to do the opposite: to harm a site's performance by creating multiple incoming links.
Negative SEO: What You Can Do
So what does this mean for you? If you think your website is too small, think again. Websites both large and small can easily be harmed by incoming links. If you believe you are the victim of Negative SEO, contact a reputable link removal service or an SEO firm like Stepman's SEO.
With proactive measures a website can recover. The story of WP Bacon, for example, has "a happy ending: the webmaster disavowed the spammy domains, and eventually, WP Bacon recovered most of its rankings."
To truly analyze and diagnose why your site is under performing, you may need to look beyond Negative SEO. If your website is underperforming, Stepman's SEO's Organic Website Optimization Audit will clarify the exact elements of your website that require improvement--including bad incoming links.
As apart of the audit, Stepman's SEO will provide a detailed report showing you the quality and quantity of your links.
To take advantage of this limited time offer, call Stepman's SEO now: 215-900-9398.