Google’s recent algorithm change has stirred up the online community, as many websites have seen a sudden downfall in their rankings. For sites that have been implementing negative SEO tactics that haven’t seen a drop in rankings yet, they have received sudden warnings from Google regarding their activity. Unfortunately, however, there are also those sites that have been affected by the new rules even though they haven’t directly used any black hat SEO techniques.
With these immediate changes that have taken place with Google, it is now crucial to protect your website from negative SEO, so your site is not penalized. To help you do that, here are some useful tips to get you started:
Avoid Duplicate Content
Content duplication is now penalized by Google Penguin. Duplicate content receives various rankings on search results and, unfortunately, it is not always the case that your original content is ranked higher than sites that are duplicating it. To avoid being penalized by Google, always use a plagiarism checker to be sure you are not using duplicate content prior to publishing. In addition, when you post original content, you can run a plagiarism checker from time to time to be sure no one is duplicating your content. If you find someone who is, you can then contact them requesting them to remove it, and if they do not comply, you can file a complaint with Google.
Create a Clean and Strong Linking Profile
Link spamming is an excellent example of negative SEO and is now strictly penalized by Google. Being involved in such activity will significantly reduce your rankings and result in a warning from Google. In order to save yourself from that kind of dilemma, try to keep a clean and strong linking profile with links from only high quality sites. Avoid using techniques to build links and manipulate your ranking.
Moreover, diversify your link profile by generating good links in different anchor texts from quality sites like social media, relevant blogs, authority sites, and social bookmarks.
Obtain More Natural Links
Natural links are great for building a high-quality and clean linking profile. These types of links are obtained when other relevant sites “naturally” link to you through guest posts and comments.
To encourage more guest posts, traffic participation, and views, update your website with original information at least twice per week.
If you are unsure of how to do these things on your own, working with a reputation management company can help you monitor your website and become more aware of links from suspicious sites. Website management and monitoring is a wide and tedious task, and in order to succeed, you really do need to solicit the help of experts in the field. A SEO company will make sure that your website implements all of the necessary methods to survive and thrive in the midst of the most recent Google updates.
