I was asked about Google penalties the other day. Well, that is a broad topic. If you are a content writer or a tech designer, Google penalties and white hat marketing are like second nature. If you’re like us (the rest of the world), then you probably have no idea that Google can punish your website for certain reasons / actions.
First, Google doesn’t want to be mean. Google has a great purpose in creating the penalty program- checks and balances. The company wants to give its users access to accurate information, not SPAM or trolling websites. Google continually tweaks and improves its algorithms (how it ranks your website, etc.) so that the best of the web gets the exposure it deserves.
There are 5 very popular reasons why your website may not be ranking well on Google- almost all of them have to do with content, some of them with design and/or marketing. If you have purchased a template website without quality, original content and marketing- be warned, you are probably being penalized by Google!
Now, here are the 5 most popular reasons why your website is being penalized by Google;
1. Keyword stuffed content. SEO is important but shouldn’t be abused. If Google detects a high number of keywords in a page, you will get a penalty.
2. Footer links. Not sure what this is? Ask your designer. You see, some web designers use footer links as a navigational aid. Most do it to impress clients with a great search engine ranking once the job is done. However, the longer the link stays there, the bigger the penalty.
3. Hidden links. All of the links on your site should be visible and useful to users. Anything that’s hidden (backlinks or transparent colored/coded) is considered suspicious.
4. Stolen (um, borrowed?) content. If you are using someone else’s web content, maybe even changing it a bit to make it your own, Google knows. CopyScape and other sites help identify plagiarism. Not only does Google see this as pointless duplication and will penalize your for it, they can turn you in for the duplication. Yikes!
5. Affiliate links all over the place. A high number of affiliate links is a red flag that your content may not be up to par. Although it’s possible to mask affiliate links with redirects, Google is wise on to this too. You shouldn’t be hosting more than two affiliate links on your webpage. Period.
Until next time,
Velma Trayham
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