How To Avoid Google's Website Over-Optimization Penalty

Mar 4, 2016 admin
Google has openly warned SEOs and businesses in general that they intend to penalize over-optimized websites in the near future. A great article from SEO expert Rand Fishkin of SEOMoz outlines his 6 recommendations for actions you should take sooner than later to lessen the likelihood of your website being affected in a negative way.
Topics

Google has openly warned SEOs and businesses in general that they intend to penalize over-optimized websites in the near future. A great article from SEO expert Rand Fishkin of SEOMoz outlines his 6 recommendations for actions you should take sooner than later to lessen the likelihood of your website being affected in a negative way. (Read SEOMoz Article here)

Summary of the 6 key steps Rand suggests:

  1. Get rid of spammy Title Tags on your pages and make sure they read and ARE authentic and relevant to the topic of the page.
  2. Cut the manipulative internal linking out. Quit over-pointing keywords and versions of keywords to the same page.
  3. Use links in the Footer wisely. I see competitors, especially in self storage websites, stuff the footer with every link possible other than what people expect to see.
  4. Content blocks built entirely for search engines amidst legitimate content. It sticks out like a soar thumb and doesn't fool anyone.
  5. If you read between the lines... STOP buying links!!! Stop using these off-shore companies that promize 4,000 links for $49. You can forget about it if you think automated link spamming software or article submision software is the way to go. It isn't a case of IF it's too good... it absolutely IS to good to be true. Earn your links by providing something that someone wants to link to! This is probably the biggest rookie CON that a newbie SEO will perpetrate on an unsophisticated client. Earn them or pay the penalty!
  6. High volume of pages that target the same, or overtly similar content. Rand uses "used cars Seattle, used autos Seattle, pre-owned cars Seattle" as an example of 3 separate pages that have the exact same content and anchor text/links. Do I really need to elaborate?

I can honestly say that none of what he points out comes as a shock. I have always been a firm believer that nothing good comes from cheating or blatantly exploiting/manipulating the system. This is largely common sense and if it feels wrong to you, it probably is!

If you'd like to hear more about what Barking Tuna Web Design can do for you to ensure that you have a good SEO founation and the content that others would want to link to, give me a call at 602-616-6531, visit Barking Tuna Web Design, or Email Barking Tuna.

Previous When The Advantages Of Social Media Work To Your Detriment
Next A Business Without A Website Is Like A Man Without A Face!