There’s a lot of dodgy search engine optimisation doing the rounds in the Auckland SEO industry – buyer beware! This is the first of a series of articles that highlight the most dangerous and deceptive SEO techniques you need to watch out for.
Note: deceptive SEO tactics may generate a short term gain in the search engine results pages, but will ultimately destroy your domain. We urge you to not only judge the performance of your SEO strategy on rankings results, find out from your digital marketing agency what tactics they’re using to get those results.
Linkbuilding, the root of all evil!
Google still views the quality and quantity of relevant links from other websites (called backlinks) to your web pages as a ranking factor. Unfortunately, this has spawned an industry of lazy optimizers that buy links from link brokers and other dodgy sources to manipulate a site’s ranking in Google’s search results.
You should read Google’s Quality guidelines for link spam here before you take on an SEO company. Or contact us for a confidential chat and analysis of which websites are linking to yours if you are concerned. Trying to get an SEO penalty lifted is a long, arduous process. Be proactive, get a backlink checkup so you can take action if required.
Your Website Gets Banned, not the SEO Agency
We hear from a lot of website owners their SEO agency only uses ‘safe’ or ‘white hat’ link building tactics. Let’s be clear, any backlinks that are not acquired naturally are considered by Google to be manipulative / deceptive and will probably get your website penalised. If you’re paying an SEO to ‘get safe links’ or ‘natural links’, the chances are you’re violating Google’s Quality Guidelines. If Google detects your website has violated it’s guidelines then your website gets a rankings penalty or removed the search results, whilst your SEO company moves onto it’s next victim i.e. you carry the risk. Make sure to utilise white hate linkbuilding strategies.
Google provides the following advise for acquiring natural backlinks to your website. Ignore this advice at your peril: ‘The best way to get other sites to create high-quality, relevant links to yours is to create unique, relevant content that can naturally gain popularity in the Internet community. Creating good content pays off: Links are usually editorial votes given by choice, and the more useful content you have, the greater the chances someone else will find that content valuable to their readers and link to it.’
Watch this Google Linkspam Video
Watch the video below for more information from Google on how to avoid and treat ‘linkspam’. You can also read our related article about Google Penguin 4.0 or call one of our SEO experts on 021 344 050, click here to contact us or learn more at one of our popular SEO training courses.
FAQs
Are all backlinks considered beneficial for SEO?
No, not all backlinks are considered beneficial for SEO. The quality and relevance of backlinks are crucial in determining their impact on SEO. Spammy backlinks from reputable websites will have a negative impact.
What is backlinking, and why is it important for SEO?
Backlinking is the practice of acquiring links from other websites to your own, and it is important for SEO because search engines like Google consider backlinks as a ranking factor, viewing them as a vote of confidence and authority for your website.
