It can happen. You spend hours upon days, days upon month doing everything you can to make sure your website has every opportunity to be ranked by Google only to wake up and find that you have been dropped -30, -60 or even worse BANNED! Here are six things to keep in mind when optimizing your site.
1. Duplicate Content
This is a biggy. Google hates duplicate content. Be sure everything you write is unique. If you have a page that is getting dropped or banned consistently, copy and paste a sentence from it into a Google search box and see if it comes up anywhere else. If so, REWRITE IT. If you feel that someone grabbed your content report them: www.google.com/dmca.html
2. Doorways, Cloaking and Redirects
Don't do it! These are keyword stuffed pages that are designed to attract search engine spiders but are otherwise meaningless to web surfers. If you are getting away with it, STOP! It is only a matter of time before Google comes knocking.
3. Hidden Texts and Hidden Links
This is a practice by where the web designer will again stuff pages with meaningless content to attract spiders but use colors that make them seem invisible by matching it to the background color. Bad Golf, do it an pay the piper.
4. Keyword Spamming
Keyword spamming is stuffing the meta tags with keywords that don't relate to the content. At this point meta tags are becoming less valued every day but it is a bad idea to try this as all the keywords in the meta tags should also show up in your page content.
5. Good Link Bad Link
It use to be the more link backs you have the better. Not the case anymore. Google looks for quality link backs (or reciprocal link) from quality sites that have link popularity not gained from link farms.
6. Bad Template Websites
There are some website companies that sell template sites that are not SEO freindly. Some of these sites are highly dynamic using replicated content or use frames. Before using a template company ask about SEO and look to see how some of the other templates rank.
(thank you to Gareth Dirlam for 7 and 8)
7. Automated Queries
Automated queries are queries made using some sort of submission software. In some cases this is allowed but not without express authorization from Google. So unless you have permission, don't do it.
8. Keyword Stuffing on the Content Area of Your Page. see my post on keyword stuffing
Loading Anchors with keywords (its not just the meta tag that gets stuffed) will get your page penalized.
I have been getting a lot of response to Keyword Stuffing, so I wrote a seperate blog on it, hope it helps.
http://activerain.com/blogsview/431535/Keyword-Stuffing-Bad-Bad
Google recently stated that duplicate content won't get you banned. It is the very nature of the internet that there is bound to be duplicate content out there, such as those who syndicate their content, submit articles to directories, press releases, etc.
It just means that Google will only give the benefit of the content to where it finds it first. Internally duplicate content is also not so much an issue any more, it just means only one of the duplicated pages will rank. This is the same as having pages where the majority of the content is very similar.
Justin: I have read a little about this but it is my opinion that we as web authors, we should do our best to be unique and concentrate on the user experience. I myself have had pages dropped from the Google index, because one of my staff copied some content from Wikipedia. Remember too, that much of our audience are relatively new to SEO (target of my post), so it is good to start them off with good habbits.
Here is the link to Google's Webmaster Guidelines: http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35769
Thanks for the kudos Carolyn. The duplicate content issue is a tricky one. There are some items that should be duplicated without penalty and Google understand this and is working towards a smarter way of dealing with it (as pointed out by Justin in this post). Things like real estate listing information and agent profiles are bound to be duplicated as it is distributed throughout the internet. To avoid having it be an issue at all, do your best to create unique, compelling and useful content and you will never have to worry.
Konnie and Krista: When I talk about duplicate content, I am primarily speaking about chunks of duplicate text found on multiple websites. For example, say I had a successful website that ranked well due to the great content I had on it. If I were to build another website using the exact same content, Google would frown on that.
In regards to repeated word on a single page; You have to be real careful with this. Repeating a keyword in effort to get ranked for it is considered keyword spamming and is not good. If you are writing in natural flow and just so happen to repeat the keyword (naturally) then that is less likely to get flagged.
Check out the other blog I wrote on effective writing http://activerain.com/blogsview/406582/1-Basic-SEO-tips
good tips. important to remember.
@Carol - It never ends. The best we can do is make a good effort to keep up. The fact that you are here and investing time and energy puts you above most agents in your market. Keep up the good work.
@John - It is hard to keep all these things in mind. The more you do it, the more it will become second nature.
-- I got two to add to that list, straight off http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35769 Google's Webmaster Guildlines.
7. Automated Queries will get you banned.
8. Any keyword stuffing on the page. Loading Anchors with keywords (its not just the meta tag that gets stuffed) will get your page penalized.
Great post! I learned a lot. Thanks
Richard
www.habitecinspections.com
Gareth, thanks for the additions, I will post it at the top of the thread.
Richard keep coming back.
Yeah, there is some content that is allowed to be duplicated and some that it is not. I just try not to duplicate anything and play it safe.
Thanks for the comment.
Lou,
Great to know....I am working hard to climb....I do not need to be banned!
Susan, keyword stuffing has never been good and has always been considered a "black-hat" SEO practice. If you are getting advice, from a source that recommends this tactic, it is time to look for another source.
I have been getting a lot of response to Keyword Stuffing, so I wrote a blog on it, hope it helps.
http://activerain.com/blogsview/431535/Keyword-Stuffing-Bad-Bad
Lou:
Thank you for your post.. you are right, we as agents can spend hours updating or sites and blogs, the last thing I would want is to be dropped or band from Google.
Thank you again for sharing such valuable information!
Lisa
It comes from watching your position on almost a daily (with me its an obsession so I watch my position more frequently). When you see your position drop, a penaly has been assessed. If you can't find your page at all in google, try googling the full URL. If it doesn't appear, you have been banned.
Here is more:
http://gpsgfaq.googlepages.com/banned.html
Lou:
How do you know that your template is not Google friendly. I am associated with a webmaster company that works with REALTORS and the templates are all so vanilla in style and content. Can one do research on this?
Lou,
Great Tips, no body wants to penalized by Google.
Lou,
Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I am curious, if I post the same blog material to my active rain blog as I do to my personal blog, will google kick me? thanks for any assistance
I doubt it. Blogs are widely syndicated and reproduced frequently. With that being said, I would try to stay as unique as I could regardless. The message I am trying to get across is to really think about who is reading it and try communicate with the humans (not the spiders). Keep these few things in mind and you should be fine.
Thanks for the comment.
I think a lot of you are getting the wrong idea about the duplication issue. To delve in it to the extent required would take another blog. There are some situations where duplication is unavoidable. I am not saying don't do it ever, I am merely suggesting to do your best not to.
Here is a blog on the google webmaster blog that may help:
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2006/12/deftly-dealing-with-duplicate-content.html
Thank you for the info. Apparently my site was penalized because I could at least find it when I ran a search, but now it is just buried but at least not banned. Was it the countless metatags I added? Didn't realize that could be an issue. I just figured it either worked and got you better ranking, or it didn't.
Janice Voelker
www.Virtualeyes360.com Virtual Tours
You're welcome Freddy. I think I am going to take these posts and break them down by writing a seperate blog on each of the points.
Lou, thanks for the great post, nice to know these thing.
-Bryan Flynn
Thanks. I have to admit I know way too little about SEO. This is very helpful. Bookmarked!
Great ifo, thanks for the help.
Are you suggest just one blog and not to duplicate postings?
Thanks for the info om how to report someone copying your stuff. I need to check some things out.
Lou, thanks for sharing this info, I didn't know Google banned website...ups..my bad!
I am in the learning process for google juice. thank you taking the time to share the tips.
I am glad that I looked at this blog. I think I would have fallen into a lot of cut and paste moments when I start my next blog. Thanks!
Lou, Soon after the Land Rush I was filling out all of my area information with content taken from Wikipedia. Which as I understand it is okay as far as copywrighting but is is taking away from my localism sponsorships? I did this in haste with plans to edit the content later but have grown to like some of the info. Any suggestions?
Good, original ( or semi original) content is key. One of my phrases is that you "can't game the search engines) and this especially applies to google. Good tips to keep us out of trouble! Thanks
Very good advice. Last thing you'd want is to be dropped by a powerhouse like Google!
More super info. I am beginning to understand more how Google works...
Thanks,
Cindy