The Google Penalty Shoot-out!

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by: Marmarticle
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Date: Sat, 6 Aug 2011 Time: 8:04 PM
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Below is a list of penalty shoot-outs that would likely be the cause of those enviously talented defenders (John Terry eat your heart out) keeping you from that goal:

On-site Penalties:

Duplicate Content

Rest assured duplicate content alone can not be the only cause for receiving a black mark from Google, however Google will not index any content that it considers to be duplicated. So be warned - if your site consists of a lot of the stuff (pulled in from an RSS feed/articles that are featured elsewhere within the World Wide Web) the likelihood is that it will suffer as a result.

Playing Hide & Seek

It may have been fun in the playground but Google frowns heavily when it feels tricked (a grumpy Google is not a pretty Google) - never, ever be tempted to hide any text, keywords or links anywhere within your site (this form of black-hat SEO is known as 'Cloaking') - we can not stress this enough, it may have worked for a while but one day (soon) the mighty fist of Google will come down heavily on you and leave you gathering dust in your solitary corner of the web.

Keyword Stuffing

More commonly known as spamming, this involves the overuse of particular key-phrases (in some cases even unrelated terms, that are widely searched for, are used purely to drive traffic, no matter how irrelevant!). If a site doesn't read well to you, chances are Google thinks the same!
Linking Penalties:

The Linking Marketplace

Don't get us wrong, we're big advocates of buying stuff, but links are not included in our shopping lists. Have a mosey around who's linking to your site and who you're linking to - look out for any paid links (from link providers or text link brokers).

Link-Mania

The competition within Search Engine's may be a glorified popularity contest in many ways but there is such a thing as too much. Imagine poor Gary Barlow surrounded by hoards and hoards of tear-sodden fans, 4 or 5 might be a boost to the ego, but multiply that by 100 and suddenly he's got quite a scrum on his hands - and no doubt the intense desire to run & hide in safety.

Excessive linking may trigger a similar response from Google, causing the search giant to shy away from tickling your site with it's crawlers. Try and stick to linking only to companies you can relate to and always remember, like with chocolate eggs at Easter, moderation is key! The same applies to buying links on commercial directories - pick & chose wisely, don't go over-board and always make sure the relevance is high!

Link mania is the most notorious usual suspect when playing the black-hat SEO game, and almost certainly a ticket to Google's big black-listed underbelly. Shoddy Search Engine Optimisation techniques such as excessive link building and key-phrase repetition will often be the cause of your problems, especially if the accrual rate is ridiculously high.

So make sure when managing link building campaigns you always vary the link text used and incorporate a variety of different keyword terms, as well as holding back on the desire to go linking crazy, should such a thing hit.

Good Vs. Evil - Linking to Banned Sites

No one routes for the evil villan who's run off with the hero's beau, same applies to a site that's been stuck in Google's naughty corner. Scope out which of your outbound links could potentially have been playing the villan and been caught - and break the connection immediately.

Cross-linking Your Sites

If you own more than one website and the Google penalty hits all of them at the same time, have a look at the cross linking going-on between those sites. Extensive interlinking between websites, especially if they are on the same ISP, can be viewed as "link schemes" by Google, which is a big no-no within their terms of service.

Overly Techie Penalties:

Check for Malicious Software Gremlins

Malware Problems can cause huge issues if Google has branded your site unsafe for browsing - make sure your site hasn't been biten by the Malware bug.

Automated Page Redirects

If Google perceives a page to be a 'Doorway Page' expect a slap or two on the proverbial wrists. The use of automated browser re-directs in any of your pages will often result in Google penalties, especially if the refresh time is less than 5 seconds.

The Online Billboard Effect

Many people have learnt the hard way when it comes to sites deliberately constructed for Adsense or, what Google dubs as 'Thin Affiliate Sites'. It's no secret that Google dislikes little-to-no content and the same applies to "made for Adsense" sites and Thin Affiliates, in fact if Google and a thin affiliate site were to challenge each other to a duel, it would be the affiliate site left licking it's wounds. Affiliate's can work wonders if built correctly and the same rules apply to them that do any other site on the web - good, original content is key!

The above is just a very brief overview of any potential search engine optimisation issues that may, or may not, be causing your site to not rank quite as highly as you hoped.

About the Author

If you think you may have been effected by any of the above give us a call and see what we can do to help you - there's no obligation, and you'd be welcome to come in for a chat. Marmalade on Toast are a full service digital marketing agency in London and Winchester.