What is the Google Spam Update?
The google spam update changes the way Google ranks websites in its SERPs. The update aims to deliver helpful, useful content to users.
Google regularly changes its algorithm to improve the quality of search results. These changes typically harm websites that do not comply with Google’s guidelines.
Before the update, several websites with low-quality content would still rank highly on SERPs.
The google spam update deals with spammy content and rewards websites that offer useful valuable information and quality content.
Your website is the heart of your business. You worked hard on your search engine optimization (SEO) to get top spots in Google’s Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Then the latest google spam update happens!
What the heck happened to your jewelry store SEO? The short answer is a Google algorithm update hit through SERPS like a bolt of strong lightning.
What is a google spam update? What can you do to make your website recover from this big bang!
Issues Targeted by Google’s Spam Update
Here are the issues that will make your website vulnerable to the update. With these issues, your website will be penalized:
Keyword Stuffing
Before this update, websites heavy on keywords but light on useful content could still rank highly in Google SERPs.
Keywords should be used naturally to benefit the user or reader. It should not be your primary goal to stuff your Meta tags and content with keywords. Using keywords excessively gives users a terrible reading experience.
Superficial Content
Superficial content is referred to as thin content or content that is short in word count and does not offer any useful or valuable content to users.
Terrible Meta Tags
Meta tags or description is a summary of the content of a page that users see in the SERPs. It is the first thing, after the title, users see when searching for something. It is important in local SEO.
You need to craft readable and unique Meta tags. Meta tags should be relevant to the content it represents.
Your website is doomed if you do the copy-and-paste way or create them only for search engines. Never create Meta tags as clickbait, instead keep them real.
Duplicate Content
Content should always be 100% original and unique.
Having the same content on multiple pages of your website or other websites can affect your chances of getting a good rank on SERPs.
Generated Content
User-generated or auto-generated content does not provide value to the users or readers.
User-generated contents are forum posts or blog comments. They are spam comments that try to promote a website or product but are irrelevant to the discussion.
Auto-generated content is created by a bot or any automated means. This type of content is low quality and does not provide real value to users.
AI Generated Content
Content written by machines fails when it comes to ethics. Some AI content has been hit by the spam update. Many say it was long overdue.
While AI content is not bad, it is written primarily for search engines and not humans. The tool creates many thin content pages to trick Google that you have a content-rich site.
Content should always be written for people by people. Besides, AI writing tools violate Google’s Webmaster Guidelines and are considered spam.
Link Spam
Link building is one of the most crucial factors that help websites rank well in SERPs.
Including a greater number of links to a page increases its rank on SERPs which translates into greater visibility, more web traffic, and more potential customers.
Link spamming is including low-quality backlinks on your website. It is posting links on a website that are out of context with the intent of increasing external links to a website.
Link spam can backfire on your website. Search engines can remove your website from SERPs.
The google spam update aims to weed out websites that try to cheat their way to the top of SERPs.
How to Recover from the Google Spam Update
If your website was affected by the google spam update, you can recover from the drop in SERPs ranking and website traffic.
Analyze your Website’s Content
Your website’s content should be informative and helpful to users. The google spam update major target is websites that do not provide these kinds of content.
Analyze your content and look out for keyword stuffing, unnatural links, etc. If you find any of these in your content, make some changes. Revise or add new contents that are more helpful and informative to your users.
Create High-quality Backlinks
Good-quality backlinks improve your website’s rank in SERPs. Using links from low-quality websites will harm your rankings. Make sure you are using backlinks that have a good reputation and are relevant to the industry your website is a part of.
Focus on your Website’s Analytics
Website analytics can help you identify further drops in your site’s rankings and traffic.
Monitor the ranking of your website on SERPs and make the necessary adjustments. This will ensure the full recovery of your website from the google spam update and continued good performance.
The update’s main goal is to penalize low-quality content and reward high-quality content with good rankings.
Closely Monitor your Progress
Closely monitor your website after making the necessary changes. Check the rankings of your keywords and traffic levels to your website.
It can take time for your website to fully recover from the google spam update. It is crucial that you monitor the progress of your website. With enough patience, you will see an increase in your website’s ranking and traffic.
Final Thoughts
The google spam update is done! Review your website content and ensure it conforms to the new standards of Google.
Never sacrifice quality for the sake of search engine optimization. Instead, focus on providing informative and good content.
Following the SEO best practices will help you succeed with the update and bring your website to the top of SERPs. Focus on good user experience to stay ahead of the google spam update.
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