Google Ban - How Not To Get Banned By Google!
Given that Google now provides over 75% of all Internet search traffic, the last possible thing any site owner would want is to be banned from the Google index!
With countless search engine marketing techniques being employed these days, and contrasting advice available all over the web, it is well worth ensuring that you do not 'over optimise' your site or use any techniques which will result in Google penalising your site.
Although the main rule would be to create a site which caters for your audience, provides quality content and contains meta information which is faithful to your site content, you should always optimise your site code to aid in your search ranking efforts, but this should be done in moderation, and in line with the following tips.
Spam
Never, ever spam. This involves sending a large amount of unsolicited mail via your domain mail server. Although the legality of mass mailing is a grey area, sites which do this deserve to be banned by every search engine.
Link Farming
Link Farms, or Free-for-all links pages exist solely to help listed sites gain higher search engine rankings. These are bad neighbourhoods and are frowned upon by the major search engines. Obviously you can't control which sites link back to you, but you can ensure you don't link to link farms.
Excessive Links
Now that so many webmasters are more obsessed with their Google Pagerank than the amount of quality traffic they receive, link pages are fuller than ever. You should try not to place too many outbound links on a single page. If you do need to link to 100 or more sites, place the links on separate pages.
Cloaking
Seen by many SEO specialists as probably the thing most likely to result in a Google ban, cloaking involves creating one page designed specifically for the search engines, and another which will appear for the user. This is search engine manipulation at its worst.
Selling PageRank
Some sites have gone so far as to sell PageRank - i.e. selling links on highly ranked pages. You can sell links (i.e. advertising), but you cannot sell links for the stated purpose of increasing Google Pagerank.
Doorway Pages
A few years back, doorway (or gateway) pages were as common as normal pages - these are usually small pages, crammed full of keywords, designed solely for the purpose of gaining high rankings. They usually look awful and a site which uses a lot of doorway pages is likely to be penalised.
Excessive Cross-Linking
Some webmasters create multiple site, often with identical or similar content. They are then heavily linked together with the sole purpose of increasing Pagerank. Not recommended. If you have several sites, inter-linking is fine, but in moderation as with all search engine marketing techniques.
Submitting multiple URL's from the same site
An example would be for a webmaster to submit mysite.com and mysite.com/index.html to the Google database, thereby essentially trying to get two search results for the same page. If Google doesn't find a new site quickly anway, just submit your index page ONCE!
SEO Software
Don't use unauthorised computer programs to submit pages, check rankings, etc. Such programs consume computing resources and violate Google's terms of service. Google does not recommend the use of products that send automatic or programmatic queries to Google.
If you follow these guidelines and steer clear of excessive search engine marketing techniques, you should be fine. Just remember to create a site with is faithful to the product or service you are providing information on and you should be fine. Concentrate on exchanging quality links with similar sites and don't get too obsessed with your Google Pagerank. Quality, returning traffic is the goal.
For Google's webmaster guidelines, visit http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
About The Author
James Leckie is editor of http://www.bytestart.co.uk - the small business portal and http://www.trafficgeneration.com - the web promotion portal.
Related Articles:
Reciprocal Link Exchange Rampup - Winning the Link Popularity Contest
Getting links to your website all over the Internet is one of your best methods to get a higher ranking in the search engines. The reason for this is the more links you have, the more popular you are in the eyes of the search engines, and as a result you will be rewarded with a higher relevancy ranking than other websites with fewer links.
Link Building: To Link, or Not to Link, That is the Question
Lately, there have been a lot of heated discussions regarding link building. Is it ethical to create a link building campaign? Does Google or any other search engine penalize for "link farms" (a bunch of non-related links created for the SOLE purpose of increasing search engine ratings)? Is the "link building era" over?Link FarmsMany webmasters claim that Google penalizes websites for link farms.
Link Building To Improve Search Engine Rank
As the competition increasing every day so when you are planning to make business online then you need to optimize your site For this Search Engine Optimization or SEO is getting popular every day
Linking for Traffic: The Shift from Link Directories to Hyper-Targeted Linking
There's a stiff wind blowing in a new direction on the web. And you'd benefit from taking the time to notice the direction its headed.
Link Building and Link Strategy for Increased Web Traffic
Toronto, ON November 26, 2007 ? There are millions of websites in cyberspace. The challenge becomes how to ensure that your website is found on search engines and is seen by potential customers.
One Way Links and Reciprocal Link Exchange and Traffic
While reciprocal links are still valid and help you gain link popularity and page rank, many SEO experts agree that one way links are more valuable. One way links are also known as non-reciprocal links. Acquiring one way links are much more difficult than reciprocal links. One way links are a tool that can be quite beneficial to the webmaster. The very best one way links are those that are included in the content of another website, directing visitors to your website. One way links are those where you point to a site, or a site points to you without a link being returned. One way links are the best way to increase the link popularity of the site and get theme based links for natural search engine optimization.
Increase Your Search Engine Ranking With Non-Reciprocal Link Building
You don?t need to be taught over and over that one of the most effective and powerful ways of obtaining the best position in search engines is through link building Because of this, there are already a lot of webmasters that would either send you an e-mail or drop you a call, requesting for a link exchange with you
Boost Your Search Engine Ranking And Generate Free Traffic With Reciprocal Links
Reciprocal links are an important step in your overall plan to get site visitors.What are they? Reciprocal links are mutual links you and some other web site owner agree to post on your respective sites.
Is Exchanging Links Better Than One Way Links
When establishing links and exchanging links this helps your rankings with the search engines and builds on connecting with other business owners. When exchanging links with other webmasters you will need to give them your code and you will need to use their code on your site.
Google Grants Links to SEMcares.com to Help Non-Profits with Volunteer Search Engine Marketing
The Official Google Grants Blog tells non-profits about SEMcares.com, the not-for-profit database that connects non-profits and volunteer search engine marketing providers.
25 Common Link Exchange & Search Engine Terms
In today's world of website promotion and traffic building, a whole new set of terms and definitions have developed. To be a successful webmaster and/or website owner, it is important to know the meanings of some of the most popular link exchange and search engine terms.
Smart Link's Local Submit Enhances SEO for Vertical Search Engines
Smart Link Web, a Michigan based (http://profiles.smartlinksolutions.com) leader in search engine optimization (SEO), now offers a method for small and local businesses to climb to the top of search engine rankings. This is in response to Google's recent change in its search results through the vertical search system. It introduces Smart Link Local Submit to give local and small scale businesses an edge in the field of online business. Unlike the traditional horizontal counterpart, vertical search results place local businesses above the normal organic results. Vertical searches are focused on the particular - and the online user is given ...
SEO Link Building and Copywriting Service Relaunched by Search Engine Optimization Firm Brick Marketing
Brick Marketing has realized the importance of incorporating and combining link building into all aspects of online marketing for each of their clients. They have since re-launched their link building service for those interested in introducing online marketing in their business model.
Traffic One Way Links And Reciprocal Link Exchange
While reciprocal links are still valid and help you gain link popularity and page rank, many SEO experts agree that one way links are more valuable. One way links are also known as non-reciprocal links. Acquiring one way links are much more difficult than reciprocal links. One way links are a tool that can be quite beneficial to the webmaster. The very best one way links are those that are included in the content of another website, directing visitors to your website. One way links are those where you point to a site, or a site points to you without a link being returned. One way links are the best way to increase the link popularity of the site and get theme based links for natural search engine optimization.
15 Proven Ways For Link Building To Improve Search Engine Rank
Almost all webmasters know that incoming links are food for website. The website will rank high in the search engine result pages as long as they have great quality incoming links with related anchor text.
