What is negative SEO? When does it happen? How can it be prevented? These are the questions that we intend to answer in this article. In today’s world, every business knows that it needs SEO to stay competitive. But many people don’t know that there is another side to the SEO industry: negative SEO or negative reputation. Therefore, it should be fixed as soon as possible.
What is the concept of negative SEO?
First, let’s talk about what is the concept of negative SEO. Negative SEO is a set of black hat strategies. These techniques can result from external malicious attacks or attempts by website owners to cheat their way through the standard algorithm. Negative SEO makes the site look suspicious to crawlers. In this way, it may drag the website down in the ranking. In response to the question of what negative SEO is, we must say: Negative SEO is a definite threat to the sustainability of a website, and every measure must be taken to prevent it.
What is the use of Disavow Tools in negative SEO?
Do you know the way out of negative SEO? Most businesses should try to avoid negative SEO. However, if a site finds itself amid negative SEO, there are ways to get out of it. Google itself has provided a tool called Disavow. The Disavow tool allows websites to see a list of links to their site. It then instructs Google to ignore these links.
What is the role of spam links in negative SEO?
To know the role of spam links in negative SEO, you should pay attention to your backlinks. It is an old but golden way to monitor the quality of links to your site. Spam links are the main weapon used by malicious entities to destroy websites. Accounts with the same name or close to your website are created on purpose.
It means that whatever these websites do, it also affects your website. But what is the solution to deal with these accounts to prevent negative SEO? As with Disavow, some tools notify a website owner of this situation.
With the help of these tools, tell Google that those accounts are not from your company and separate their records from you. It will take some time for website owners to realize the impact of these methods. Negative SEO is a reality that every online business must face. But with the help of experts and practical tools, you can put your mind at ease about these spam accounts.
What is the cause of negative SEO?
But where is the origin of negative SEO, and what is the reason for the emergence of a negative SEO method? The fact is that creating a website, whether for personal or business use, is a lovely task. It makes sense that business owners and website managers want to make the fruits of their labor visible. Not only for marketing purposes but also because of the value they have created in their work.
In this way, the science of SEO was born. SEO is a method of communicating the purpose and message of your website to search engines. This action increases visits in the results generated when the user searches for keywords and phrases.
Link building
In the SEO industry, some factors contribute to the overall SEO process, including link building. For years, link building has generated as many incoming links as possible. Over time, this has formed a platform for forming spam links. These links are a kind of digital garbage. You can understand the cause of negative SEO through these links.
These spam links were causing the crowding of search engine results. This issue was the reason for the development of the Google Penguin algorithm. Google’s Penguin algorithm is Google’s solution to maintain the integrity of search results. This algorithm advances its integration by penalizing websites with manipulated inbound links spread across the web.
Since the advent of the Penguin algorithm, cybercriminals in competitive businesses have developed ways to use the system to target and essentially destroy competitors’ websites. This type of operation has the potential to cause irreparable damage. Therefore, Internet business owners must be familiar with these issues and methods and know how to protect themselves.
Reasons for using negative SEO
As we explained in the section “What is the cause of negative SEO,” negative SEO includes various techniques. For example, bad guys may hack a website. They may also buy spam links and direct these links to the target website so that website is penalized by Google.
Plus, a page on social media and review sites may become an interactive bombardment. As a result, if a website is attacked by negative SEO, there is no limit to what can happen to the website.
Take care of creating negative SEO
But what are the strategies for taking care of negative SEO? It should be noted that negative SEO does not always come from your enemies. Sometimes you may walk into this trap yourself. The most important thing you should follow is always to use white hat SEO techniques on your way. As a result, you will not be threatened by any danger from your site.
Also, be careful with your backlinks. Incoming links to your site are a very important part of your SEO. Always be aware of where your traffic is coming from. If your business is small, contact the owner of the sites that link to your site. One of the key tactics used by cybercriminals is to contact site owners and ask them to remove your link while posing as you.
So by maintaining a close working relationship, you can be sure that people will contact you if they receive such a message. Also, set your website to request approval and review for each new post or comment. This way, the possibility of interactive and critical bombardment on your page is reduced.