Guestpost : Learn more about Google Algorithm:being modified:detect ,devalue, low-quality links, or links determined to be spammy or paid for.
What’s being called the Unnatural Links update
is rocking the SEO world. In March people started receiving warnings
from Google about “unnatural links” and then many of those sites’
rankings in search results have taken a nosedive. Some sites have been
de-indexed, which means their site’s pages no longer show up in Google
at all.
The scary part? Unlike other Google algorithm changes, you can’t respond to this one by changing things on your site. This time, it’s about links to your site from other websites (commonly called backlinks) that you most likely don’t have control over – including sites you may never have asked to link to you.
Wait! I thought backlinks were good. The number and quality of backlinks to sites has always been one of the most important search engine optimization (SEO) factors determining how high a web page will rank in search engine results pages (SERPs).
With the Unnatural Links update, Google has made it clear that backlink quality is of paramount importance. The Google algorithm has been modified to detect – and devalue – low-quality links, or links that are determined to be spammy or paid for.
In other words, Google is trying to distinguish “natural” links – the kind that people make to other sites because they think the content of the linked site is relevant to their own visitors – from links created solely to boost a site’s rankings.
Many SEO experts believe Google is going one step further and actually penalizing sites with links that are determined to be “unnatural,” because some sites appear to be ranking lower than they would if they had no backlinks at all.
So, how can you avoid a penalty and make sure your links don’t look unnatural?
The scary part? Unlike other Google algorithm changes, you can’t respond to this one by changing things on your site. This time, it’s about links to your site from other websites (commonly called backlinks) that you most likely don’t have control over – including sites you may never have asked to link to you.
Wait! I thought backlinks were good. The number and quality of backlinks to sites has always been one of the most important search engine optimization (SEO) factors determining how high a web page will rank in search engine results pages (SERPs).
With the Unnatural Links update, Google has made it clear that backlink quality is of paramount importance. The Google algorithm has been modified to detect – and devalue – low-quality links, or links that are determined to be spammy or paid for.
In other words, Google is trying to distinguish “natural” links – the kind that people make to other sites because they think the content of the linked site is relevant to their own visitors – from links created solely to boost a site’s rankings.
Many SEO experts believe Google is going one step further and actually penalizing sites with links that are determined to be “unnatural,” because some sites appear to be ranking lower than they would if they had no backlinks at all.
So, how can you avoid a penalty and make sure your links don’t look unnatural?
- Pay attention for an “Unnatural Links” notice in your Google Webmaster Tools account.
- Make sure you don’t have any paid links.
- Make sure you don’t have links from blog networks.
- Sites with lots of links with keyword-rich anchor text look suspicious.
- Try to have a balance of high-quality and lower-quality links.
- Avoid site-wide links to your site.
Kristina and the folks at AboutUs
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