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About 70% of search engine traffic to any website comes from Google. Over the last several years, Google has grown to become the largest, most commonly used search engine-and with that growth has come power. Google has the power to help make or break a website because it is used by millions of people every hour of the day.
How can this make or break a website? The answer is simple-search engine rankings. Studies have proven that most people who use search engines rarely look beyond the first page of search results; therefore, webmasters must do whatever they can to get their sites listed on that first page of results. However, many webmasters go too far, using tactics of which Google does not approve-and this can result in that website being banned from Google.
When a website is banned from Google, it is not listed in the search results at all. No webmaster wants this to happen. So, here are some specific techniques webmasters should avoid so as not to get banned from Google.
- Cloaking: This is when a webmaster designs one page for the search engines and designs a completely different page for the reader who clicks on the link in the search engine. According to many experts, this method is most likely to result in being banned from Google because it is deceptive to the search engine users.
- Hidden text or links: Some webmasters use this technique as a method for putting extra keywords and tags on their websites in order to rank higher on search engines. This can be done by using white text on a white background, among other methods.
- Keyword stuffing: Google frowns on excessive use of keywords-it looks upon this as if the webmaster is trying to spam the reader. Webmasters should write content for their readers, not for search engines. Here is an example of keyword stuffing:
“Here is where you can find the perfect birthday present for your birthday boy or birthday girl. We sell birthday gifts for kids of all ages-and we also sell birthday decorations, birthday candles, birthday cards, and other birthday gear.”
- Linking to not-so-good sites: If a website contains links to websites that are looked upon by Google as being ‘bad neighborhoods’ (such as many adult websites or link farms, for example), that website will be guilty by association. Webmasters should regularly check their links to make certain they are to reputable sites.
- Redirect pages: When a person clicks on a link on a search engine results page, and that link then directs the person to a different page-that’s a redirect page. Google doesn’t like redirect pages because they take search engine users to pages other than the ones to which the user wanted to go.
- Duplicate content: Google sometimes bans sites that contain too much duplicate content, so webmasters need to be careful about this-even with copying content from their own pages or their own other sites.
Basically, webmasters should use common sense. Sound business practices and honesty will keep a site from being banned from Google.
Tags: google, search engines, SEODid you miss any of these?
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great reminders. i saw many bloggers out there, keyword stuff their posts to the point of making them funny when being read.
very helpful article
Yes, beware of BIG G…
Thanks.
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Sometimes, novice webmasters inadvertently do a wrong redirection and pay the price. Every webmaster must also check for all redirections in the website from some SEO tool.
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I had heard about an individual that got banned from an important site like Google, that would link to their site, and it was a deal-breaker for them as it cut off most of the visitors that would have come to it. She had said some harsh things to one of the individuals running the service, and so they blacklisted her(which was up to them). It is vital to keep in mind the processes that are going on behind the scenes, so as not to let one of them get cut off.
ehm, i will think about that. So far, i don’t think i break google rules..
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