SEO can be complicated. If you’re unfamiliar with SEO best practices and end up using methods such as keyword stuffing or publishing duplication content, you can land your website in hot water with Google. The umbrella term for SEO initiatives that Google penalizes you for is called Black Hat SEO. These are sneaky/untruthful methods to make your website have more domain authority, content, or optimization using practices that do not benefit the user. Google is aware of these tactics and has developed algorithms to penalize websites that use these tactics. Find out here what some of these common penalties can include, in order to help protect your website from any methods that may be negatively affecting your rankings.
Cloaking
Cloaking is the process of sending a Google user to a different URL than the URL that Google thinks the user will end up on. This can be done in a variety of ways and is considered to be against best practices. It’s essential to make sure your URLs go to the place you think they are going to, and Google knows that. Make sure you send all redirects to the site you want the user to go to and not the wrong webpage. This will decrease your SERP ranking.
AMP Page Doesn’t Match Canonical
An AMP page is for users who are on mobile and are made for a speedy user experience. Google rolled out the option to have AMP pages to improve the user experience. They are stripped-down versions of HTML and must match the Canonical page in terms of topics. If you code your site to have your AMP look way different from the Canonical webpage, Google will penalize you for that. However, the text can slightly be altered, and it doesn’t need to be precisely the same. For reference, a Canonical URL allows Google to know what page to show in the SERP to prevent duplicate content from occurring.
Thin Content
This one is important because it is often seen the most with our clients. Thin content is when your webpage does not have enough copy, content and provides little to no valuable information/knowledge to the consumer. If you take content from other websites and rephrase them, Google is smart enough to figure that out and can penalize you. It’s essential to add your unique views and knowledge to every piece of content you write.
SEO With Boston Web Marketing
SEO can be a lot to handle, don’t put yourself in a difficult position by having Google penalize you. Look to the experts at Boston Web Marketing to take care of your SEO and start being found by potential customers. Contact us here to get started!