Understanding Web Spam and How to Avoid It With Smarter SEO Practices

When spam hits your inbox, it might involve a Nigerian prince promising you millions of dollars or an email from PayPal that seems just a bit off. But what does it mean when Google designates a website as spam? The definition of web spam is a bit nebulous. With email, we know there’s something nefarious afoot—someone wants to steal your passwords or your money. Phishing and scams are certainly part of what Google defines as web spam, but it also includes things like over-optimization. In short, it’s text, code or a webpage designed to trick Google's algorithm and artificially inflate search engine rankings. Marketers might not have ill intentions. But by following the wrong SEO practices, Google considers your site to be “spammy.” That might mean something as innocuous as going overboard on SEO. Either way, Google doesn’t want it on the first page of search results. Link spam This is the broadest category. Examples of link spam include: Excessive sponsored posts and guest posts without proper tags (these can hurt the rankings of both the hosting site and the sites placing the links)Affiliate links that aren’t tagged as suchLink exchanges, in which websites agree to link to each other for SEO purposesAutomated link programsLinks in footers or embedded in widgets (it used to be common for free WordPress and Blogger themes to have a spammy link at the bottom)Unnatural links in forums and blog comments Google’s algorithm is getting better at identifying link spam, which means this form is becoming less common as it loses its effectiveness. Reddit Gives Users More Ways to Control Spam Auto-generated and scraped content Unethical SEO tactics populate their clients’ websites with auto-generated, spun and scraped content. This content could be lifted directly from other websites, or simply have a few words switched out in an attempt to make it unique. It’s always obvious when a website has this type of content on it because it almost makes sense—but not quite. Automated programs will substitute words with synonyms, but the English language is complex; if the original sentence was, “Internet browsers use cookies to track information,” a rewritten version that says “Internet browsers use biscuits to track information” sticks out like a sore thumb. Spun content is a little more rewritten, but not by much. A content spinner can take a single article and generate hundreds of rewrites. These spun articles are then submitted as guest posts around the web or sold as original content to unwitting clients. Usually, these articles have some telltale signs that they’re auto-generated, as the phrasing is stilted and unnatural. Redirects, cloaking and doorway pages These are all pages that represent themselves as one thing to a search engine, while offering something different to visitors. They’re becoming less common in Google search results, but sometimes you’ll find them when searching for an obscure long-tail keyword. Often, these pages are a result of a website being hacked. Scams and fraud Phishing, counterfeit goods, malware and various other attempts to deceive and make money fall into this category. Unless your website is hacked, this isn’t something you should have to worry about as a small business owner—unless your small business involves defrauding people. Keyword stuffing and hidden text If the bottom of your website has a list of 50 local towns your business serves, if you repeat the services you provide over and over in your copy, or if you have text that blends into the background of your page to hide keywords, you might have a keyword stuffing problem. While Google has gotten better at detecting keyword stuffing, there are still many SEO experts who rely on such practices. SEO shortcuts are no longer the way to the top of Google's results. Even tactics like backlinks and creating relevant content require greater sophistication nowadays. Avoid the shady tactics and refine the bread and butter of your SEO toolbox, or find your business at the mercy of the algorithm. Guest Posting in 2021: What You Need to Know About Creating SEO-Friendly Writing