The Latest Google WebSpam Report
The latest Google WebSpam report is now out, and it's pretty much the usual update we get from the search engine every year. They're actively fighting it tooth and nail, and they want to give us the best search results possible so we continue use Google as our search engine of choice.
The one constant you can count on with webspam is that the spammers continue to evolve and up their game, and Google notes website hacking has increased. I've noticed it more and more, and not only is it downright annoying, but it can be damned expensive to clean up.
Google's added helpful guides for web owners to make their sites more secure and to recover from being hacked. I'm glad the search engine is actively sharing what's out there and how to fix it, because it's really disheartening to see your site's been hacked, and you don't know where to start. (Hint: a healthy budget, sorry!)
Popular content management systems (CMS) like WordPress and Joomla are working with Google to harden their systems against hackers. I really like these partnerships, because they make web publishing fairly easy, so they should also work hard to protect their CMS from getting over run by spammers.
More From The Google WebSpam Report
In addition, the report states Google continues to crack down hard on link manipulation - unnatural links pointing from/to websites. This is still one of the easiest ways to spam a site from afar. I really stress to web owners to stay on top of their link profile, and to take timely action to remove links that don't relate to their site content.
The webspam report also emphasizes monitoring your Google Search Console. To me, this is the single most valuable FREE SEO tool you can use. If your site gets hacked, or you receive a manual penalty from Google, this is the only place you'll find out. So please, if you haven't set up Google Search Console, make it a priority for your web site's sake!
Do you want to learn more about how SEO helps you find issues before they impact your site's rankings? Let's get together to teach you search engine optimization. You'll learn exactly what you need to do to get better search engine visibility for your pages and posts.
Until we meet again, stay safely between the ditches!
All the very best to you,
Nancy McDonald
Image courtesy of Pixabay
