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Is it Possible to Prevent Getting Hit by an Algorithm Penalty?

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Published: April 1, 2014

Search engine penalties can cause unwanted interruption in service. Many businesses have violated these policies and had their websites temporarily removed, which resulted in hundreds to millions of dollars lost. With these losses, business wanted to become prepared for the future. Here’s what you need to know to avoid algorithmic penalty from Google.

  1. Know the Difference Between the Two Types of Penalties
  2. In general, you need to know the rules and follow them to avoid penalties, but you should also know the difference between the two types of penalties. There are two types of penalties: manual and algorithmic. An algorithmic penalty occurs when the company’s site violates the guidelines in one way or another. When you lose ranking position, you will also lose traffic and sales conversions.

    A manual penalty originates with a human that looks at your site and decides that it violating a rule. Since recovery is a long process, both scenarios should be avoided at all costs.

  3. Do an Audit of Your Content
  4. Ensure that your content follows the guidelines. This may mean avoiding keyword stuffing and ensuring that all images are “alt-tagged.” You should also use Google Analytics to ensure that your top pages are receiving the most attention. The content quality should be especially high and adhere to the rules.

  5. Pay Attention to Your Link Profile
  6. Spam-like backlinks are known for causing algorithmic penalties. Do not wait until you have a penalty to perform a link profile audit. Instead, be proactive and clean up your link profile. Remove links that are not quality and are not generating traffic to your site. Ask a webmaster to remove the links that are deemed harmful to your website. The disavow tool will also help to remove links from your profile.

  7. Re-evaluate the Contribution of Your SEO Agency
  8. If your agency is using outdated techniques such as keyword stuffing, optimized anchor texts, and cloaking, then you might need a new agency. These techniques can result in penalties. Low-quality links from directory listings or content mills are the most common reasons for penalties. Always ask questions of your SEO agency.

    Ask them what they are doing to improve SEO on your site. Ask them if your backlinks are coming from reputable sources and determine what anchor texts they are using. Find out what kind of content they are creating on the website.

  9. Remain Abreast of Algorithm Updates
  10. If you want to remain abreast of algorithm updates, you must be constantly searching for the latest changes. When you know, you can make the changes early and avoid penalties. Major changes, like Panda or Penguin, have caused significant penalty problems for some people.

  11. Always Have Good Content
  12. If you always have good content, people will visit and learn more about your product or service. They will read your content and your rankings will rise. You will also gain more backlinks. Incorporate infographics and videos to increase interest and avoid penalties.

Is it Possible to Prevent Getting Hit by an Algorithm Penalty?

It is, but you must be active in learning more about and following the rules. If you know the rules, prevention is easier. Read over the tips to find out how you can avoid an algorithm penalty.

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