You’re probably very familiar with SEO, and you probably know that it can be a valuable asset to a business. But are you familiar with the not-so-happy world of negative SEO?
Negative SEO is out there, and it can be a pain to deal with. Read up on negative SEO below, and you’ll have no trouble fending it off.
Types of negative SEO
First off, there are three major types of negative SEO. They are:
1. Intentional negative SEO performed by competitors
A more well-known example of negative SEO, this practice occurs when a powerful competitor uses their time and money to “kill off” their competition’s search rankings instead of investing time into their own SEO and marketing strategies.
Intentionally-performed negative SEO is bad for both the brand doing it and the brands affected by it, so this method is best avoided. After all, wouldn’t you rather invest in sound, well-planned brand marketing instead of competitor sabotage?
2. Spam SEO!
The third type of negative SEO generates from automated spam websites. Without the victim even being aware of it, these sites build toxic links to their website. And as a side effect, the links increase risk in the victim’s link profile.
Spam-based negative SEO can be avoided by practicing safe SEO and link risk management.
3. Review Attacks
This one is less common than the latter two, but equally as dangerous. In a situation of a review attack, one party creates a large number of 5-star reviews for a company (usually a competitor), to make it appear as though the company has paid for 5-star reviews. All too often, this can result in the company being accused by other people of milling out positive, fake reviews on their own business.
Review attacks can be dangerous. The best way to avoid these is to monitor the platforms where your business or products are commonly reviewed, and research/report any suspicious activity.
SEO Companies in Los Angeles: Coalition!
No matter what the type of negative SEO, it all comes down to the battlefield: the search engine. Enter the god of it all: Google.
Google Penalties: Ouch!
Big name brands drop in Google rankings each month, because Google fights to protect its general search engine perfection. Google penalizes brands that misuse their Webmaster Guidelines. Recently, they’ve begun warning violators of what will happen if they continue misusing Google’s capabilities. Brands, like Expedia, have recently been punished by the web giant, and there’s a laundry list of other brands that experienced the same fate.
Doing the right thing
Properly performing SEO is more important than ever before. Negative SEO can damage a brand, especially in the case of a small business striving to maintain a marketing strategy. Make sure that your brand is protected by regularly auditing links for all of your domains, even redirected links.
Doing your homework is what it all comes down to in the case of avoiding negative SEO. Make sure you’re on top of your game with knowing your specific risks and understanding good links versus bad links.
Need more insight on negative SEO? Contact us, and we can help.
