10 Ways to Avoid Google’s Over Optimization Penalty

Matt Cutts recently announced that Google is working on a search ranking penalty for the over optimized websites. The latest update claims to be working on stopping over optimization so that the search engine users can receive accurate and valuable results.

The penalty is going to be introduced very soon globally ( I see a lot of chaos around when webmasters have already started getting those terrific fluctuations and drops on their money sites) to make things even between sites that have good content and sites that have done a good job with Search Engine Optimization or rather Search Engine Over-optimization. The Google searchbot is about to get smarter than before and if your page is stuffed with keywords then you really have something to worry about.

 

So here are 10 ways in which you can avoid Google’s Over Optimization Penalty:

  1. Avoid Keyword Stuffing

Who likes a website just stuffed with the same word(s) over and over again? It just reduces the quality of your content. Plus, Google’s search algorithm will also calculate the number of times the keyword has been used, if it’s over their keyword limit for a page then your ranking will decrease or you may be penalized for it.

So avoid stuffing your content with keywords. Recycle your keywords and try to insert them naturally into the content.

  1. Add Structure to Your Website

It helps to use <title>, <h1> and <h2> tags on your website. Try to use the keywords in these tags instead of randomly in the content. The searchbot takes into account the title and heading, tags which are highly weighed while ranking any website.

It is safe to use nofollow tags, there are no penalties for their excessive use as they are used to help search engines perform better.

  1. Use Anchor Text Sensibly

It’s not bad to use anchor text, just try to use it sensibly. Don’t just use phrases and random text as anchor text and don’t use it too much either. Don’t use the same anchor text for every link that you create.

Using too much or unnatural usage will reduce your website rating and with the new over optimization penalty, it might remove your website from search engine listings altogether till you make the necessary changes.

  1. Valuable and Good-Quality Content for the Real Users

Provide valuable content on your website. Avoid rehashed or re-written content. Maintain a natural tone throughout the text; don’t just force it around the keyword. That really isn’t the key to higher search engine ranking. This is where the over optimization penalty will come in. Remember, this step is being taken in the first place to bring up websites that contain good content over websites that have crappy content and good SEO building strategies. So make the change before you end up getting penalized.

Try to write content for the users rather than for search engines or bots. It should be valuable for the real end user that you want to reach.

  1. Reputable Slow & Steady Link Building

Link building is important, but what is more important is that they are valuable links. Like Matt Cutts puts it, if your website has good quality content, then you will get great links naturally. You won’t have to resort to low tactics like paying for links. Slow and steady link building pays off in much bigger way than paying for link building. Try to link websites that have a good amount of traffic instead of a dead website that just makes it look fishy to the searchbot, too.

Use diverse methods, including posting about your work or industry of forum and social networking sites, use social bookmarking websites, build groups or pages around your website on social networking sites  like Facebook, Twitter, etc.

  1. Avoid Redirects

Users are never happy when a website redirects them a lot. Just imagine how would you like it if you opened up a website for MP3 songs and with it pop up half a dozen advertisements and redirect links? Nobody likes so many pop ups and redirects, so use them to a minimum.

  1. Increase ‘Above the Fold’ Content

Google has a strict policy against too many ads placed on a web page in the area ‘above the fold’. Their Page Layout Algorithm detects it if there isn’t considerable valuable content present above the fold and these pages are then removed from their listing.

  1. Avoid Auto Generated Door-Ways

Google does not list websites that have auto-generated doorway pages linked to them. So avoid using them completely. You will find yourself removed from the Google search engine listing completely.

  1. Avoid Repetitive Content on Your Website

Do not use the same content on several pages within the same website. The searchbot will crawl through the entire website page by page and will consider the duplicated content as plagiarized. That not only means being removed from the search engine listing, but it also annoys users who see the same content repeatedly on your website.

  1. Build Balanced Backlinks

Backlinks no doubt help improve the ranking of your website, but putting too many in makes it look really suspicious to the searchbot. That is why high quality link building is very important. The maximum number of links to build in a day should not fall above the 30 to 100 range.

If you are penalized by Google, they will remove you from their search engine listings. Once you make the necessary changes and make the reason for the penalty go away, it will be weeks before your website will come back up in the search engine listings. Better to be safe, than sorry!

1 thought on “10 Ways to Avoid Google’s Over Optimization Penalty”

  1. Thanks for sharing. I got hit pretty bad and trying to fix everything i am seeing. I might have been going after the wrong thing though. I been getting rid of links that i thought appeared to be bad.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *