Trying to increase your website\u2019s ranking on Google? Heard horror stories of Google\u2019s updates completely wiping sites off the search rankings? It happens, but not at random. Let\u2019s have a look at what exactly a Google penalty is \u2013 and the reasons Google may drop your site in its rankings.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s start with Google\u2019s goal: to eliminate poor-quality content to refine the quality of search results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To do this, Google released their Penguin update in 2012, which wiped some sites out of search rankings altogether. This update downgrades site rankings based on many factors (which we will chat about shortly), forcing companies to change the way they look at SEO and prioritize the quality of their content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Subsequent updates continue to sharpen the search engine\u2019s ability to judge the quality of a site.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The design of a website plays a large factor in its site ranking. Two main design concerns are whether the site is mobile-friendly or if it is new or up-to-date. According to Forbes<\/a>, \u201cyou could lose anywhere from 5-30% of leads based on this factor alone\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you\u2019re building your website design, make sure you also keep meta titles and meta descriptions in mind. They help Google understand what keywords your website wants to rank for; without them, Google may not recognize your site as relevant and penalize you. What makes up link structure? Let\u2019s break it down:<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to links, remember \u2013 quality over quantity. Yes, some companies still buy links to their website to increase in ranking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Google sees this as an attempt to deceive PageRank, which calculates where your site should appear in search engine results based on what content Google views as relevant and high-quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you try to manipulate Google, they can catch this \u2013 and the bad links you have been buying. Buying links can even drop you off the rankings completely. This can be anything from not enough content, shallow content that your readers have already found on many other sites, or content obviously trying to rank for keywords. These are all the wrong way for your content to help rank your website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your site must offer significant content to readers. Google judges how users interact with your website<\/a>. If people visit your site and immediately leave, Google will catch on that users don\u2019t value your content and will penalize your site and it\u2019s ranking. How frustrated do you get when a page is taking 10 seconds to load? Do you abandon the page and move on?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A lot of people do \u2013 and Google notices. Neil Patel<\/a> recommends using a caching plugin or a CDN right away to avoid this issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re not sure how fast your existing site is, check out Google\u2019s PageSpeed<\/a> to see if you have room to improve on your desktop or mobile site load time. In the end, you must always put the user experience at top-of-mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They\u2019re the ones visiting your websites and, in turn, buying your products or services. The goal is to give them the most seamless experience, so they have no reason to exit your page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Doing this will help avoid penalties, increase the quality of your traffic and number of conversions, and create a happy relationship between your website and Google.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n2. Poor Link Structure<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n3. Buying Links<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n4. Your Content Has Little Value<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n5. Slow Speeds<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\nStay Prepared
<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n