The terrifying connection between malware, Google Search Console and AdWords

in the midst of a malware emergency or want to ensure you never have to deal with one? Columnist Glenn Gabe provides tips and recommendations based on his experience helping clients with security situations.

The post The terrifying connection between …

Hacked Content On The Rise: Take SEO Precautions To Protect Your Site

Don’t get penalized due to malware! Columnist Tony Edward discusses the recent uptick in hacked content in search results and provides tips to protect your site.

The post Hacked Content On The Rise: Take SEO Precautions To Protect Your Site appeared f…

4 Easy & Honest SEO Mistakes That Could Penalize Your Site

You did everything right when optimizing your site for search — or so you thought. Contributor Neil Patel explains where you may have gone wrong.

The post 4 Easy & Honest SEO Mistakes That Could Penalize Your Site appeared first on Search Engine Land.

Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.

Google Targets Sites Using Private Blog Networks With Manual Action Ranking Penalties

Google has reportedly taken action on sites participating in private blog networks, also known as PBNs. On September 18th, Google sent out widespread manual action notices via Google Webmaster Tools to these sites for “thin content” spam. Google considers thin content to be search spam…

Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.

Lawyers Sue SEO firm For Violating Google Guidelines

A law firm in Michigan, Seikaly & Stewart, is suing its former SEO provider — but not for a lack of ranking success. Rather the firm is getting sued for allegedly using “spammy” techniques violating Google’s guidelines. That comes via Eric Goldman. The…

Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.

Google Hits eBay With Manual Penalty In Search Results

What really happened to eBay dropping in Google’s search results this week? A source familiar with the situation tells Search Engine Land that Google hit eBay with a manual penalty this week. A manual penalty is when a human being at Google reviews a site and decides that it deserves some type of…

Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.

On MetaFilter Being Penalized By Google: An Explainer

MetaFilter is a news and discussion site dating back to the early years of the web. Founded in 1999, it’s attracting attention this week after coming forward about how a Google penalty has severely harmed its business, to the degree of having to let staff go. It serves as a poster child of…

Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.

Negative SEO From Links — What Can You Do If You’re Hit?

In this post, we cover the basics of negative search engine optimization (SEO) and look at what you can do to fight negative SEO link spam. This being a hot topic in the industry, I encourage readers to comment at the end of the article. What Is Negative SEO? First, let’s take a moment to…

Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.

Coupons, Coupon Codes, Promo Codes…When Content Is NOT King

A few years ago, I did some work for a comparison shopping/coupon website. Curious about how well the site was doing in regard to their SEO, I did a few search queries for some of the terms I remembered being big traffic drivers. I didn’t see my former client on page one for the first few…

Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.

Google Provides More Clarity Around Sneaky Redirects Against Their Guidelines

Google announced on their Webmaster blog that they have updated two of their guideline documents to improve the clarify around what are sneaky redirects that are against their webmaster guidelines. Google has expanded their guidelines to ensure webmast…

How A Single Guest Post May Have Gotten An Entire Site Penalized By Google

Google made it clear earlier this year that those doing guest posts “for SEO purposes” might be subject to penalties. But the latest chapter in its war on guest posts feels a bit crazy: an entire site put into Google’s penalty box because of a single guest post that Google…

Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.

Google Now Targeting Italian & Spanish Link Spammers

Less than a month after Google targeted Polish link spammers and German link spammers, Google’s head of search spam, Matt Cutts announced Google is targeting more countries. Google’s Matt Cutts announced warnings to Spanish and Italian webmasters and SEOs not to use unnatural links to…

Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.

Someone Outranking You With Your Own Content? Use The New Google Scraper Report

One of the most frustrating experiences for any publisher is discovering that someone not only has copied your content but outranks you on Google for searches related to that content. Now, Google seems to have heard the complaints and has launched a to…

When The Best Move Is To Kill The Site

The contents of the following column are based on real circumstances. Certain elements have been changed to respect the privacy of each site. Imagine there are two websites. Here are their basic profiles: Site One is an e-commerce company and website l…

Open Letter: Why Search Engine Land Will & Won’t Cover Someone Being Penalized By Google

It’s been big news recently about major brands and Google penalties, and the floodgates feel open on people spotting even more brands possibly hit out there. Some new crackdown by Google? No. It’s the rise of hyperactive attention in this area, and that’s turning into a problem….

Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.

5 Times Google Penalized Itself For Breaking Its Own SEO Rules

Make no mistake. Plenty of sites — big brands included — willingly do things in an attempt to rank better on Google that go past SEO tactics that Google itself considers acceptable. However, there’s also no better poster child for how complicated and confusing Google’s rules…

Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.

Google’s Latest Manual Action Penalty: Spammy Structured Markup

Google has recently began sending a new manual action spam notification to webmasters for “spammy structured markup” also known as rich snippet spam. This comes after Google dropped 15% of the rich snippets, setting the bar higher for what sites are able to display rich snippets in the…

Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.