If your website is taking advantage of SEO services, you might be familiar with the existence of SEO attacks. For those who might not be, the practice is known as black hat SEO, and it is not tolerated by Google when caught. As you might know, SEO is a set of practices that seek to work in cooperation with Google’s search algorithm with the goal of putting a website at the top of the list of search results. The proper way to do this is by adding valuable information, maintaining a good user experience, on top of meeting key variables in the algorithm.
“Black Hat” SEO
Companies that practice “black hat SEO” turn to unethical practices such as copying information from other pages word-for-word or even hacking into websites to remove written content. Ultimately the goal here is to lower the rankings of competitor websites in hopes that rankings will naturally elevate on their own sites.
What to Look For
There are a few signs that can help determine whether you or your website has come under attack by unethical SEO practices. One sign to look for is an increased prevalence in fake reviews, or reviews which look fake. Similarly, keeping an eye on review trends also helps to determine real reviews from potentially fake reviews. Another sign to look for is an increased amount of links which appear to be spam. Attempted hack attempts on websites can also alter code and formatting for the website.
What Should You Do?
So you’re convinced you’ve become a victim of an SEO attack. What should you do? If you are using an SEO service, the absolute first thing you should do is contact them to make your concerns known. The quicker the better, as your website’s rank will drop more and more over time.
Alerting Google of the attack is the next priority step to ensure you position yourself on the right side of the situation. Where this scenario can get muddy is if the alleged hacker argues that you copied your information from them first, rather than vice-versa. Then not only could your website be attacked, but also penalized by Google. Not informing Google may put you on the wrong side of the picture in their image, and you can fall victim even further.
If your business is considering launching SEO services it’s important to have a provider who will take care of your website. Netgain SEO’s qualified SEO strategists and managers, will help keep your website in line and on top through best practices in the industry. Contact us today to learn more about our proven SEO services.
