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Despite the long history of the strategy and the wide availability of tutorials and guides on the subject, there is still a lot of confusion and irrational fear surrounding search engine optimization (SEO). It’s true that your site can be penalized if you practice SEO with the wrong tactics or if you intentionally try to manipulate your ranking in an unfair or unnatural way. But could this permanently ruin your website or limit your chances of long-term marketing success?
What is SEO?
Let’s start with the basics, in case you’re not familiar. Search engine optimization (SEO) is a set of strategies you can use to increase your company’s ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). The higher you rank, the more visibility you will get and the more people will visit your website.
You can do this by leveraging Google’s ranking algorithm (and, incidentally, the ranking algorithms of other search engines). Google preferentially ranks websites that have high levels of authority and trustworthiness. Essentially, modern SEO is about improving this perceived trustworthiness. You can do this by writing great content, improving your site’s functionality, and building backlinks to high-authority third-party websites.
Penalties and potential demotion
So why the concern?
Here is a simple summary. There are good and bad ways to practice SEO. If you practice bad manners and get caught, you could face a significant penalty.
Related: 7 Best SEO Tools to Help You Rank Higher on Google
Google is incentivized to discourage companies from artificially manipulating their rankings. This should make sense. Google wants to rank the most trustworthy websites, not websites that are exceptionally good at pretending to be trustworthy.
Accordingly, there are two types of so-called “penalties” that your site could face in its quest for a higher ranking. If Google’s algorithm detects that you are engaging in shady practices, such as hiding keywords in the background of your site, writing bad content or intentionally send spam links, you will not gain ranks and may even lose them. This usually happens gradually and proportionately in response to your actions.
There is also a manual action by Google, which is applied by a human who notices noticeable activity on your website. If you’re trying to rip people off, or if you’re exceptionally aggressive in your bad SEO practices, you may face this type of penalty, but it’s usually rare.
Why your site can’t be permanently ruined
So could these penalties permanently ruin your website and your potential visibility?
The answer is no, and for several reasons:
Search engines are not the only way to generate traffic. First, search engines aren’t the only way to drive traffic to a website. Even if you’ve completely retired from Google, you might find a way to get ahead through other strategies.
Algorithmic penalties are usually mild. When an algorithm detects a piece of low-quality content on your site or some other minor infraction, you won’t be removed from the rankings entirely; in fact, you can only leave one or two rankings. These “penalties,” if they can even be called that, are often mild and usually the result of an algorithm change.
Algorithmic penalties can be reversed. Even in cases where these penalties are not light, they are relatively easy to reverse. Removing bad links, building new, good links, and polishing your site’s content can easily put you in a better position.
Manual actions are very rare. Manual actions by Google are very rare. Chances are you won’t face a shot of doing something very wrong on purpose. And if you are engaging in this type of behavior, the penalty is probably deserved.
Manual actions give you a chance to recover. Even if you face a manual action, you will have a chance to address it. Finally, your site can make a full recovery.
You can always start a new domain. And even if your site totally fails in some way, you can always start over with a new domain.
Key tips to avoid SEO penalties
Avoiding SEO penalties is realistically very simple:
Work with reputable partners. Only work with SEO partners you know and trust. There are many scammers and black hat practitioners, but they are relatively easy to spot.
Focus on quality and value. All of your SEO efforts should be focused on providing quality and value to your users, from your content generation to your link building strategy.
Spot problems early and fix them. If you notice a drop in your rankings or a sudden drop in traffic, investigate and take corrective action immediately.
Related: 7 Reasons You Should Stop Managing Your SEO and Hire a Professional
If you follow these rules, you should not fear even the lightest penalties. The chances of your site being completely ruined are pretty much nil. Unfortunately, SEO’s chaotic early days have tarnished the strategy’s reputation, possibly permanently, but there’s no reason to worry about negative backlash if you focus on quality content.
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