Almost every webmaster is equally afraid of the Google penalties that tend to deteriorate the website’s ranking badly. And this is the reason, that having knowledge on Google penalties is very important. If you too own a couple of websites or are new in the industry, here are a few Google penalties that could harm your website which you should know about.
- Buying links
While many people claim that it is not at all true and it does not happen, the factual evidence is perplexing. Purchasing the links can undeniably deem to be an attempt that is made so that the Page rank is manipulated. This is where the actual controversy lies. Have you been frequently purchasing bad links? Have you bought loads of such links in the past? Then there is a possibility that your actions might have affected your website.
- Excessive reciprocal links
We all try different ways to market our business on this internet-obsessed world. Sometimes we succeed and sometimes we fail without our own knowledge. This is one such try. Swapping the links is a very feasible marketing strategy that was once upon a time innocent but is now extensively abused. If you have indulged yourself in exchanging plenty of links with your potential clients, it could now be deemed as an attempt to manipulate the clients. And this could definitely have an adverse effect on your site.
- Duplicate content
Need we even say this? This one is very much obvious. Any content that is posted on your website which is a dupe of another content, the Google views it as a less worthy content. This could lead to Google penalizing your website. To avoid this, you should ensure that the content you produce is well written and very unique. To help you in this regard, there are tools such as CopyGator and CopyScape that will warn you about plagiarized content.
- Overusing H1 Tags
If you structure your content properly, it will certainly help you during the Search Engine Optimization. The H1 tags aid the Google in comprehending what your page is actually about. But if you use the H1 tags extensively, it could be deemed as an attempt to pump up the listings of Google with keywords.
- Internal 404s
Google earnestly wants to realize that you take good care of your content and cancel out any sort of problems and errors for that matter. If you are giving 404s in your very own website, it is definitely going to be an alarming signal that your users are failing to get the information which they sought for in the first place.
Now that you know what could harm your website, it is recommended to stay away from such penalties and avoid any mischievous acts which could cost a lot to your website.