In 2012 alone, 9,500 websites were flagged for being malicious, approximately 13 million Google search queries created a flag warning for sites, and 600 million users were protected through blacklisting sites. It is possible to be blacklisted for honest mistakes, without doing anything wrong. Read on to find out what Google might blacklist you for and how to avoid it.
Weak Passwords
One of the commonest reasons your site might have been blacklisted is by not having appropriate passwords. Weak passwords are usually identified by common phrases, using your name or address in the password, only having lowercase letters or numbers in common sequences and using the same passwords for multiple uses. To keep your passwords strong, don’t use recognizable words, and include a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols.
Keyword Stuffing
Another reason Google might blacklist your site is for using too many keywords. This is called “keyword stuffing” and means you are using a select group of keywords too many times. While in search engine optimization (SEO) you want to utilize certain keywords to show up in search engine results, it hurts you when you use these phrases or words too many times. Once it goes over a certain percentage, Google views it as saturating your page with keywords and will blacklist you. Try to keep the keyword density to no more than 2-8 percent of the total word content.
Unsafe Web Applications
Be careful of the type of web applications you use for your website. If you’re using applications that give other users full reign of your website, such as in the form of their own blog posts, signing up for newsletters or going through live chat sessions, it could actually hurt you. This is because the applications might not be deemed safe and might create opportunities for hackers to get in and add unsafe code to your site. You should always double-check that the applications you choose are going to be safe.
Server Level Issues
Google wants to protect website owners and readers, which means that if they notice something that might make them vulnerable to hackers, they will blacklist the site. One of the possibilities is if you have server level issues. Some webservers use software that is deemed unsafe because it can be hacked easily. If you’re using an FTP server with these types of vulnerabilities, you may be blacklisted by Google until you change web servers.
Third Party Codes
Add-ons can be enjoyable for your viewers, but they might also get you blacklisted by Google. There are many add-ons by third party creators that provide more functions to your website, but are also seen as having certain vulnerabilities. To protect your viewers, Google may blacklist your site for adding these.
Hiding Text
If you’re using color matching tricks and other methods to hide text, keywords or links from the user, you could be blacklisted. Whether readers can read the text or not, it is still there on your website and the “spiders” indexing your site can view it. Google is going to penalize you for attempting to hide certain styles or keywords on your site, so try to avoid doing this.
Duplicate Websites
If you have more than one website with essentially the same exact design and content, but different keywords, Google will blacklist you. In most cases, they will only let you keep one of the duplicate websites; probably the one that has been around the longest. That means all the other duplicates or “mirror websites” are blacklisted.
If you get blacklisted, it is possible to resolve it, but you might end up having to start from scratch. Avoid this by being aware of the possibilities of blacklisting and working hard to start and maintain your website legitimately.
Sources:
https://www.globalsign.com/blog/top-tips-to-prevent-website-blacklisting.html
http://www.netmagazine.com/features/google-seo-tricks-will-get-you-blacklisted
Infintech Designs
3110 Magazine St., #120
New Orleans, LA 70115
The post 7 Reasons Google Blacklisted Your Site appeared first on .