ENSURE YOUR SITE IS INDEXED AND OPTIMIZED
Search for your domain name on Google. If you don’t see your site pages listed, it might not be indexed. Use Google Search Console to find out why some pages are missing and follow the recommended steps to fix it. If your site doesn’t show up at all, it might have been penalized by Google. Check the Manual Penalty section in Google Search Console to confirm. Google penalties can affect specific pages or your entire site.
Avoid these common issues to prevent penalties:
Check for Duplicate Content
Copy a part of your homepage text and search for it on Google using double quotes. If Google shows the same text on multiple pages, you have duplicate content. Ensure each page has unique content to avoid penalties. If others are copying your content, ask them to remove it.
Check for Canonicalization
Ensure your site can be accessed only from one URL.
For example, http://www.example.com and http://example.com should lead to the same page. Use a single URL to avoid confusing search engines.
Use Correct Redirects
If your URLs change or your site moves, use 301 redirects to guide visitors to the new address. This keeps your link value intact and helps to maintain search rankings.
Meta Robots vs. Robots.txt
Control which pages search engines index using meta keywords on your pages. Use the robots.txt file only for large-scale exclusions. Avoid using both methods simultaneously for the same content.
Hierarchy and Parameters in URLs
Create simple, category-based URLs. For example: www.example.com/category/subcategory/item-name.html. Avoid using too many symbols or parameters in your URLs.
Include Two Site Maps
Add two site maps: a regular HTML sitemap for visitors and an XML sitemap (e.g., www.example.com/sitemap.xml) for search engines to help index your site.
Improve Visitor Interaction
Make sure that the site is easily accessible and visitors can complete a purchase in less than three clicks. Ensure they can find contact information or enquiry forms quickly
Different Language Versions
If your site gets significant traffic from non-English speaking countries, consider offering your site in other languages and register with local Google sites.
Provide Multiple Discovery Routes
Offer different ways for visitors to explore your site, like index pages, search boxes, and site maps, so they can find what they need easily.
Quality Content Means Quality Anchor Text
Anchor text is the clickable text in a hyperlink. It is simply the description of the content in the destination page. Based on the description, search engines get an idea of the destination page. The higher the quality of the anchor text, the higher search engines would rank the destination page. But this should emerge naturally and not through any organized effort.
Do Not Try to Manipulate Anchor Text
It is highly unlikely that many people will use the same words to describe the links to a destination page. Thus search engines are able to easily identify and penalize any anchor text manipulation. So, the solution is to have good content. If your content is good, anchor texts by people who link to it will also maintain high quality.
Avoid these common issues to prevent penalties:
- Auto-generated Content: Sites with content created by programs, not people.
- Thin Affiliate Content: Sites which has copied product descriptions and reviews.
- Scraped Content: Sites copying content from other websites using software.
- Doorway Pages: Pages that lead to other sites.
- Unnatural Links: Buying or exchanging large numbers of links.
- Unnatural Outgoing Links: Providing links to other sites for money.
- Hacked Pages: Sites with altered files due to hacking.
- Spam: Sites that create spammy content.
- Cloaking and Sneaky Redirects: Showing different pages to users and search engines.
- Hidden Text and Keywords: Hiding text to trick search engines.
Check for Duplicate Content
Copy a part of your homepage text and search for it on Google using double quotes. If Google shows the same text on multiple pages, you have duplicate content. Ensure each page has unique content to avoid penalties. If others are copying your content, ask them to remove it.
Check for Canonicalization
Ensure your site can be accessed only from one URL.
For example, http://www.example.com and http://example.com should lead to the same page. Use a single URL to avoid confusing search engines.
Use Correct Redirects
If your URLs change or your site moves, use 301 redirects to guide visitors to the new address. This keeps your link value intact and helps to maintain search rankings.
Meta Robots vs. Robots.txt
Control which pages search engines index using meta keywords on your pages. Use the robots.txt file only for large-scale exclusions. Avoid using both methods simultaneously for the same content.
Hierarchy and Parameters in URLs
Create simple, category-based URLs. For example: www.example.com/category/subcategory/item-name.html. Avoid using too many symbols or parameters in your URLs.
Include Two Site Maps
Add two site maps: a regular HTML sitemap for visitors and an XML sitemap (e.g., www.example.com/sitemap.xml) for search engines to help index your site.
Improve Visitor Interaction
Make sure that the site is easily accessible and visitors can complete a purchase in less than three clicks. Ensure they can find contact information or enquiry forms quickly
Different Language Versions
If your site gets significant traffic from non-English speaking countries, consider offering your site in other languages and register with local Google sites.
Provide Multiple Discovery Routes
Offer different ways for visitors to explore your site, like index pages, search boxes, and site maps, so they can find what they need easily.
Quality Content Means Quality Anchor Text
Anchor text is the clickable text in a hyperlink. It is simply the description of the content in the destination page. Based on the description, search engines get an idea of the destination page. The higher the quality of the anchor text, the higher search engines would rank the destination page. But this should emerge naturally and not through any organized effort.
Do Not Try to Manipulate Anchor Text
It is highly unlikely that many people will use the same words to describe the links to a destination page. Thus search engines are able to easily identify and penalize any anchor text manipulation. So, the solution is to have good content. If your content is good, anchor texts by people who link to it will also maintain high quality.
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