Top Ten Ways To Get De-Listed By Google

Having been a pure developer long before I got-into the Domaining game I’m not unfamiliar with the pain and agony that comes with getting a domain/website de-listed by Google. As more and more Domainers start going-down the developer road it’s important to understand some of the common ways you could get de-listed from Google.

When your domain or group of domains are de-listed from Google you can literally watch your traffic disappear and with it, your revenue. So I thought it would be good to put-together a list of ways in which your domain or website can get de-listed from Google to help you avoid having to say, “Hey, where did all my traffic go?”

  1. Duplicate Content
  2. Duplicate Pages/Page Structure across many domains
  3. Hidden links or text
  4. Links to Spam sites or other de-listed sites (these links could be injected into a WordPress blog without you knowing!)
  5. Cloaked links and covert redirects
  6. Automatically querying Google
  7. Having pages/content that doesn’t make sense or uses gibberish words (Google looks to see if you’re just filling the space)
  8. Incoming links from known Spam sites (yes, other people can sabotage your site!)
  9. Too much SEO – everything in moderation – too much of a good thing can be bad
  10. Running malicious code or running a script on your site flagged as malicious

What most people forget is that sometimes you can be breaking the rules without even knowing it! For example – suppose you have built a nice mini-site using WordPress. A few weeks go by and you notice that your site has been dropped from Google. Little did you know someone hacked your WordPress install and placed spam-links in your header. It’s happened to me and it can happen to you!

So how can you avoid getting de-listed by Google? Follow my three steps below and you’ll be off to a good start.

  1. Put Google Webmaster Tools on all of your sites – it will show you exactly how Google sees your site and flag any abnormalities
  2. If you’re using a CMS make sure to update it frequently or find a script that will automatically update it for you
  3. Avoid duplicate content like the plague –  fresh unique content is the key to staying on Google’s good side

Have your own de-listing horror story to share? Have some advice to help keep your site safe? Comment and let your voice be heard!

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton