How does the Link Spam Update work?

By utilizing Google’s AI spam detection and prevention system, SpamBrain, unnatural links are identified and nullified automatically. Google has stated that the system does not only detect spam more efficiently, it also identifies websites which are buying links or built specifically with the purpose to frontload outgoing links.

Google wants to emphasize and promote high quality content through this constant evolution of their algorithm. Unfortunately there are many websites out there that are publishing poor quality, low effort content that abuses links for the purpose of financial gain.

How does the Link Spam update affect websites?

From December 2022 onwards, Google has advised that search rankings may change as a result of this improved spam detection system. This is the case for all websites that utilize purchased or excessive outgoing links, regardless of the language or hosting location of your domain.

Your site will only be affected if you are breaching Google’s strict guidelines for obtaining and including links on your pages.

How to avoid negative impacts from Google Link Spam update

If you are working with affiliate links, you will need to specify that it is a sponsored link with a relevant ‘sponsored’ tag. If you do not highlight the fact that a link is sponsored, the spam detection system may flag your site and result in a lower search ranking.

Below is a list of items that Google identifies as link spam with the SpamBrain system:

• Buying/selling links in order to achieve higher Google search rankings. This includes purchasing or selling posts that contain links.

• Offering services or products in exchange for links

• Writing a post with a link in exchange for a product

• An excess of link-for-link exchanges. This essentially means that your website and partner pages provide too many links to each other

• Using automated systems to create links to your pages

• Including a link requirement in your terms of service or other contractual documentation

• Excessive links in footers or templates of multiple sites

While this is a simple summary of Google’s link spam policy, you should review the full terms of service to ensure you are covered with your published content.

Does the Google December 2022 Link Span Updated impact Guest Post services?

Much like any other website, people who are making use of guest post services need to adhere to the same guidelines to avoid any impact from this update.

One thing to make note of is that links within guest posts will need to be specifically tagged with ‘rel=nofollow’ or you could risk being deranked as a result of the link spam update.

While impacted users may feel the effects in terms of website analytics, you will not be notified within the Google Search Console if you are specifically targeted by the SpamBrain link spam detection system.

If you are making use of guest post services and adhering to the Google guidelines, there is absolutely no need to worry about any negative impacts of this update.

When does the Link Spam update roll out?

The Google link spam update began to take effect from December 14th, 2022. Users who have links that do not meet the guidelines highlighted above will need to have adapted their content from this point onwards. Despite this specified date, the update took around two

weeks to completely roll out, giving users some time to adapt as required.

Conclusion

Since link spam and purchasing has become a more prominent issue on the internet in 2022, Google is making clever use of their SpamBrain detection system to neutralize websites that are abusing their links.

While websites that are breaching Google’s guidelines could be hit hard now that the update has rolled out throughout December 2022, people who are continuing to employ compliant content will not be affected.

This goes for the use of guest post services, where the proper use of tags on links will ensure that there is no risk of pages receiving lower rankings overall. We at QGP, all our guest posts are posted naturally without any link attribution tags such as ref=nofollow, sponsored, UG.

The post Does the Google December 2022 Link Spam Update impact Guest Post services? appeared first on Quality Guest Post.

There are more than 200 ranking factors on the popular search engine Google. However, Google has never publicized its list in a specific order but according to studies and various announcements, backlinks are the top 3rd ranking factor following content quality [1st] and RankBrain [2nd].

What are backlinks?

Backlinks are inbound links that are directed to your webpage from another website. To Google, backlinks are regarded as a gauge of your website’s popularity among users. Different webpages on the web are interconnected via links. Links are like adhesives that hold the web together.

SEO experts create internal links to connect web pages on the same domain and are designed to help users navigate your website with ease. External links connect to other websites and are designed to offer extra value to readers. An outgoing link is an invaluable asset. It shows the link has directions. When an outbound link on the other website is directed to your target page, it is a backlink. Search engine bots interpret the backlink as fully intentional and assume there is a good editorial assessment on the target webpage. So, they propel your webpage high in SERPs.

Earning backlinks has an optimistic effect on your site’s search visibility or ranking. Link building or link earning is a part of off-page SEO. Some backlinks are intrinsically more valuable than the ones generated from high-authority, trustworthy, and popular domains.

On the other hand, backlinks from potentially spammy, low-authority websites are based on the opposing end of the spectrum. The authority site owner instructs specifically search engines to ‘Dofollow’ or ‘Nofollow’ the link. It means whether to pass the link equity or not. Remember, you cannot undermine the value or importance of Nofollow links, as they make the link profile of your pages look natural. For example, Nofollow links pointing to high Domain Authority blogs from your posts can offer your brand a good boost!

Earned backlinks are important but the links you create to other websites also fluctuate in value. While linking to an external site, the choices made regarding the webpage from which you link, choose dofollow/nofollow, anchor text used and linking page Meta tags can have a significant impact on value. So, you need to perform backlink analysis regularly and keep your backlink profile healthy.

What is backlink analysis and why is it important?

Backlink analysis helps to evaluate the quality and quantity of links directed to your web pages from other domains. Google uses backlinks to gauge your website’s authority for ranking on search results. So, backlink analysis offers better knowledge about the ability of your website to rank on SERPs.

You can detect bad backlinks. These are unnatural links resulting from spammy sites, which can damage your website ranking on Google. Nevertheless, finding and removing them can keep the reputation of your website intact.

Earning a backlink is time-consuming. New website owners or those trying to expand their keyword footprint are overwhelmed as they don’t know where or how to start their link-building campaign. Competitive backlink analysis of your competitor’s already ranking top for target keywords offers in-depth knowledge of what helped in their link-building campaign. You can use the backlink analysis tool to identify these links and target those websites.

Regular backlink analysis of your main competitors is also crucial. It allows you to get an idea of your vulnerabilities to outrank them. You even get to know some missing link opportunities and ideas to fortify your link-building strategy.

Backlink analysis offers lots of data, which can be used in multiple ways. However, it can make you feel overpowered, so here are a few main metrics to monitor for analysis.

• Total link numbers and unique domains
• Referring domains
• Top webpages on your site with lots of backlinks

Compare these metrics with competitor’s pages to gain valuable insight into site authority, link-building opportunities, and content types to write. A competitor’s page can be used as inspiration for writing content but from a different angle. While creating a link-building strategy you also need to be fully certain of which backlinks to pursue and which to remove or avoid.

What are the good links?

Good backlinks are relevant outbound links directed to an authoritative and trusted domain. Google perceives backlinks as a way to verify that your website offers helpful and quality content to users. Quality links coming from reliable sources are not anticipated for influencing search engine ranking.

According to Google, ‘Links are editorial votes offered by choice. The more helpful a post you have the higher the chances of getting found and shared. The best way of getting other sites to create relevant and high-quality links to your website is to write engaging, relevant content that organically gains popularity among internet users.’

When a link is placed editorially, it is the webmaster or editor that does it. They don’t need to link but did it because of the valuable content you created and want to share it with their website followers. Good links can drive referral traffic from trusted sources in your niche.

Backlinks serve as an SEO metric, which enhances the reader’s experience. A good link directs to relevant content, which offers extra information. If the links direct readers to a totally unrelated website, then backlinks don’t add value. Relevant backlinks including specific anchor text are too valuable. Anchor text offers the user a preview of the topic this link accompanies if they decide to click. Search engine use keywords from anchor text to identify what the page is about.

A few types of good links are from –

• Editorial sites [blogger, publisher, or journalist]
• Relation-based backlinks
• Guest blogging or posting
• Niche directories

If someone tells you that all backlinks are great for enhancing search engine ranking then it is not true. There are some bad or toxic backlinks you must avoid or Google will devalue your website.

What are the toxic links?

According to Google, ‘A link aimed to manipulate PageRank in SERPs is considered as link scheming and violation of Google’s protocols.’ So, any activity that influences external links or backlinks falls under the toxic link category.

In Simple words, links that are not placed editorially, or if they are forced into irrelevant content, are assumed to be bad or toxic in quality. Toxic links are usually coming from blog comments, forms links, Chinese / Japanese language websites, sites with high spam scores, etc.

It’s true as mentioned in Google guidelines but it’s not possible for small size businesses to gain links naturally. One cannot simply create a website and wait for people to talk about it and link to it. Everyone is not loaded with funds like Amazon or Apple. Here Is why SEO agencies exist, as they can help in getting quality links with relevant content on trusted blogs and sites.

Effects of Toxic backlinks

In the past, using links manipulatively was common, which dramatically affected website ranking [in a good way]. However, as Google evolved and is focused on offering the best user experience it has changed its algorithms.

Google’s Penguin algorithm was the one that bashed the link-building setting for the better. Unnatural links were targeted in 2012 and even today, Google’s webspam team conducts link profile reviews manually to identify excessive spamming.

The spam score metric is also developed by Moz in their Link Explorer tool. It allows the users to know if the pages have high, low, or medium spam scores. Web pages with high spam scores are more likely to be penalized by Google.

• Unnatural links get a manual action 

Manual reviews happen when a spam report is filed, being in a niche popular for disproportionate link spamming and issues identified algorithmically. A notification of manual actions is sent to the website owner along with the affected pages’ detail.

The pages will lose rankings on SERPs and will be prevented from retrieving the previous ranking until the penalty is lifted. To eliminate manual action, you will need to eliminate the toxic links that triggered the penalty.

• Unnatural links are algorithmically penalized 

Penguin filters detect unnatural links automatically and make adjustments in ranking without sending a notification. You cannot request the removal of the algorithmic penalty. You will know the negative impact when your website visibility and organic traffic decline.

To regain your ranking from an algorithmic penalty, you need to avoid using tactics that triggered the problem and disavow the suspected toxic links. You will need to take steps in earning quality backlinks to recover completely.

• Unnatural links are disregarded

Google disregards useless links because for Google it is a waste of resources and time. If the links are not extensively spammed, it will not impact your organic traffic as search bots will ignore them. Nevertheless, getting bad links without approval can avoid penalties but is a bad link-building practice.

How to find toxic links?

A manual action penalty can never be missed because the entire website will experience a sudden decline in search ranking or totally vanish from search results. You will even receive a manual action notification associated with the affected web pages.

With the Penguin penalty, your organic traffic will drop for some keywords but this can even impact your website significantly. The recovery process is lengthy and challenging in both cases.

You need to use backlink monitoring tools to avoid toxic backlinks and Google penalties. Using backlink monitoring tools helps to identify the links that fit the toxic link definition. There are many apps but each uses different metrics.

Check for inconsistencies and big drops and spikes in referring domain reports. You can check the link’s origin. For example, if you find that plenty of links are from countries you are not connected with then there is something wrong.

Start analyzing backlinks a with Domain Rating of less than 30 and be in groups. Links originating from the same content domain can also badly impact your website.

How to remove toxic links?

Bad backlink removal is a taxing process, especially when you have piles of bad links. Some sites charge removal fees, while a few that ignore or deny your removal request.

Steps to remove toxic backlinks

• Identify toxic backlinks to eliminate.
• Contact the webmaster or the website owner. Check the contact info to get in touch with the person who operates the site.
• Send an email with detailed data about the link for removal.
• Wait patiently for a maximum of 10 days before sending another email.
• If payment is asked or email is ignored then create a list of links to disavow and submit to Google Search Console.
• You can even remove webpages from links. The webpages that are connected to toxic links that have low quality can be deleted using a 404 error code.

How to disavow toxic links?

Google Disavow file is the last resort. When you have hundreds of spammy links then taking them down using a gentle request is impossible. You may have forgotten the passwords of the sites you created a link or the sites are inactive.

Steps to disavow toxic links

• After a thorough analysis of the backlink profile, use disavows links tool to create a file including the URLs of the links you feel are harming your website’s organic ranking.
• Ensure that the Disavow file already contains previously disavowed links before you add the new ones.
• Before you export for disavow click the delete button. It is recommended to disavow at the domain level instead of the URL because it avoids issues in the future.
• After completing the disavow list, you need to export it to Google’s Search Console. It will take a minimum of 6 weeks before your file is processed.
• Be patient as it takes some time for file processing and regains your ranking on SERPs.

Regularly run backlink audits to identify toxic links and handle them before they become a headache.

Should we make more links or stop?

Backlinks are essential for SEO and without them ranking for a profitable keyword is hard. However, quality always surpasses quantity! Therefore, avoid paid links, but concentrate on creating great content that will establish your brand as an authoritative or the go-to platform for finding a solution.

Guest posting, outreach, and offering high-quality posts help to collect more backlinks. In case, you maxed on guest posts then there is an array of less popular link-building strategies you can check for inspiration.

The numbers of backlinks need to be based on the number of your competitors racing for the same rank with the same keywords. The response to the above question is… there is no genuine answer. You need to perform backlink audits regularly, eliminate junk links and regularly post high-quality content for internet users to engage and enjoy.

The post How To Find and Remove Bad or Toxic Backlinks Damaging Your SEO appeared first on Quality Guest Post.

The initiation of the second part of the rollout occurred on July 1, 2021 — about a month after the June 2 release date of part one. This happened over a span of 12 days with the final completed version of the update being in use on July 12. Although both parts supported the foundation of the core update, part 1 — the section released in June — was more significant and contributed substantially to the project as a whole when compared to its counterpart.

As with other core updates in the past, this one is global meaning that it does not specifically target or bring about unique changes when looking at factors such as region, language, or website category.

Google states that these core updates are “significant, broad changes” that are meant to ensure the quality and functionality of their search algorithms and systems. The goal is maintain efficiency within the search engine so as to continuously present authoritative, relevant content to those who use it.

The rollout of updates such as this usually alters the search results ranking of websites. Pages may go up or down depending on the actions pushed by the update; however, if a website happens to move down following the ranking, this does not mean that it is not meeting Google’s qualifications or content expectations. The assessment of new activity within the search engine and rankings gives way for rankings to be moved around and changed. For many, this can end up being a positive due to previously unrewarded sites being moved higher up in the rankings following a core update.

Analyses of the recent updates found that sites whose rankings moved down despite high quality content were those revolving around YMYL (“Your money or your life”). This is the name Google gives to websites that focus on topics pertaining to finance, purchasing recommendations, reviews, education, health, and law. More specifically, YMYL websites that targeted niches such as self development and automotive news fell. Those who performed well were older, large websites that have recently been seeing lower levels of visibility in the past few years.

With Google’s new core update, there have once again been changes to the success and prevalence of different SEO techniques. The effects of the rollout suggest that the update has given more weight to older SEO strategies along with the age of the domain and backlinks. Some of these changes were reversed in the second part of the update which altered these effects as well. Any changes regarding your site that occurred during June or from July 1 – July 12 can most likely be attributed to these actions.

The post Google July 2021 Core Update – Time to Think About Quality Again appeared first on Quality Guest Post.

An example of this practice

Email and phone scams have been around for many years now, and often individuals like to pretend they are a large corporation to trick customers into paying them instead of the service provider. The emails often look and have the same tone of voice as those of the company they are acting as, so customers become confused and unsure of who to trust. With threats of losing service or getting charged without action, it’s easy to see why so many people fall for these scams.

Recently clients whom we provided guest posts on a blog received a fake email, which comes from someone claiming to be the admin or owner of the blog. It states that your guest post service provider did not pay them the fees for the publication of your guest post, and that if you don’t pay, they will remove the post. The email also goes on to threaten further action, such as posting the individual’s email address and calling them out online as a scammer. They also often state in the email that they will have you blacklisted on Google.

Text version:

Hello sir,Ma’am

Hope you are fine 

I AM Deleted your Post  

https:// your guest post link

Because I still have not received payment from you . We have lost to much time in waiting for payment . I will wait 24 hours more otherwise All link are removed and add to spam your email

Waiting your reply 

Thank you 

Here is another scam email text, similar to above one

Guest posting has become extremely popular online in the last years, and it’s a great way for blogs and companies to work together to promote and link to each other’s services. The way these scammers find guest poster’s information and email addresses is via the original post. For example, in this post, the targeted link was Levitatingmoon.com. They will find the link in the blog and use this to access the company’s website. From there, they’ll find a generic contact email, such as info (at) levitatingmoon.com. and send you the scam email they have prepared.

How to spot and avoid these scam emails?

There are a few key things that hint that an email is a scam. These are key to look out for to avoid losing money online:

• Grammar and Spelling – Often, the emails are poorly written, with many grammatical and spelling errors. If they don’t spell your name or your blog’s name correctly, it’s quite likely a scam.
• Time-Sensitive Threats – These emails are often too forceful regarding a time period in which you must react. They might state that you must act within 24 hours, otherwise their threatened action will take place.
• Empty Threats – These emails are full of blatant empty threats, and they are made in a very abrupt and abusive manner.

By knowing what to look for when it comes to spam emails, you can stop scammers from targeting you via your guest posts. In the end, it’s nothing to worry about, rest assured you can contact us for more clarification. These scammers are just trying to steal your money, so ignore their empty threats and delete the email.

Update on 1st July 2021

The scammer might look legitimate, and at first, they would pretend to change something on the post (obvious they cannot change anything); next, they will ask for money as an editorial fee.

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