What is Webspam?
Webspam refers to content that is created with the goal of manipulating search engine rankings. This content is created purely for search engines and do not offer any value to the user. Because of this, webspam violates Google’s webmaster guidelines.
Some of the most common webspam techniques are keyword stuffing, cloaking, excessive links, thin content, and more.
How Does Google Combat Webspam?
Search engines like Google work tirelessly to identify and penalise these practices to ensure a better, more trustworthy experience for their users. Given the sheer volume of spam on the web, this is no small task! In 2020 alone, Google discovered as many as 40 billion spammy pages everyday!
A lot goes into Google’s anti-spam efforts. First, they rely on various automated systems that visit websites and crawl its content to determine if is should be indexed. Google uses Search Console to discover new pages and, with the use of AI, have observed spammers accessing vulnerable sites, pretending to be the owners, verifying themselves in Search Console and using it to get Google to crawl and index the spammy pages they’ve created.
This means that very little spammy pages reach the SERPs with more that 99% of these pages caught and filtered. For the very small percentage that does make it through, these pages are manually assessed and penalised.
How To Avoid Webspam
While webspam might offer a temporary boost in rankings, it’s a risky game that can lead to long-term consequences for your website’s. Here are some key strategies to avoid falling into the webspam trap:
- Protect From User-Generated Spam: If your website allows user-generated content, such as comments or forums, make sure to implement strict moderation. Using tools to filter out spammy submissions will ensure that interactions on your site are genuine and valuable.
- Avoid Auto-Generated Content: While it may be tempting to use AI tools to generate content quickly, this can lead to low-quality, meaningless text that doesn’t engage your audience or provide real value. Instead, invest time in creating unique, informative, and well-researched content. Not only will it give your audience actual value, but it is easier to write naturally and in a way that matches your brand.
- Avoid Paid Links and Link Schemes: Buying links or participating in link schemes can be appealing for quickly boosting your site’s authority. However, they go against Google’s guidelines and can lead to severe penalties. Instead, focus on building genuine relationships with other websites and earning backlinks naturally through 10x content.
- Focus On Quality: Ultimately, quality should be the focus of your content strategy. Prioritise creating helpful, engaging, and well-structured content that meets the needs of your audience. Remember, it’s quality over quantity!
