February 9, 2024
Image created by Dall-E illustrating a Google penalty
Table of contents hide
1 Google penalties: a reality
2 What Google can penalize you for: red card!
3 Things Google Won't Penalize You For
4 In summary: think of your reader first!
5 Add your title here
In a word: yes, you can be penalized for over-optimization .
Thank you, goodbye!
I'm obviously joking I'm going to detail the answer to mexico whatsapp this question that I was already asked in the workshop.
I'm learning how to write an optimized article!
Google Penalties: A Reality
Google penalties are not a myth: your website can lose positions, or even no longer appear at all in search results, if you do not respect the rules set by the search engine.
Before you cry scandal or get scared, you need to know one thing: Google's goal is to serve relevant content to Internet users .
When a Google user performs a search, they want a clear answer to their question and don't want to read a series of words that don't make sense.
So if you had to keep just one thing in mind, it is to write first and foremost for your readers , your target audience, and not for Google robots.
Read also: how to optimize your Google My Business page?
What Google can penalize you for: red card!
I'm not going to go into the details of the algorithmic filters added regularly by Google (it's a bit complex unless you're a real geek and it won't help you much ^^).
Instead, I'll tell you concretely why you can be penalized and given a red card by Google . The football metaphor applies quite well in this case, because you risk being taken off the field and not coming back for a while!
1- The hidden text
A practice to be completely banned: hidden text .
This involves adding text (usually a series of keywords) in tone on tone on your site. The reader does not see it (unless you highlight your entire page) but the search engines do.
This was a common practice a few years ago that worked.
But today, Google understands that you are showing different text to its robots and to readers and automatically penalizes this practice .
This results in a steep drop in search results , or even a complete oblivion of your site...
2- Keyword stuffing
Keyword stuffing is the practice of repeating a series of words such as "cheap high heels" over and over again on the same page.
This is what is clearly considered over -optimization of text . And Google hates it (and so do readers).
Best practice: write your text without thinking about optimizing for Google. You will see that you will naturally use a rich vocabulary, related to your target query.
After proofreading, you can optimize your text (but not over-optimize it ) by adding subtitles (with the keyword or its synonym), putting words in bold , shortening your sentences, spacing out your paragraphs, etc.
Help yourself with Yoast SEO !
3- The creation of non-qualitative links
Building links to your site is essential to meet the criteria of the “popularity” pillar of natural referencing.
But be careful: not all links are good to take.
Favor quality links from sites related to your theme and themselves popular with Google (you can use Majestic to obtain this information).
Do not use software that creates links to your site automatically and if you use a service provider for your backlinking strategy , systematically check the quality of the links created.
What Google Won't Penalize You For
Some preconceived ideas die hard. Google cannot penalize all practices that are not recommended in natural referencing, simply because it does not have the means to know everything.
Buying links (when done right)
It is impossible for it to know if you are buying links (although this is prohibited in the rules issued by Google), unless they come from sites already on its blacklist.
According to the search engine, you should wait for sites to link to yours naturally.
How to tell you that you might starve to death before it happens (and your competitors won't hesitate to buy links).
Of course, be careful who you contact to buy links. There are honest platforms or direct providers who will support you on this subject.
Duplicate content (well, partly)
Duplicate content is not penalized as such by Google. You will not be directly penalized if you copy-paste text from another site (but don't do it, respect the work of others).
On the other hand, Google knows what content was there before and will favor that most of the time.
So, your content will not appear on the first page of search results if you have simply copied and pasted the text from the site that appears in the first position on the query.
That would be too easy!
In summary: think of your reader first!
To avoid being penalized by Google, first think about writing for your reader (as if you were speaking to them directly) and respect the rules set by the search engine:
Don't hide text on your site
Don't repeat your target keyword 359 times in a 600-word text (I'm exaggerating, but you get the idea)
Be careful about the links you create to your site
Avoid duplicate content (even if it's not clearly penalized, be ethical!).
If you need help optimizing your texts and/or creating links to your site, contact me ! I would be happy to help you make your site more visible on the internet.
Also follow my free training in 7 emails to learn how to write an optimized article (without the risk of over-optimization!)
