8 Reasons Why Google Hates Your Website

In News, Social Media, Website by Michael Phelan1 Comment

Wondering why your site doesn’t rank as high as you think it should? You’ve done all the right SEO tactics and not seeing the results you were promised? Do you think Google might just not like you very much? Well, that last one could be true – especially if you suffer from one or more of the following! Read on…

There are many, many reasons why you might not rank very well, far more than 8, but in my experience these 8 are the most common and the lowest hanging fruit which will have the biggest impact on ranking higher in Google and other search engines.

Here is the top 8 in no particular order, followed by a brief explanation:

  • Slow page load times
  • Duplicate content
  • Malware
  • No SSL certificate/unsecure site
  • Content shortcuts
  • Too many ads
  • Key word trickery
  • Paid links

Let’s go a little deeper.

Slow page load times

All search engines, including Google, want your page to load quickly. If your site is too heavy, takes too long to load, has dozens of large, unoptimised images or bloated code, you are going to be penalised.

Duplicate content

No one liked to reads to read the same thing over and over again, and neither does Google. Write it once through out your entire site. No need to copy content to fill out your site, it’s just not needed and Google (and your site visitors) don’t like it.

Malware

Search engines can and do search your site for the presence of malware and other nasties. Now I a sure no one puts up their site with the intention of getting infected but it does happen and going unchecked will hurt not just your ranking but could hurt your business and it’s customers!

No SSL certificate/unsecure site

As of July 2018, Google has started showing priority to those sites who have taken the extra step to add a SSL certificate to their site. This is not a particularly difficult or expensive thing to do, there are even free options out there. If you don’t have SSL on your site, this would be the first thing I would do out of this list of 8. Actually, probably the malware should take precedence, but then definitely SSL!

Content shortcuts

Google has a bit of an ego, and it like to judge content it deems worthy. Using other peoples content will get you caught out, as will adding dozens and dozens of keywords into a thinly veiled page. Don’t do this… I doesn’t help you at all!

Too many ads

You know yourself as a user nothing is more annoying than a million ads. An ad here or there is ok, I and most people understand you need to make a living, but sites oversaturated with ads lead to poor user experience and mother Google is watching.

Key word trickery

Google has figured out ways to search sites for the old “SEO consultant” trick of hiding keywords in the footer or header of your page and masking them by making them the same colour as the background so they can’t be seen. If you do this, and you are aware, stop it. Stop it right now! It also knows if your site is using keyword that do not relate in any way to the majority of the content on your page. Google is smart, smarter than we give it credit for!

Paid links

One thing Google penalises hard for is the use of paid links. Not affiliate link through proper affiliate channels, they are fine, but paid links, links where you get paid to send traffic to another site.

So that’s it. If your site is doing nay of these tactics, change them, get rid of them, add SSL, whatever you need to do, and you will start to rank higher!

If you would like a free report on ways to improve your website, contact VTO via email at howdy@vto.net.au or visit our website https://vto.net.au.

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