Search Engine Spam
Are you spamming?
A search engine spammer is generally a person who uses unfair techniques
in order to better their own, or a client's website within the search
engine results. The spammer is generally aware that the content that they
are promoting is less relevant to the end user than the pages that they
are competing against.
Common spam techniques include…
Mirror websites
Mirror websites were once a common practice for dominating the top search
engine results. The technique involves hosting multiple websites with
the same content but using different URL's.
Gateway or doorway web pages
A gateway or doorway page is usually a page that is designed to rank
highly within the search results. A doorway page will commonly have very
little content but is instead stuffed with key words and phrases. A doorway
page will generally have "click here to enter" in the middle
of it.
Disguising of key words
This usually involves disguising keywords
and phrases by making them the same colour as the background, using
a tiny font size or hiding them within the HTML code, including the no-frame
sections, or using alt tags and no-script sections.
Constant re-registering
People with a limited knowledge of optimisation often believe stories
that re-registering with search engines will improve their rankings. This
is not the case. Re-registration of websites can flag an alert within
the search engine, which can ultimately result in a ban of the website
from the listings. Registration is important, however, once a website
has been included, the search engine should take care of reviewing the
content on a regular basis. Some search engines now have facilities in place
so that you can pay for express
inclusion into the search engine database and/or to review the site
on a regular basis and check for updates.
Are you spamming without realising?
Unfortunately, because of the amount of anti-spam techniques that search
engines have in place, you may be spamming without realising. This may
not be through any fault of your own, or your developers. It is very difficult
to build a website that is visually appealing, user friendly and optimised
for the search engines.
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