What Happens When Google Blacklists You?
Are you or a contractor participating in shady SEO (search engine optimization) practices? Well, the party won't last.
At a post over at Hitwise Intelligence, Robin Goad asks, What Happens if Your Web Site Gets Blacklisted by Google? The answer isn't pretty.
GoCompare, an auto insurance comparison Web site found out exactly how ugly recently when they were blacklisted by Google. From being #1 or at least on the first page of Google for "car insurance" they dropped to (at the time of the article) page seven. You can be sure there aren't too many users go to page seven.
In fact, traffic dropped 87% for that particular keyword. For an Internet-based company, that can spell death.
Why did GoCompare get blacklisted? Google doesn't give out specifics, but rumblings seem to point to paying for mentions in blogs. (This could spell death to the pay-per-post cottage industry that has sprung up.)
Whatever this particular infraction might be, the lesson to be learned is that "black hat SEO" might give you a big boost, but the hangover is never worth it.
Slow and steady wins the race, my friends....
Rich Brooks
Search Engine Marketing for Small Business
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