What Website Owners Need to Know About Google’s Webspam Updates

At the end of June, Google announced yet another update for this summer: the spam update. It happened in two parts on June 23 and 28, and it won‘t affect good websites. It‘s meant to keep spammy sites from showing up in searches. Even though your site is probably safe, it‘s still important to understand what it‘s about. 

So, what is Webspam? Webspam is any digital content that deceives search algorithms in an effort to appear in search results while providing an inadequate, uninformative, and insecure experience. This includes Blackhat SEO tactics such as link schemes and keyword stuffing, obnoxious tactics like webpages made up of scraped content or involvement in irrelevant affiliate programs, and malicious tactics such as malware and pages designed to deceive people into revealing their personal information.

Scammers on the web are really crafty and slick criminals. They‘re always coming up with new ways to take info and money from people who don‘t know any better. That‘s why Google and other search engines are so serious about keeping them out of search results – they‘re always updating things to make sure that happens.

How does Google get rid of spam from search engine results? Google has a cute robot graphic to explain it, but basically they have automated spam filters that catch a lot of it. Web crawlers can usually tell when a website is trying to look like a real one and those pages don’t get indexed, which is what Google uses for SERPs.

Next, when someone submits a query on Google, automated systems scan the indexed content on deck to make sure there‘s no spam. Most of the time, you won‘t see any spam results. But, in about 1% of cases, spam does slip through. That‘s when the humans at Google come in. People at Google inspect web pages and flag those that go against Google‘s webmaster quality guidelines, which stops them from showing up in SERPs. 

Do I need to be concerned about search spam? As a user, no need to worry about encountering webspam in search. Google reports that more than 99% of search visits are spam-free. However, as a website owner, it’s good to be aware of the possible risks on the web. Here are two things you should know:

Legit pages, like yours, can get flagged as spam by mistake. You can check the manual actions report in Google Search Console to find out if your site has been hit with manual action and what you need to do to get it back in the index.

Hacking can be a major security hazard, leaving your site open to malicious content and spam. To stay safe, it’s essential to take appropriate steps to stop hacking. This includes having strong passwords, keeping your security updates current, and being alert for suspicious activity. Taking these precautions can help make sure your site stays secure from hackers and their nasty content.

To wrap it up: make sure your site is secure. Use HTTPS, update all plugins and themes, choose a strong password and if you can, use 2-factor authentication. These spam updates on June 23 and 28, 2021 probably won’t have any effect on the rankings of legitimate websites.

As always, XPD co is here to help! XPD Collective is a team of digital marketing pros who can help you reach your goals. They can design a website, optimise SEO, create content, manage social media, and more. They keep up with the digital marketing world, so you don’t have to worry. They also offer customised strategies to fit your needs and objectives. With XPD Collective, you know your digital marketing is in good hands.

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