• About Us
  • Contributors
  • Guides
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Write for The SEM Post
  • Submit a tip or contact us!
  • Newsletters

The SEM Post

Latest News About SEO, SEM, PPC & Search Engines

  • Google
  • SEO
  • Mobile
  • Local
  • Bing
  • Pay Per Click
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • State of the Industry
You are here: Home / Google / 7 Reasons Google Hates Your Site

7 Reasons Google Hates Your Site

February 4, 2015 at 8:43 am PST By Samuel Edwards

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
  • WhatsApp
  • Evernote
  • SMS

shutterstock_242127196-723As a business, nothing can be more frustrating than blending in. You want to set your brand, products, and services apart from the competition and make a statement. However, if you don’t listen to what Google wants and how they want it done, you’ll probably end up in a sea of internet anonymity. Learning how to appease the search engines will pay off in the future, so listen up and stop making debilitating mistakes.

The Mind of Google

Hate may sound like a strong word, but Google stakes its reputation on the quality of the search results it gives users. Instead of thinking about things from your perspective, try looking at it from Google’s point of view.

If you’re Google, would you want your site showing up in its coveted first page of results? Look past your bias regarding your product’s usefulness or service’s superiority, and consider the value and appearance of your site. Are your pages filled with cheap attempts to trick people into sticking around, or do they provide something of value to the visitor?

While Google’s algorithms are mysterious and the specifics are relatively unknown, we know one thing for sure: Google strives to give people what they’re looking for. In most cases, this means sites that both look good and provide valuable content.

7 Things Google Hates

With that foundation in mind, let’s look at some of the things Google hates and why they may be holding your site back:

  • Slow page loads. Google has long incorporated site speed into its search rankings and takes page load time seriously. Sites taking longer than two seconds to load aren’t reliable and lose visitors. PageSpeed Insights is a great tool for checking how you stack up and industry experts suggest making a change if your score falls below a 90 on the 100 point scale.
  • Malware. Google can and will scan websites for the presence of malware. Whether intentional or not, a website that’s infected with malware will be identified as such, and likely dropped in the search rankings. It’s best to proactively prevent malware by taking proper website security measures. If you’ve been flagged by Google, take action immediately to resolve the issue.
  • Content shortcuts. Google considers itself the judge of substantial content. Sites that attempt to mask their status as a keyword repository with poor, unoriginal content will be sought out and likely penalized. Google hates thin content and wants to eradicate it from the rankings. The best thing you can do for your site is only post fresh, educational content.
  • Duplicate content. Google doesn’t like duplicate content, and for good reason. Even if you wrote the content yourself, Google doesn’t want to see it on more than one page. Change up the wording at a minimum, and make each page unique for best results.
  • Too many ads. As a user, nothing is more frustrating than overwhelming advertisements, banners, or pop-ups. Google understands, and believes sites over-saturated with ads lead to poor user experiences. As a result, they make these sites pay in the search rankings. It’s not that they don’t want ads —in fact, Google is all about paid advertisements —they simply want them to be subtle. If ads fill the pages of your site, consider taking a different approach to ad implementation in the future.
  • Deceptive keywords. Much like any other visitor, Google doesn’t like to be tricked. Using deceptive keywords to attract additional traffic can land you in big trouble. Google actively searches for black hat techniques like keyword stuffing, keyword cloaking, and over-optimization. They don’t have anything against using quality keywords, but they want to protect the interests of their users.
  • Paid links. There is a lot of stuff that goes on under the table, but one of the things Google keeps an eye out for the most is paid links. Buying links is a popular practice, and can be effective, but you should know that it can have negative side effects if you’re exposed. It’s best to avoid buying links altogether and instead build genuine, sustainable partnerships with other reputable sites.

Google Wants to Trust You

The bottom line is Google wants to trust your site. In a perfect world, they wouldn’t have to monitor these things and the highest-quality sites would naturally rise to the top. Unfortunately, the internet isn’t always ideal, and consequently, Google will continue to favor sites they trust and penalize pages they don’t. Overall, the best thing you can do is focus on the following three aspects:

  • Quality content. If nothing else, invest in high quality content. Google believes content is king and wants to reward sites that adhere to this principle. If you want to succeed, invest in content and never stop producing it.
  • Good UX. User experience is a somewhat vague term, but always keep it in mind when making a change. Ask yourself whether it positively affects your visitors and you’ll probably end up making the right choice.
  • Fast speed. There’s no excuse for having a slow moving site. Use any possible resources, and invest in a site that loads in the blink of an eye. Your bounce rate will diminish and Google will take notice.

In the internet age, your business’success may very well depend on how visible it is in the search engines. Instead of trying to fight Google every step of the way, learn to give them what they want; your company will thank you and your business will likely thrive.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
  • WhatsApp
  • Evernote
  • SMS
The following two tabs change content below.
  • Bio
  • Latest Posts
My Twitter profileMy LinkedIn profile

Samuel Edwards

Online Media Strategist at Tenthwave Digital
In my 4+ years as a digital marketing specialist, I have learned the ins and outs of online marketing. I have worked with countless local businesses as well as enterprise Fortune 500 companies and organizations including: NASDAQ OMX, eBay, Duncan Hines, Drew Barrymore, Washington, DC based law firm Price Benowitz LLP and human rights organization Amnesty International. Additionally, I am a recurring speaker at the Search Marketing Expo conference series. Today I continue to work with and establish SEO, PPC and SEM campaigns across all verticals.
My Twitter profileMy LinkedIn profile

Latest posts by Samuel Edwards (see all)

  • 6 SEO Mistakes Amateur Bloggers Frequently Make - March 22, 2016
  • Is There Such a Thing as Too Many Pages for SEO? - January 22, 2016
  • 3 Tips for Creating More Effective Online Ads - January 14, 2016
  • The Importance Of Placement: SEO And Site Format - January 6, 2016
  • 3 Must-Track Website Metrics For Every Business - December 8, 2015

Filed Under: Google, SEO

Sign up for our newsletter


Comments

  1. John Alexander says

    February 4, 2015 at 10:38 am

    Good post; I loved your title! Lots of clients tell me Google hates them, but of course I’d be out of a job if I agreed with them.
    This is a helpful list of points to consider; however, I would also add “poor mobile UX” to the list. Google’s getting very aggressive at trying to get webmasters to make their sites mobile-friendly, and there’s evidence that Google is beginning to use mobile UX as a ranking factor.

  2. Michael Martinez says

    February 4, 2015 at 2:33 pm

    PageSpeed Insights is, in fact, a terrible tool that cannot accurately measure page download and render times. People need to look closely at the reports this tool provides and start making a LOT of noise so that Google fixes their own dumb mistakes.

    If you’re using any Google scripts on your site the PageSpeed Insights tool will count their problems against you.

    The tool cannot distinguish between microscopic savings in time and bandwidth and large savings in time and bandwidth.

    Don’t just blindly recommend a tool without testing it thoroughly. I’ve run this tool against a LOT of Websites and it consistently fails to provide accurate, reliable results.

    • Alan Bleiweiss says

      February 11, 2015 at 8:09 pm

      Michael

      You make a valid point. I happen to include GPSI data in my audits, however it’s only one of many tools and data points related to page processing speed. And it’s far from perfect or comprehensive.

      People need to understand that GPSI, or any individual tool is only good for a baseline starting point to work with, and that actual proper and thorough evaluations across different tool providers is essential.

Trackbacks

  1. SearchCap: Google Reconsideration Requests, Google Answer Links & Bing Ads says:
    February 4, 2015 at 2:00 pm

    […] 7 Reasons Google Hates Your Site, The SEM Post […]

Founder & Editor

Jennifer Slegg (2052)

Sign up for our daily news recap & weekly newsletter.


Follow us online

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Linkedin
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Latest News

2022 Update for Google Quality Rater Guidelines – Big YMYL Updates

We finally have the first Google Quality Rater Guidelines update of 2022, and like usual, it is … [Read More...]

Recent Posts

  • 2022 Update for Google Quality Rater Guidelines – Big YMYL Updates
  • Google Quality Rater Guidelines: The Low Quality 2021 Update
  • Rethinking Affiliate Sites With Google’s Product Review Update
  • New Google Quality Rater Guidelines, Update Adds Emphasis on Needs Met
  • Google Updates Experiment Statistics for Quality Raters
  • Analyzing “How Google Search Works” Changes from Google
  • Google Quality Rater Guidelines Update: New Introduction, Rater Bias & Political Affiliations
  • Google Updates Quality Rater Guidelines: Reputation for News Sites; Video Content Updates; Quality for Information Sites
  • Google Makes Major Changes to NoFollow, Adds Sponsored & UGC Tags
  • Google Updates Quality Rater Guidelines Targeting E-A-T, Page Quality & Interstitials

Categories

  • Affiliate Marketing
  • Amazon
  • Apple
  • Bing
  • Branding
  • Browsers
  • Chrome
  • Content Marketing
  • Design
  • Domains
  • DuckDuckGo
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Firefox
  • Foursquare
  • Google
    • Analytics
    • Google RankBrain
    • Quality Rater's Guidelines
  • History of Search
  • Industry Spotlight
  • Instagram
  • Internet Explorer
  • Links
  • Local
  • Mobile
  • Native Advertising
  • Other Search Engines
  • Pay Per Click
  • Pinterest
  • Publishers
  • Security
  • SEO
  • Snapchat
  • Social Media
  • State of the Industry
  • The SEM Post
  • Tools
  • Twitter
  • Uncategorized
  • User Experience
  • Video Marketing
  • Week in Review
  • Whitepapers
  • Wordpress
  • Yahoo
  • Yelp
  • YouTube
February 2023
MTWTFSS
« Aug  
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728 

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.org

Copyright © 2023 · News Pro Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in