The Best Way to Identify a Negative SEO Campaign

To combat the issue of a negative SEO campaign, you should be cognizant of the fact that you have hit one.

Once you can decipher that you have been trapped in the clutches of a negative campaign, then it’s time to make a prudent move to avert the scenario to witness the doom of your business. Having said that, one cannot negate the fact that it is not a cakewalk to identify a negative campaign.

This blog post will act as a benison for you to scour whether your website is a victim of a negative SEO if you figure out the answer to be positive, then you can invest your time to resolve the issue.

Understanding the Meaning of Negative SEO 

The simplest definition of negative SEO is any step taken with the intention to degrade the organic search results of a specific URL.

Google makes sure to put a stop if any negative SEO complaint is found by them, and this is the core reason that you can transfer the burden of one which gets around their safety net. But they encourage negative SEO victims to get in touch with the webmaster of the site to resolve the issue.

Also, if someone has malicious intent to harm your business, then there are chances they won’t admit it if you contact them. This is worth trying, but if you don’t want to land into a soup, then you should switch to better options to combat the situation.  

Top Ways to Identify a Negative Campaign 

•       Have you experienced a sudden drop in your organic traffic? 

If you were feeling discombobulated about the reason for the plummet in the organic traffic of your website when you have not made any alterations, then it is a red flag. So, make a point to scrutinize the analytics daily to identify the loophole in the process.

•       Have you received a notification stating that you are performing activities against Google guidelines?

If you have, then it will draw a conspicuous picture in front of you, and alert you regarding the diabolic intent of your contemporary.

If you receive a message from Google that looks similar to the image shown below, and you are not the one who is making any mistakes, then someone is looking to pick a bone with you but prefers to do so in a disguised manner.

The picture displayed below highlights a punishment against the unwanted links, but the notification indicating the issue you faced could be for a gamut of reasons. And if you feel that there is some issue, they prefer to check in the Google Search Console for the matter. And if there is a major issue, then Google would want you to know.

•       Have you noticed a Drop in your individual Keyword Rankings? 

To avoid any bumps in your organic traffic and to witness an upward trend, SEO experts of your business need to keep an eye on keyword rankings on regular basis, and this helps to shield your business from any negative attack as well. And if your experts figure out that your keywords search has dropped, this should draw your attention to the fact that there is something wrong.

Did you notice an increase in your backlinks?

You should keep a watch on your links, and if you witness a drastic change in their quality over time, this could be an indicator of a negative SEO campaign. Make a note if you don’t want your business to face any deleterious effect, then it is imperative to monitor the backlink campaign and look into the daily report. And if you get the notification that you have got thousands of links, then you need to take immediate action to curb the potential loss.

Keep a Record of Backlinks not displaying 

There will be situations where tools won’t be your best companion anymore, as some websites restrict certain tools such as Moz from crawling their website. And if you are relying on and scrutinizing these kinds of resources, then it won’t be a wise move as this filter hazardous links. This necessitates switching to copper-bottomed tools such as Google Analytics or Google Search Console. With the aid of Google Analytics, you can figure out the referral traffic report to analyze which site is responsible for driving traffic to your website. Your expert should have an eye for detail to extract the reason and check if it forms a negative SEO campaign, which can harm your website.

Have Your Backlinks Decreased?

If you notice a sign of a significant decrease in your backlink profiles, then there is a dire need to shift your focus on the issue. One can ignore the fluctuations, but if there is some considerable change, then assign the issue to your industrious employees and ensure they combat the issue in less turnover time.

Incase other websites have removed your links then this can also have an ill-effect on your SEO. To tackle this issue, get in touch with the website and ask for their concern.

Is Your Unique Content No More Unique? 

Are you becoming a victim of content scraping? It is referred to as taking the unique content from one site and posting on a plethora of other sites. It is the easiest way to scar your website. You should put your content on high authority sites and should adhere to the guidelines laid down by Google. Also, make sure to create a link to the original article. You can also request another website to add no-index at the page level. You need to make sure to mindfully syndicate as Google might show this version on the SERPs. Make sure to not duplicate your content all over the internet as well.

Make a Point to do Hygienic Check of Your Website 

If you feel that you have not faced any such issue that is mentioned on the site, then you need to perform a basic audit check of the website. You should take some time out, and notice how it appears on Search Engines. You can also opt for a site search on Google. And after this check, if something is not right on the page. Also, you need to check all the listed pages, and if any is missing, then look into the reason and fix the issue as soon as possible. And if you feel that your page’s ranking has come down, then you are bearing the brunt of a negative SEO campaign.

 Look for the Experts to Solve the Task 

Once you comprehend and accept that you are a victim of a negative campaign, then only you will resolve the problem if you are oblivion of the issue, then there is no fix of your predicament. The internet is awash with a multitude of tools that might alleviate the issue, but there are high chances that those tools won’t be able to vanish your problem, and that is when our role begins to assist our clients.

An expert has a pool of knowledge to address the issue and would make sure not to commit a rookie mistake, which can worsen the issue. So, you are just one step away to eliminate the situation of a negative SEO campaign.