Negative SEO – the latest threat to your search rankings

Lurking in the digital undergrowth, ready to pounce. Waiting.

Unleashing a torrent of tactical destruction designed to downgrade your search engine rankings, belittle your brand and damage your business.

Negative SEO is in town.

What is it? Put simply: it’s the practice of building unscrupulous links to a competitor’s website with the intention of damaging their search ranking – and their reputation.

What isn’t so clear cut, however, is measuring to what extent this process actually works.

One thing we can be sure about is that making sure your site has grown its profile in a truly organic manner helps to ensure anyone attempting to harm your domain will face a tough job. And following Purple Imp’s advice for keeping on top of your online brand signals will set you off on the right road.

1. Email is your friend
Update your profile in Bing Webmaster and set up Google Webmaster Tools’ email forwarding . Both will alert you immediately if there is something awry with your site.

2. A clear signal
You should set up numerous alerts within Google so you can keep an eye on what kind of signals your brand is kicking out. Knowledge is power, so make sure you’re aware of what your brand is doing – and saying – on the Web.

3. Examine the condition of your site
Making sure that your site is checked thoroughly is always worthwhile. Search for phrases you are found for and make sure the landing pages are all in order.

4. Keep an eye on your links
Tracking links is essential if changes are to be noticed. Tools like MajesticSEO can help you spot anything untoward.

5. Recognise new referring domains
The ability to identify which sites are referring to you is essential in spotting trouble. Checking which of your pages is receiving traffic from where – and what the anchor text is – can be very useful in identifying problems.

Google’s new Disavow tool has given a degree of power back to site owners, but it’s by no means an answer to the problem.

Professional help with SEO is the best way to make sure you stay ahead of the game. Contact us today to find out what we can do for you.