Negative SEO: Find out what it is and how to protect your website
Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2025 4:41 am
If you have a website or a blog, you know how difficult it is to develop SEO strategies that allow you to rank well in organic search results. Now imagine if that entire process is compromised by practices carried out with the aim of harming your website's positioning.
This practice is known as negative SEO and is scaring many companies.
In this post, we have prepared some tips that will help you viber database better understand this issue and know how to protect your website.
What is negative SEO?
Negative SEO is a set of actions carried out with the aim of harming the positioning of a website in search engines such as Google, Bing or Yahoo, for example.
With the Penguin and Panda updates (Google algorithms) a few years ago, the debate on negative SEO practices (such as the concept of black hat) took on new proportions.
These were used to track and promote sanctions for websites that did not comply with Google's webmaster guidelines , such as websites that use camouflage techniques and that inappropriately use duplicate content.
In practice, this means that even if you develop an excellent SEO strategy to rank your website high, if you do not keep your website protected, it could become a "victim" of negative SEO actions. In this way, you may lose your position or even suffer more severe penalties from search engines.
seo guide
Who promotes this type of action?
During an Internet search, it is possible to find companies and individuals who report having suffered threats, blackmail and even actual attacks by people interested in harming the positioning of their websites.
But why would anyone do that?
A quick search on the Internet will reveal hackers willing to do the job for as little as $5.
Another possibility mentioned by those companies that report having suffered attacks is that of competing companies interested in improving the positioning of their own website and, to do so, they carry out negative SEO actions. In this way, they benefit from the loss of position of another website .
The fact is that it is not possible to predict who will carry out such attacks. That is why it is so important to know the potential damage and how to prevent such actions.
What damage can it cause to your website?
It goes against the policy of duplication that can cause sanctions
Negative SEO practices can result in content from other websites being copied and placed on other websites, going against the duplication policy of search engines, especially Google.
And if it appears that this action on your website is intended to harm another website, your site may be subject to penalties , such as ranking adjustments or even exclusion from search results.
It can harm your website's links
Backlinks allow you to track other websites that link to your site. And that's not always a bad thing: you can have links to your site on other websites as a way of promoting them.
But in cases of negative SEO, the intention is to harm your link , making it have low quality or violate the quality guidelines of search engines. This will cause your website to lose positioning in the results.
Other damages that can occur from negative SEO
Hackers can invade and block your website or even alter its code so that it does not appear in search engines.
They can also damage the company's reputation by creating fake sites and profiles on social networks and spreading false information.
How to protect your website from these attacks?
There are so many negative impacts that you may be asking yourself: how can I protect myself from these attacks?
It is very important to keep an eye on the actions you receive and that are performed on your website. Some of these actions may be an indication that your website may be a victim of negative SEO.
1. Be aware of malware
It is necessary to keep your website secure.
Look for viruses and malware and delete them immediately. If your website starts sending these viruses to users, your reputation will be damaged and you will be susceptible to penalties.
2. Observe the duplication of information
In general, it's not wrong to publish content from another website on your own, as long as you say where that information comes from.
But, as we said, duplication of information , when done inappropriately, not complying with the policies of the search engines, can be an indication that something is out of the ordinary.
Stay alert and avoid having duplicate content .
3. Look at social mentions
As we mentioned, social media can be a powerful weapon when there are attacks on a website or company. Monitor frequently what is being said about you and stay alert.
This does not mean that users cannot express negative opinions about the company, but the creation of fake profiles or even the spreading of false messages is an indication of a problem.
4. Check how your backlink list is doing
See how the links to the page you manage are performing on the Internet.
If you are producing bad content or even links that are not in your best interest, be careful. This can hurt your rankings .
5. Reject harmful backlinks
If you have tried to remove spam or low-quality links from the Internet and have not been successful, it is recommended that you reject them.
This process must be carried out in two stages:
You need to download a list of links for your website.
Next, you need to create a file with just the links you want to disavow and send it to Google.
But be careful! If this technique is used incorrectly it can hurt your website in search engines , rather than help it. See more details about that process on Google's disavowing backlinks page and learn more about how to do it.
6. Monitor your website speed
Check your page speed regularly and try to make changes to improve it. Look for signs of malicious actions that aim to undermine the SEO work your website does.
Search engines take into account various aspects when evaluating the relevance of your website, in order to determine its positioning in search results. To protect it from negative SEO actions, it is necessary to remain vigilant in order to avoid such problems.
What are the tools and software that can also help you?
Google Search Console
Google Search Console (formerly Webmaster Tools) is a tool that helps with the SEO process of a website.
With it, you can evaluate the state of your website and whether it is necessary to make some optimizations, in addition to knowing the traffic on your page.
It can be a great help in preventing negative SEO, as it allows you to identify links on your website, duplicate content, among other things. It is one of the best tools for optimizing your website and it is essential that you learn how to use it.
We have prepared a complete guide on Google Search Console , be sure to check it out:
Google Disavow Tool
Part of Google Search Console, the Disavow Tool is used to disable links within your website that may be detrimental to your page. But be careful when using this tool, it is best to hire an SEO specialist for this task.
Bing Webmaster Tools
With a similar purpose to the Google tool, Bing Webmaster Tools (Microsoft) aims to expand and monitor the positioning in its results pages.
Copyscape
Copyscape helps you check if your website content has been copied (duplicated) by other websites.
Mention
The Mention tool monitors what is being said about your pages on social media.
Monitor Backlinks
As the name itself says, it helps you monitor your backlinks .
Pingdom
Pingdom monitors the performance and response time of your website.
How to maintain safe practices to reduce the risk of attacks?
We all know that digital marketing work , specifically SEO, is developed constantly, through the construction and application of tactics that aim to promote a good reputation of your website, which is the "face" of your company on the Internet.
It can't be built overnight and requires a lot of attention and dedication to not only create, but also maintain good search engine rankings .
When you achieve it, after all that work, it is very difficult to accept that bad people want to not only harm your work, but also destroy a hard-earned reputation.
That is why we feel the need to keep you alert to all possible attacks, even if they do not seem harmful at first glance.
There are various tools available on the Internet to help you do that constant evaluation of your website and preserve it. But you should keep in mind that there is no 100% safe technique that can claim that your website will not suffer any action or damage through negative SEO practices.
Constant monitoring is the key word to reduce the chances of suffering such actions. And this should be done not only on the website, but also on links, pages and social media profiles, among others.
How to be careful not to sabotage your own website?
Although throughout this text we have emphasized negative SEO actions carried out by other companies and individuals, it is worth mentioning the importance of checking whether your own practices are not causing positioning problems.
You may be wondering: but how can I be sabotaging my own website ?
And the answer is simple. There are some measures that are contrary to the search engine ranking policies. They are modified periodically and you may have used outdated practices. Therefore, it is recommended that you:
Don't create links for websites that have already been penalized by Google.
Don't use hidden keywords in the source code.
Don't post an excessive amount of outreach posts.
Offer the same content to users and robots that will periodically crawl your site.
And above all, don't buy links. They don't usually have good credibility with search engines.
That's why it's so important to stay informed about search engine guidelines. This can help you develop safe strategies that contribute to the optimization and positioning of your website.
After all, maintaining a good position in search results can contribute to the successful development of a company on the Internet.
This practice is known as negative SEO and is scaring many companies.
In this post, we have prepared some tips that will help you viber database better understand this issue and know how to protect your website.
What is negative SEO?
Negative SEO is a set of actions carried out with the aim of harming the positioning of a website in search engines such as Google, Bing or Yahoo, for example.
With the Penguin and Panda updates (Google algorithms) a few years ago, the debate on negative SEO practices (such as the concept of black hat) took on new proportions.
These were used to track and promote sanctions for websites that did not comply with Google's webmaster guidelines , such as websites that use camouflage techniques and that inappropriately use duplicate content.
In practice, this means that even if you develop an excellent SEO strategy to rank your website high, if you do not keep your website protected, it could become a "victim" of negative SEO actions. In this way, you may lose your position or even suffer more severe penalties from search engines.
seo guide
Who promotes this type of action?
During an Internet search, it is possible to find companies and individuals who report having suffered threats, blackmail and even actual attacks by people interested in harming the positioning of their websites.
But why would anyone do that?
A quick search on the Internet will reveal hackers willing to do the job for as little as $5.
Another possibility mentioned by those companies that report having suffered attacks is that of competing companies interested in improving the positioning of their own website and, to do so, they carry out negative SEO actions. In this way, they benefit from the loss of position of another website .
The fact is that it is not possible to predict who will carry out such attacks. That is why it is so important to know the potential damage and how to prevent such actions.
What damage can it cause to your website?
It goes against the policy of duplication that can cause sanctions
Negative SEO practices can result in content from other websites being copied and placed on other websites, going against the duplication policy of search engines, especially Google.
And if it appears that this action on your website is intended to harm another website, your site may be subject to penalties , such as ranking adjustments or even exclusion from search results.
It can harm your website's links
Backlinks allow you to track other websites that link to your site. And that's not always a bad thing: you can have links to your site on other websites as a way of promoting them.
But in cases of negative SEO, the intention is to harm your link , making it have low quality or violate the quality guidelines of search engines. This will cause your website to lose positioning in the results.
Other damages that can occur from negative SEO
Hackers can invade and block your website or even alter its code so that it does not appear in search engines.
They can also damage the company's reputation by creating fake sites and profiles on social networks and spreading false information.
How to protect your website from these attacks?
There are so many negative impacts that you may be asking yourself: how can I protect myself from these attacks?
It is very important to keep an eye on the actions you receive and that are performed on your website. Some of these actions may be an indication that your website may be a victim of negative SEO.
1. Be aware of malware
It is necessary to keep your website secure.
Look for viruses and malware and delete them immediately. If your website starts sending these viruses to users, your reputation will be damaged and you will be susceptible to penalties.
2. Observe the duplication of information
In general, it's not wrong to publish content from another website on your own, as long as you say where that information comes from.
But, as we said, duplication of information , when done inappropriately, not complying with the policies of the search engines, can be an indication that something is out of the ordinary.
Stay alert and avoid having duplicate content .
3. Look at social mentions
As we mentioned, social media can be a powerful weapon when there are attacks on a website or company. Monitor frequently what is being said about you and stay alert.
This does not mean that users cannot express negative opinions about the company, but the creation of fake profiles or even the spreading of false messages is an indication of a problem.
4. Check how your backlink list is doing
See how the links to the page you manage are performing on the Internet.
If you are producing bad content or even links that are not in your best interest, be careful. This can hurt your rankings .
5. Reject harmful backlinks
If you have tried to remove spam or low-quality links from the Internet and have not been successful, it is recommended that you reject them.
This process must be carried out in two stages:
You need to download a list of links for your website.
Next, you need to create a file with just the links you want to disavow and send it to Google.
But be careful! If this technique is used incorrectly it can hurt your website in search engines , rather than help it. See more details about that process on Google's disavowing backlinks page and learn more about how to do it.
6. Monitor your website speed
Check your page speed regularly and try to make changes to improve it. Look for signs of malicious actions that aim to undermine the SEO work your website does.
Search engines take into account various aspects when evaluating the relevance of your website, in order to determine its positioning in search results. To protect it from negative SEO actions, it is necessary to remain vigilant in order to avoid such problems.
What are the tools and software that can also help you?
Google Search Console
Google Search Console (formerly Webmaster Tools) is a tool that helps with the SEO process of a website.
With it, you can evaluate the state of your website and whether it is necessary to make some optimizations, in addition to knowing the traffic on your page.
It can be a great help in preventing negative SEO, as it allows you to identify links on your website, duplicate content, among other things. It is one of the best tools for optimizing your website and it is essential that you learn how to use it.
We have prepared a complete guide on Google Search Console , be sure to check it out:
Google Disavow Tool
Part of Google Search Console, the Disavow Tool is used to disable links within your website that may be detrimental to your page. But be careful when using this tool, it is best to hire an SEO specialist for this task.
Bing Webmaster Tools
With a similar purpose to the Google tool, Bing Webmaster Tools (Microsoft) aims to expand and monitor the positioning in its results pages.
Copyscape
Copyscape helps you check if your website content has been copied (duplicated) by other websites.
Mention
The Mention tool monitors what is being said about your pages on social media.
Monitor Backlinks
As the name itself says, it helps you monitor your backlinks .
Pingdom
Pingdom monitors the performance and response time of your website.
How to maintain safe practices to reduce the risk of attacks?
We all know that digital marketing work , specifically SEO, is developed constantly, through the construction and application of tactics that aim to promote a good reputation of your website, which is the "face" of your company on the Internet.
It can't be built overnight and requires a lot of attention and dedication to not only create, but also maintain good search engine rankings .
When you achieve it, after all that work, it is very difficult to accept that bad people want to not only harm your work, but also destroy a hard-earned reputation.
That is why we feel the need to keep you alert to all possible attacks, even if they do not seem harmful at first glance.
There are various tools available on the Internet to help you do that constant evaluation of your website and preserve it. But you should keep in mind that there is no 100% safe technique that can claim that your website will not suffer any action or damage through negative SEO practices.
Constant monitoring is the key word to reduce the chances of suffering such actions. And this should be done not only on the website, but also on links, pages and social media profiles, among others.
How to be careful not to sabotage your own website?
Although throughout this text we have emphasized negative SEO actions carried out by other companies and individuals, it is worth mentioning the importance of checking whether your own practices are not causing positioning problems.
You may be wondering: but how can I be sabotaging my own website ?
And the answer is simple. There are some measures that are contrary to the search engine ranking policies. They are modified periodically and you may have used outdated practices. Therefore, it is recommended that you:
Don't create links for websites that have already been penalized by Google.
Don't use hidden keywords in the source code.
Don't post an excessive amount of outreach posts.
Offer the same content to users and robots that will periodically crawl your site.
And above all, don't buy links. They don't usually have good credibility with search engines.
That's why it's so important to stay informed about search engine guidelines. This can help you develop safe strategies that contribute to the optimization and positioning of your website.
After all, maintaining a good position in search results can contribute to the successful development of a company on the Internet.