Negative SEO is when a competitor tries to lower the search engine ranking of another business. This means linking this group to junk or spam links. The smallest of actions can really affect one’s rankings in popular search engines. Negative SEO is becoming popular because of its effectiveness and low cost.
Different Options
There are many different ways to go about negative SEO techniques. For example, one could use comment links that relate to the website’s anchor text (i.e. using the words house remodeling Miami if the company is focused on home remodeling and renovation). Additionally, many people use sidebar blog links and double-tired forum profile links. The point is to show popular search engines that a website isn’t credible or reliable.
Affordable to Do
All of this can be done without spending too much money. For example, one can link comments for as low as $15 or $20. Thus, anyone from a rival business to an upset former employee can easily build a backlinks profile full of irrelevant anchor text or link the website to bad neighborhoods and trashy blogs.
Devastating to Businesses of All Types
Falling from first to 20th in rankings can be devastating to a business. This could cost a group hundreds if not thousands of dollars in revenue. All it takes is one person to start linking a website to less than reputable groups or spam and junk links. From here, a search engine may think that website is intentionally spamming people and will lower its ranking.
The Internet is everything for a business. After all, when people need their car fixed or home repaired, they use search engines to find reputable businesses. Negative SEO can completely ruin a business’s reputation. After a website goes off of the front page, it’s like they no longer exist. People that want to protect themselves need to monitor where traffic is coming from as well as their web reputation. Understanding SEO’s positive and negative uses protects a business.
