On December 14th, 2022. Google has rolled out an update called “Link Spam Update,” designed to help reduce the amount of link spam that impacts search engine results.
What Is Link Spam Update?
It’s nothing, but Google has now upgraded its spam detecting system to a newer level, i.e., Now google’s new update can quickly detect both the sites involved in buying links and the domain
involved in passing links to other sites.
What’s There In Link Spam Update?
- The 14th December 2022 link spam update uses an “AI-Based Spam Prevention System” to detect link spam, allowing Google to identify and take action on sites selling links.
- If you have bought links from sites that contain low-quality content, the same site sells hundreds of these links to other websites. In that case, there is a strong likelihood that Google has devalued any authority obtained through these connections. Ultimately, this means it’s time to make some changes!
Remember that if this link spam update has impacted your website, you will not receive any notifications. It’s you who has to take action based on the affected results.
Does Link Spam Update Affect My Website?
Despite being rolled out in two weeks, it can be challenging to identify if any drop in traffic came from this particular alteration or other Google updates.
At the same time, Google also released another update, i.e., Helpful Content Update,” on December 5th, which ensures that the content is written for people by people, Rather than the content produced by tools that are heavily optimized for SEO, and finally, lack the human touch and feel.
However, Google advises that ranking may be affected as the google link spam update devalues the links and the value passed to the linked domain. They have also mentioned that it will impact all search results of all languages.
What Links Should You Be Building?
Google link spam update certainly means that building high-quality links is more important than ever. To get started, focus on building links from trusted industry sources relevant to your website and target audience.
This could include link building through:
- HARO(Help A Reporter Out), links from high-authority publications
- Guest Posts from sites with high rankings and valuable metrics.
- Broken link building, link exchanges with trusted websites, and link reclamation.
- Organic link growth through creating helpful content that others will naturally link to, etc.
What Links Should You Be Avoiding?
As a website owner, it is essential to remain abreast of Google’s updates to its algorithm to ensure your online presence remains visible on web searches. The December link spam update has made it clear that link buying, link farming, and websites solely made for selling low-quality links should be avoided at all costs.
Suppose you have been buying these services of getting low-quality links from websites with a lower budget. Then it’s essential to disavow any suspicious links as soon as possible. Also, audit your link profile regularly and remove any harmful links that could negatively affect your website’s rankings.
How Does Google Find Spam links?
Well, It’s straightforward for google link spam update to find low-quality links, thanks to their new algorithm. Even there are several ways Google can find out these links. Some of them are:
- Expired domains,
- Website providing links to the pages with wrong anchor text,
- Hundreds of unnatural and irrelevant outbound links,
- Low quality of content present on the website,
- Sites producing content on several categories despite showing their authoritativeness in one category, etc.
How To Recover From Link Spam Update?
If you have gotten negatively impacted by link spam updates, don’t panic. Instead, follow the steps mentioned below:
- Look at your backlink profile and check if you have any low-quality links pointing to your site. If you find out, reach out to that particular link builder/seller and request link removal.
- Also, Keep an eye on your website content. If you have thin or duplicate content, update it with high-quality, relevant content and link to helpful resources that can add value to your visitors.
- Finally, recreate your link-building strategy with some of the techniques mentioned above.
This can help you recover your website rankings and boost your link building efforts to establish authority.
Conclusion
This google update has caused several businesses to get panic, but it is essential to stay calm and focused on link building techniques that are high-quality, relevant, and trustworthy.
If you have questions about building quality links, then feel free to leave your questions in the comment section. We would be happy to answer you.
Thanks for reading 🙂
