Have you received a Google Webmaster notice

During the last few weeks, Google sent many webmaster notification messages about unnatural links. If you have received such a message, here's what you have to do to make sure that your website doesn't get penalized.

What is this Google unnatural links message?

Google has sent the following message to many webmasters:

"Dear site owner or webmaster of example.com.

We’ve detected that some of your site’s pages may be using techniques that are outside Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. Specifically, look for possibly artificial or unnatural links pointing to your site that could be intended to manipulate PageRank. Examples of unnatural linking could include buying links to pass PageRank or participating in link schemes. We encourage you to make changes to your site so that it meets our quality guidelines. Once you've made these changes, please submit your site for reconsideration in Google’s search results. If you find unnatural links to your site that you are unable to control or remove, please provide the details in your reconsideration request. If you have any questions about how to resolve this issue, please see our Webmaster Help Forum for support. 

Sincerely,

Google Search Quality Team"

What will happen when you get such a message?

Webmasters who received such a message observed that many sites were penalized 3-4 weeks after the message. The penalty is for the keywords that are included in the unnatural links. If most of the links that point to the website are unnatural links then the whole website might be penalized.

What are unnatural links?

There are several backlink types that Google finds unnatural:

1. Public backlink networks: Google doesn't like fully automated or paid backlink networks. If you participate in a backlink network that can be joined by anyone (even for a fee) then it is very likely that Google has already penalized the network or that the network is a target for the near future. If you can find the backlink network, Google's engineers can find it, too.
   
   
2. Private backlink networks: Some SEO agencies have private backlink networks. Google probably has the technology to detect these networks without creating accounts.
   
   
3. Paid sidebar links: if your website has too many backlinks from the sidebars of other websites, Google might find them unnatural.
   
   
4. Over-optimized anchor text: if the links to your website all use exactly the same anchor text, it is likely that Google might reconsider the rankings of the linked pages.
   
   
5. Fake forum and social media links: some tools create fake forum and social media site accounts to get backlinks to your website. Chances are that Google can detect that type of link.

What should you do?

If you used one of the methods above to get backlinks to your website, try to get rid of these links as quickly as possible.

The formula to high rankings on Google is very easy:

Good content + good backlinks + no spam = high rankings

Optimize the content of your web pages to make sure that Google and other search engines know what your website is about. Then get good backlinks to show search engines that your website can be trusted. 

Google has become more aggressive regarding spammy backlinks. In the past, a website might get high rankings for several months until Google detected the site. Now it seems that the it takes a maximum of 3 months until Google detects the spammers.

Do not fall for SEO solutions that promise quick and easy backlinks. It doesn't make sense to get high rankings for 2-3 months just to get penalized after that time. If you are serious about your business, you have to use strategies that deliver high rankings that will stay, even if it takes longer to get these rankings in the short term.

Top 5 Sure Shot ways To Increase Web Traffic

Every online entrepreneur, has an earnest desire to make his/her  content go viral all over the net. Unfortunately, most of their web pages end up biting the dust in the next few pages of Google SERP. Even the best designed websites constantly struggle to achieve high rankings. Many wonder, what are the causes for such a narrow defeat? Obviously it is a complex mix of poor internet marketing strategy along with weak execution. Let us now explore the top 5 ways to increase web traffic so that you can pull your site out of the oblivion and bring it to the first page of Google.

1. Don't work on the desired keyword, work on the correct keyword : If you want to rank high, don't go by instincts, go by reports, go by research. Use Google's adwords keyword tool to find rankable keywords. The ones, which have decent monthly search volume and are less competitive. The way to achieve this objective is to first perform a keyword research in an extensive manner. Also determine your current ranking for the same. Then develop a strategy (on page and off page) to bring it up the order. Always stick to your theme and niche while making any further moves.


2. Guest Posts : I remember reading a controversial post on youmoz where in the author said the only strategy you ever need to bring your site up or to increase traffic is to write 2 high quality, lengthy articles on each of your selected keyword . One for your own site and other for posting as guest post. The one on your site will make you strong from the on page factors point of view and the guest post will give you high quality backlinks for the same. I would agree to a greater extent with this strategy provided one does it on a consistent and aggressive manner. This is a sure shot way of increasing your web traffic.
   
   
3. Social Networking Sites have taken the online world by storm in the last couple of years. They are one of the strong source to help you increase web traffic in a significant manner. All you need to is to interact with the users of such site in a constructive and helpful manner. Popular social networking sites like facebook, twitter, linkedin etc. gives you easy access to several thousands of people and you need to do your best to establish a rapport with them. Creating trust this way will help you in the long run to boost your sales. In other words, social networking sites act as catalyst to increase web traffic to your website.
   
   
4. Video Marketing is another sure shot way to increase web traffic to your site. Reason being, videos consumes 50% of the time of online viewers. Videos are addictive, improves overall brand recall, are more viral in nature as compared to text, image or audio. YouTube which is owned by Google has an impressive track record of capturing 80% of the views of the online video audience. The point to be noted here is, the name and the description that you give to your video has to be eye catching. Many a times, such a small thing alone is responsible as a deciding factor for your viewer to click on your link or not. Since there is a huge avalanche of available videos, you need to get your title and description correct. Make it catchy but not misleading and watch the traffic grow impressively.
   
   
5. Last but not the least, one of the tried and tested way of increasing traffic is to go for PPC or Pay per click. Here also you are supposed to do extensive keyword research to figure out which keywords can bring high traffic. However, it is strongly recommended that you better approach a PPC expert to get proper training before venturing out yourself or better outsource it to a ppc specialist , else you may end up wasting a lot of hard earned money.

So these are the top 5 most effective ways to drive traffic to your website. In addition to it, you need to design your page in such a manner that is able to capture the email addresses of your targeted customers easily. This is must for building up your list so that you can have repeat sales. An auto-responder will make your task much easier by enabling you to keep in touch with your customers by sending them exciting offers/mailers on a regular basis. You just need to imbibe these tips to increase web traffic and you will succeed without fail.