Search Engine Optimisation Archives

Is Google AI Mode really the future of search?

Posted on March 22, 2025April 10, 2025 by Simon

Picture a new approach to search…

You type a question into Google (lets say, for instance, “best type of pram for a newborn”)
Instead of the usual list of links, you get a full, AI-generated response.

Not the usual AI snippet then links and summaries from other sites below. A complete answer, with pros and cons of different types, images and more.

Detailed, relevant, confident, helpful.

No need to click. You’ve got your answer immediately.

But hang fire a sec… where did that answer actually come from?

Welcome to the strange new world of Google AI Mode, where search engine optimisation is being turned upside down before your eyes.

What Is Google AI Mode — And Why Does It Matter?

In 2023, Google began rolling out a major change to how search works – something called “Search Generative Experience (SGE)”.

Instead of just showing a list of blue links, Google started using generative AI to summarise answers directly at the top of the search results. Ask a question, and you get a colourful, conversational response: a ChatGPT-lite experience built right into your browser.

It’s smart. It’s fast. And (although it’s not always correct) it’s incredibly helpful for users.

Google AI mode takes that a step further. Creating a new results page that’s AI created:

The page does includes links to websites (generally in the right hand side bar or, in some cases, citations for quoted text) – and it’s possible to use the links at the top to switch to a more standard set of search results for your query (in the same way you can switch to see Images or Shopping results related to your search).

It’s primary focus though, is much more about answering your question right there.

This isn’t live yet. It’s part of Google Labs – an experimental part of Google that them to trial the approach with limited group of users – but, based on Google’s announcements to date, it seems very likely this will get rolled out more widely.

Google Is Becoming the Destination

Let’s be clear: if/when this rolls out further, this won’t be a small tweak to the algorithm. It’s not a core update or a ‘Panda’.
This is a fundamental shift in how search works.

Google’s AI Mode is designed to answer your questions — not point you to someone who can.

Google is synthesising content from across the web, mashing it together into a summary, and serving it right up in answer to your question. Sometimes with citations. Often…without.

You don’t visit the blog. You don’t see the brand. You don’t convert. You just get what you came for and move on.

For users? Brilliant.

For content creators, publishers, brands, SEOs? Not so much.

Welcome to Zero-Click 2.0

We’ve been inching toward this for years – with featured snippets, ‘People Also Ask’ boxes, and knowledge panels chipping away at clicks. But Google AI Mode takes it to another level.

This is Zero-Click 2.0:

✅ User gets a solid, summarised answer instantly.

❌ The source site gets no traffic.

❌ The brand gets no visibility.

❌ The content creator gets no value from their work.

It’s like throwing a dinner party and realising that Google showed up early with the guests, ate the food, and left you the crumbs – with barely a word of thanks to the chef.

The Big SEO Questions We Can’t Ignore

So what does this mean for the future of SEO?

1. Who’s Incentivised to Create?

If high-quality content is hoovered up by Google’s AI and never clicked on, where is the incentive to produce it?

Will content become gated? Paywalled? Heavily branded just to be noticed?

Could this see a rise in “walled garden” content — less open web, more controlled ecosystems.

2. What Happens to Attribution?

Right now, citations in AI Mode are, well, let’s be kind and say vague. You might get a carousel of links. You might not. You often won’t know where a specific line came from (and therefore the degree it can be trusted).

This opens the door to accuracy issues, ethical murkiness, content scraping, and even legal challenges.

If Google’s AI is built on your content but gives you no credit, is that fair use? Or theft?

3. Is SEO Still Worth It?

Yes, but it’s changing fast.

Ranking and position one might soon mean that you’re a source for AI summaries, but may not automatically mean you’re a destination for traffic.

This could create an SEO arms race not – not so much for your content being included in search content, but figuring out how to be actually cited in Google’s answers.

(And we don’t really know yet how to optimise for that.)

The Journey Toward Zero Click

2012

Knowledge Graph launches

Google begins pulling direct facts into search results.

Impact: Start of zero-click answers for basic queries.

2014

Featured Snippets arrive

Google introduces position zero — full answers above search results.

Impact: Rankings matter less. Click-through starts to dip.

2017

How Should We Respond?

So, rather than panic, how can we prepare for what’s ahead?

Focus on Content That AI Can’t Summarise Well

Deep research, opinion-led insights, original data, community-driven perspectives.

Things that can’t be neatly distilled into a two-sentence AI answer, without at least pointing towards the source.

Less “What is X?”
More “Here’s what happened when we tried X ourselves.”

Build Brand, Not Just Traffic

If people know you, they’ll seek you out directly. To that end, newsletters, communities, and branded experiences become critical.

Its less about trying to rank, more about trying to ensure your voice matters.

Add a Human Voice That AI Can’t Fake

The Internet’s about to get flooded with AI-generated content (some would argue it already is!).

As a result, REAL human writing with personality, tone, humour and emotion becomes a differentiator again.

Create that emotional connection with your reader.

Get this right and there are opportunities.

With the link blocks that appear on the left hand side of Google AI Mode, sites that were previously buried on Page 2 of Google can claw their way back into the answers – if they can optimise their content to appear as relevant topics, images and citations.

The Value Loop Is Breaking — Can We Rebuild It?

There is though a deeper question…

For the past 20 years, there’s been an implicit contract:

We create content → Google sends us traffic → Users find value → The web grows.

Google AI Mode has the potential to break that loop – taking value without returning it.

That’s not sustainable.

Unless Google finds a way to compensate creators – or at least drive meaningful visibility back to sources – it puts at risk the very ecosystem it depends on.

So while AI search is obviously alluring from Googles point of view, it also demands that they rethink how value flows online.

Until then, content creators are in limbo – serving an algorithm that increasingly is not serving them back.

Want help navigating this AI-driven shift in SEO?

Get in touch and we can talk strategies, future-proofing – and how to make your content matter.

What do you think?

Will Google change direction and not roll this out further? Is this a storm to be weathered, or is this a key shift in search? Are you changing SEO strategy to reflect the impact AI is having?

Let us know in the comments below…

Why Local Search Matters (And Why You Need a Google Business Profile Now)

Posted on February 24, 2025March 5, 2025 by Simon

If your business relies on local customers, optimising your website and business for Local Search is your golden ticket to success. Whether you run a brick-and-mortar store, provide local services, or operate a regional business, showing up in local search results can be the difference between thriving and struggling.

Why Local Search Is a Game-Changer

Think about how you search for businesses. When you need a plumber, a coffee shop, or a reliable electrician, what do you do? You Google it.

Generally these searches include some form of ‘local intent’: that’s search speak for using a place name in the search query, or using the phrase ‘near me’

When you do that, a different search algorithm comes into play. One that weighs up the search engine results quite differently to other kinds of searches.

In particular, right at the top of the results, what pops up first? A “Local Pack” that handy map with three business listings at the top of the search results:

*Local search results for ‘Solicitor in Carmarthen’*

These local search results drive massive visibility – especially when you realise that nearly 50% of all Google searches have a local intent.

Backlinko.com also recently found that 42% of searchers click on the Local Pack results when seeing local services.

If you business is focussed on doing business with customers near to you, and isn’t optimised for local search, you’re missing out on a huge chunk of potential customers who are actively looking for what you offer.

The Power of your Business Profile

Your business profile is one the biggest factors that make up your local search presence. There are three main platforms where you can create a business profile for search:

Google: Determines how your results are shown in Google search results
Bing: Determines how your results are shown in Bing search results
Apple: Shows your business in Apple Maps

Although it’s worth making sure all three are completed, with its domination of the search market, your Google Business Profile is by far the most important. Without it, you’re practically invisible in Google Maps and local searches.

Here’s why setting up and optimising your Google Business Profile (GBP) is so critical:

1. Appear in Google’s Local Pack

A properly set-up Google Business Profile increases your chances of appearing in that Local Pack, which dominates those local search results. If you’re not there, your competition is – and they’re getting the clicks and calls instead of you.

Appearing in that Google’s Local Pack (that prime map and business listing shown at the top of the search results) can dramatically increase your business’s exposure – especially as we’ve seen that 42% of users click on these results. Securing a spot in there is invaluable.

2. Boost Visibility in Google Maps

When customers search for businesses “near me,” Google Maps is their go-to tool. Your GBP ensures your business appears accurately on the map, making it easy for customers to find you and get directions.

3. Accurate and Accessible Information

Not being able to find out the right information about a business is frustrating – and users rely on accurate information to make purchasing decisions. According to the Local Business Discovery and Trust Report, 2023, a huge 62% of consumers said they would avoid using a business if they found incorrect information online, so it’s worth getting those details right.

By regularly updating your GBP with current contact information, operating hours, and services, you ensure potential customers receive reliable data, buidling trust and encouraging engagement.

4. Drive More Traffic & Sales

A complete and active GBP includes essential information like your website, phone number, address, and services. The easier you make it for potential customers to reach you, the more conversions you’ll see.

5. Increase Trust with Reviews

Customer reviews are massive for credibility. Your Google Business Profile allows happy customers to leave you great reviews, which you can respond to – showing that you value the feedback.

Businesses with high ratings are more likely to get chosen over competitors with few or poor reviews and the Local Consumer Review Survey, 2025 found that 83% of consumers use Google to find local business reviews.

Even better, reviews (and responses to them) are one of the factors that search engines take into account when they’re calculating local search results – so you get a double whammy: credibility and a boost in search ranking. Google even gives you a link to send to your favourite customers so you can ask them to leave some lovely feedback.

6. Gain Insights & Analytics

When your profile is all up and running, Google provides detailed insights into how people find your business, what they search for, and what actions they take. This data helps you refine your marketing strategies and understand what’s working (and what’s not).

7. Showcase Your Business with Photos & Updates

People trust visuals. Adding high-quality photos of your products, team, or location can increase engagement and make your business more appealing. Google also allows you to post regular updates, including news of your latest promotions, events and offers to keep your profile active and fresh.

How to Set Up & Optimise Your Google Business Profile

Getting started with GBP is simple, but optimising it for success takes effort. Here’s a quick overview but, if you want to know more, we’ve put together a full guide on how to set up your Google Business Profile:

Claim & Verify Your Business – Go to Google Business Profile and claim your listing. Google will verify it through a postcard, phone call, or email.
Complete Every Section – Fill in all details, including your business name, category, address, phone number, website, hours, and services – and take time to do it properly: the more information, the better.
Add High-Quality Photos – Upload professional photos of your storefront, products, team, and anything that showcases your business.
Encourage & Respond to Reviews – Ask happy customers to leave reviews and always respond to them (both positive and negative) to build trust.
Use Google Posts & Updates – Keep your profile active by posting updates, promotions, and events.
Monitor Insights & Adjust – Regularly check your analytics to see how customers are finding you and make adjustments accordingly.

*Go to business.google.com and start by typing in your business name*

The Bottom Line

Ignoring Google Local Search is like leaving money on the table. If you’re not showing up when potential customers are searching, your competitors are getting the business instead. A Google Business Profile is the most effective way to boost your local visibility, attract more customers, and grow your revenue.

If you haven’t set up your Google Business Profile yet, do it today and take control of your local search presence.

Need help? Check out our Google Business Profile Set Up Guide, or our experts can help you set up your profile for you.

Google API Leak – What does it mean for Search Engine Optimisation?

Posted on May 29, 2024August 8, 2024 by Simon

What Google API Leak?

Earlier this month, documentation from Google’s Search Content Warehouse API was published on GitHub by an automated bot. This documentation included over 2,500 pages detailing:

Search Ranking Factors: Detailed information on over 14,000 metrics that Google uses to rank search results
Quality Rating Data: Information about how Google’s quality raters assess the relevance and quality of search results
Clickstream Data: Data from Chrome browsers that helps Google understand user behaviour
Algorithm Adjustments: How search results are tweaked based on user navigation and click data

It’s safe to say that all it has caused a bit of an upset in the search engine community. Mainly because although everyone claims to understand how to do well in search engines, the way that Google’s search algorithm actually works is a closely guarded secret, and this leak provides never-seen-before access to the algorithm’s inner workings.

As a result, since it was discovered, a whole range of Search Engine Optimisation experts have been poring over the documents and trying to work out what it can tell us.

Was it really an accident?

Yep, it appears so. The data was exposed quite a while back (since 2023, it’s just taken until this month for someone to find it!), and since it’s been found it’s been corroborated by a few pretty knowledgeable sources – this information wasn’t meant to be out in the wild [Update: 30th May – Google has now verified the documents are real].

Does the Google API leak actually tell us anything?

Again, yep, it appears so.

The leak tell us about all sorts of metrics that Google collects and uses to create its search results. Whilst it doesn’t tell us how these are weighted, or to what degree these metrics are ‘ranking factors’ in the algorithm, it does help us better understand what might important.

It also suggests that Google hasn’t been ENTIRELY accurate in some of the statements it’s made in the past about it’s algorithm.

Whilst we’re not going to throw the baby out with the bathwater and solely focus our SEO on what the leak contains going forward, we are definitely going to adjust our strategy and use the insights to focus on some new areas – as well as to run some tests around some of the things we’ve learned to see whether there are any new opportunities.

What are the BIG lessons that might affect your SEO?

There’s a LOT of detail in the documents so it’s tricky to work out what’s important and what’s not. Here are 7 key takeaways that we’ve spotted:

1. Clicks & Engagement are key

The quantity and quality of clicks from organic rankings matter.

Recent information from the Google antitrust trial revealed that Google’s Navboost system is an important ranking signal. This uses Chrome click data and quality raters to work out what are ‘good’ web pages.

The leak though shares some of the metrics it uses to calculate this. For example, it measures data like the search result a user spent the longest time on, or the last time somewhere came to your site and hung around – and it tracks clicks over 13 months.

Creating demand for your website among targeted searchers is key. The best approach for that is focussing on high intent search queries, and making sure your content is useful and sticky.

BTW, this also suggests that there could be a SEO effect from paid advertising. Possibly not the paid clicks, as Google could discount those fairly easily, but the secondary clicks you get from paid marketing (when people come back to your website after finding you in ads) might give you a natural search boost – so this could be a great approach to drive long term organic performance.

2. Know your niche

Despite Google suggesting otherwise in the past, there are a lot of metrics mentioned that reference ‘site wide’ scores, including “siteAuthority” to “siteFocusScore”.

It’s not clear how these are calculated, but given they exist, and taking them together with Google’s focus on quality content (EEAT as they put it – Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust), it’s likely that having your site engaging useful content, focused on your core subject matter is going to result in higher scores.

EATT Diagram showing intersecting circles, with Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness and Trust — Google’s focus is on content the reflects the concepts of EATT

3. Be original

Continuing the EATT theme, it’s clear based on the documents that Google is looking for quality original content.

Pages that only include small amounts of content receive an “OriginalContentScore”, which reinforces the need for unique, authentic, quality content. There also appears to be an AI rating for Content Effort – though how exactly this is being measured it’s not clear.

This does though mean that it’s worth focussing on pages with shorter content to make sure they’re original. It also suggests that relying heavily on AI tools like ChatGPT to generate content is likely to cause issues for you down the line. Instead, take the human approach, focus on adding value for your readers, and try to differentiate your content from your competitors.

4. Fresh is best

Google measures content recency and freshness, with metrics to track both the publication and update dates. It clearly wants to prioritise content that is curated and kept up to date.

With that in mind, it’s important to review all the content on your site to keep it fresh and relevant. For instance, if you’re in accountancy, make sure your site is updated to reflect the latest tax advice.

If a page isn’t relevant any more, its better to take it down – even if it does still get the occasional visitor!

5. Google likes to mix it up

The API documents suggest that Google takes steps to make sure there’s a range of different content sources in the results – limiting the number of videos, small site blogs etc. to give users a range of different sources in response to their query.

To get broader coverage in search results, it’s then a good idea to create a diverse range of content types on your site to improve overall visibility.

This is particularly important for sites trying to enter really competitive areas. For example, if you’re trying to gain traffic in markets where there are already lots of ecommerce sites at the top of the results, maybe consider video content as a way to more effectively compete.

6. Spammy links will hurt you

Links from established sites, using proper anchor text, are great, but a load of links from dodgy websites with over optimised anchor text seems to trigger a spam penalty.

Skip the link building services and instead use an organic approach – or focus on quality PR and build relationships with high quality websites that are relevant to your audience.

7. The experts get things wrong

There are a couple of things that we all thought were important that don’t appear to be – in particular, it appears that character limits on page titles and descriptions don’t need to rigidly stick to the character counts – especially if it improves readability

Also, internal linking doesn’t seem to have the benefit most experts thought – so just link to other pages when you want to signpost them to users, rather than worrying about search engines.

Keeping Ahead of Google’s Algorithm

This leak isn’t a silver bullet! We don’t have the whole algorithm, we don’t know to what extent each metric is used as a ranking factor, and we don’t know how up to date this is (although it’s certainly less than 12 months old, based on timestamps).

Whilst there’s clearly some great information in there that helps inform how we can get better at search engine optimisation, it does broadly align with the core message that Google’s been sending out for years now – we should be focussed on creating high quality, useful content that is interesting to our users. This means that, no matter what else, we’ll be well placed to react to new shifts in Google’s algorithm.

In the meantime, we should be testing out the key ideas the leak has suggested, to see the impact they have on search results – and what can give us the edge. We’ll share what we find along the way!

Need help?

Want to know more about how your site can more traffic from search engines? Get in touch and we can talk you through how you can improve.

Google To Start Using Page Speed for Mobile Rankings

Posted on January 18, 2018 by Simon

Is your website on the slow side? From July 2018, load speed will start affecting a page’s ranking on Google’s mobile search results.

Only the slowest loading pages will be initially targeted, but Google says there is no way to determine whether a page is affected by this change.

Their webmasters’ blog did say: ‘We encourage developers to think broadly about how performance affects a user’s experience of their page and to consider a variety of user experience metrics’.

If you think your website could be affected, we can benchmark your site and, if there are problems, suggest different ways it can be sped up. Give us a call if you’d like our help

To start off, you can get an idea of how fast your website performs using Google’s Page Speed Insight tool.

Google confirms site quality matters

Posted on February 25, 2017 by Simon

So on a Google Webmaster hangout that took place yesterday, John Mueller (a Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google) talked about site quality and architecture, specifically whether the Panda algorithm took these into account when evaluating pages.

When asked if Google takes site architecture into account and if improving the site categories would make a difference to search engine performance, John said:

“We see (Panda) as something that is more like a general quality evaluation of the website that takes into account everything around the site…That is something where, if we find issues across the site where we think this essentially affects the quality of the web site overall, then that is something that might be taken into account there”

You can watch the hangout here:

Whilst, as far as statements go, this is a little woolly, it does go some way to confirming that Google’s looking at a far broader set of factors than most companies typically focus on – and that investing time getting your site architecture and categorisation right upfront will pay dividends in the long term.

Google moves to mobile-first: What it means to you

Posted on November 20, 2016 by Simon

Toward the end of 2014, Google caused chaos by announcing that, from 21st April 2015, it would introduce a change to its search algorithm that would penalise website that weren’t mobile friendly when showing mobile search results.

The change was swiftly named ‘Mobilegeddon’ and led to many companies rushing to change their websites to meet Googles new rules.

Well, a couple of weeks ago, Google let slip another announcement.

This time, they’ve said that Google will soon prioritise mobile websites as the primary source of information for their search index.

What does that mean?

Google works out who to show in search results by ‘spidering’ the Internet – following each link within a website and seeing where it leads and, as a result, building up a picture of the whole web.

Until now, Google has always done this by browsing around at the full version of websites. What Google is now saying is it will now also browse using a smartphone – and treat those results completely separately – using them as its primary source of information for decision making for the Google search index.

This is significant because some mobile versions of websites don’t include some of the pages on the main site, or they hide some sections of the page to make them easier to read on a phone.

Why ANOTHER algorithm change?

There’s a really good reason for this change. The percentage of people browsing the Internet on their mobiles has exploded over the last few years – to the point where most people now are browsing the Internet on their phones.

As it stands at the moment, it’s possible that users might see a snippet of content on a Google search results page, that might not be there when they actually click through to the mobile site.

By updating it’s index to look at and evaluate the quality of the mobile versions of websites, Google is basically looking to make sure that it’s search results reflect the needs of the majority of it’s users.

When is this going to happen?

Basically, this change has already started happening.

Google are testing the effects now and as they become more confident in things working as they want, they’ll start to roll it out more widely. They expect the whole process to take a few months.

What’s does this mean for me?

If you’ve got a responsive mobile friendly website where the markup is the same across the desktop and mobile versions (& if you’re a Curious client, this will be the case for you), you won’t need to change anything.

Google will likely see your site in exactly the same way, as it does now.

However, if you have a separate mobile site, that is different than your desktop site, then you should start to think about making changes to your website.

Very often, a separate mobile site will contain a subset of pages of the main site; it might hide certain bits of content – in particular sidebars that include additional links; or it could exclude some of the metadata – the technical information about the website that sits within the HTML.

An example of schema metadata within a website

In this case, you’re likely to find that over the next few months, the effectiveness of your website in attracting traffic from search engines, starts to reduce – particularly for those searching on mobiles.

If you do have a separate mobile site, the key things to focus on are making sure all content is available when browsing with a smartphone and that any structured markup is present on both the desktop and mobile versions.

If you find you need to make changes though, the most important thing is DON’T RUSH.

Google will continue to index desktop sites and it’s better to have a working desktop site than a broken or incomplete mobile version!

Is your website ready for a separate mobile index?

For advice on how to prepare your site for the change to Google’s index, or how we can help you better optimise your site for mobile, get in touch. Call us on 0330 010 9000, or just fill in this form.

Are you ready for Penguin 4?

Posted on July 24, 2016 by Simon

UPDATE: Google announced that the Penguin update went live on Friday 23rd Sept, and that Penguin is now real time and has been incorporated into its main algorithm.

In October last year Gary Illyes, a trends analyst that works at Google, let slip that a new Penguin update would appear in 2015. It never arrived – but all the evidence points that it’s still on its way.

This is good news for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) companies and marketeers that are optimising their websites for search engines the ‘right way’ (basically, following Google’s Webmaster Guidelines). For those that have been taking a more unethical approach to SEO though, the news might not be so welcome!

What Is Google Penguin 4?

Back in April 2012 Google made an update to it’s algorithm that it named ‘Penguin’. It was designed to identify websites that were spamming it’s search results by buying links (or getting links through link networks created to boost search engine rankings).

It had an immediate and significant effect. Sites that weren’t playing by the rules suddenly disappeared from search results, and many websites were notified of manual penalties that had been applied to their search engine rankings – either demoting them many pages down, or removing them entirely.

Inter flora Search Performance — Interflora were one of the larger names hit by the first Penguin update: their search traffic fell to pretty much nothing overnight.

Since then, there have been a number of further ‘Penguin’ updates made. Each time the there are significant changes to the search results – with generally, the sites that are approaching their marketing fairly seeing positive results and those trying to game the system being negatively impacted.

Penguin 4 is the name that’s been given to the next big update that’s will focus on combatting ‘spammy’ linking.

With Penguin 4 changes become real time

Each time a new Penguin Update gets released, websites previously penalised that have worked to remove bad links (for instance through the Google disavow links tool) can regain rankings and, equally, sites that have not previously caught might get trapped.

The downside of this, is that it takes a fairly long time for the effect of changes to a website (whether positive or negative) to reflect in search results. Sites that have been penalised (whether fairly or unfairly) have to wait a long time before they can recover, and some companies are still finding quick wins by using spammy techniques in the gaps between updates.

Penguin 4 is rumoured to look to address these problems by introducing a real-time element to the algorithm – effectively meaning that the Penguin portion of the algorithm will always be “on” and updating, processing information about new links in real time and making adjustments accordingly.

This should mean that Google will catch spam link profiles more quickly and allow companies that have identified and resolved issues to recover faster.

When’s Penguin 4 coming?

Well, we’re still waiting right now, but the signs are its imminent.

After the news broke last year that Penguin 4 was coming, the SEO community, have been watching carefully for the effect of it hitting. After being questioned when Penguin 4 didn’t appear in 2015, Gary Illyes reported in January that we were “weeks away” from seeing the next iteration.

@mrjamiedodd I'll go with weeks. We're aiming for launching penguin this quarter, but we don't have a more precise timeframe.

— Gary 鯨理／경리 Illyes (so official, trust me) (@methode) January 19, 2016

However as of today, there’s still no sign and Google have confirmed it’s not live yet. Gary’s said he’s now not giving out any more dates for fear of being wrong should it be missed again because it’s not quite ready.

Why the delay? Well, we’re not sure, but the general consensus is it looks like Google’s taking it’s time to get it right – which, given the wide ranging effect these updates have, is a good thing!

What does this mean for me?

If you run a website, you might be wondering what a real-time Penguin algorithm means for you, or what you should be doing to prepare for the update.

Firstly, if you’re not already doing it, rather than trying to game search engines, focus on creating quality content. Earn links and don’t buy them. Focus on providing the best user experience you can and, rather than fixating on your rankings, allow them to improve naturally.

Secondly, it’s worth making sure that there aren’t any problems with the links that you’ve already got pointed towards your website (and if you’ve ever purchased links on Fiverr or have engaged the services of someone who emailed offering cheap SEO services – this is ‘must do’).

Checking and cleaning backlinks

Making sure that the links to your website from other sites across the Internet aren’t going to cause you a problem is fairly straightforward:

1. Create a comprehensive list of backlinks

There are lots of tools available on the web to help with this, but it’s worth using as many sources as possible to get a comprehensive list and then de-duping. Google Search Console is a great place to start, but Majestic.com, Open Site Explorer and Ahrefs.com are pretty good too.

2. Look for patterns

Once you’ve got your list of links look for indicators that unnatural practices have been used. This could be the same Anchor Text repeatedly used, similar dates that backlinks were created, or the same IP address being used.

3. Remove or Disavow suspect links

If there are websites that are suspect, its time to remove them. It might sound painful, but it’s better to remove low quality links before anything happens, rather than after you’re penalised.

Start off by asking site owners to remove or ‘nofollow’ the links, sending messages via the sites’ contact forms or their registered owner (you can find this out through Whois).

After you’ve done this, you can use Google Search Console to disavow those that remain.

If you’re concerned about your site being impacted and want some expert help, get in touch. We’ve got tons of experience with helping companies that have run into trouble and can give you clear advice and assistance to get things fixed quickly.