Over Optimization Penalty
The SEO world went into an uproar last spring when Cutts mentioned the possibility of an over-optimization penalty during a talk at the South x Southwest Conference. Google is very serious about taking on sites that engage in keyword stuffing, low quality content and paid link exchanges.
While there isn’t an official over-optimization penalty, the Penguin and Panda algorithm updates effectively function as one.
Web publishers need to stick closely to White Hat SEO such as quality content, organic link networks and plenty of social shares.
Bad Links
There’s been a lot of talk about links lately and especially the damage that could be done when a competitor points a bunch of spammy links at your sites. It’s called Negative SEO and there’s plenty of debate over how much it can actually hurt you.
Ben Goodsell over at SearchEngineWatch.com wrote a great blog on the subject titled, Understanding Negative SEO & How to Defend Your Website that covers all the different ways negative SEO can work. The Google Web Spam Team seems to think that actually executing an effective negative strategy would be difficult to execute.
If you think you’ve been the victim of this strategy, report it to Google right away.
Finally
A big part of staying ahead of Google penalties is keeping up with SEO news. Be certain to regularly read sites like SEOmoz, Quicksprout and, of course, CAP to keep up with the latest SEO news.
How do you stay ahead of Google penalties? Share your experiences with us on our SEO Forum.