Surviving the big Google Slap

Hello again! Well, I don't know about you, but I've been hearing a lot about getting slapped by Google lately, and feeling a bit concerned, I decided to look into this further...to learn what I can, so I don't end up slapped.

So here's what I've found. Basically, you have to learn to give Google what they want, and what they want is changing lately. Google is facing competition too. Let's face it, the internet and our options online are growing. Google isn't the only search engine out there any more, and they want to maintain that position they have had at the top. So to do that, they are looking for high-quality and great content.

When someone does a search on Google, Google wants that person to find exactly what they were looking for. That means that if you have placed an ad for say Jennie Craig products, and then when someone clicks on your site, they're taken to a site promoting an MLM deal instead, Google is going to slap you.

Reasons for Getting Slapped

But it goes a bit further than that. Here's what I found... These are a few reasons Google will slap you:

>Using PLR (private label rights) content as your main content on your site
>Having cookie-cutter landing pages
>Pages with just affiliate links and little content
>If your ad misrepresents the content of the site to where you direct someone

PLR content is great! It makes it convenient for you to keep up your blogs and articles when you have no time to write them yourself, but consider that you are not the only one purchasing that article. Then all of you who have purchased that article are posting it, and Google sees this as unnecessary duplication and slaps you.

The same with the cookie-cutter landing pages. When too many of you buy into the same company and you all have the same landing pages, again, Google will begin to see these as duplicates and will begin to slap you.

On the other hand, Google loves great content! Give them plenty of this, and they will love you, and you will begin to rank higher. Give them little content and only pages with ad links, and they will slap you.

Your Google Ranking

Begin to see the picture? If you want to rank with Google, you need to learn to play by Google's rules.

This is good news for those of you who are busy putting out all your great original content! Keep it up! The more the better. If you have a great blog and let it go, you'll slip in rankings. But the more content and the more active you are, the higher you will rank.

You can also help your rankings by using consistent key words. In other words, be sure to tag your articles, blogs, videos with key words that are also throughout your article and blog. Make it consistent, so that when someone searches on that key word, they find those words not only in your title, but in the content of your blog or article also.

Too many Different Key Words

But don't use too many different key words for one landing page. Instead, use highly targeted key words and only a few of them for different landing pages. Too many key words going into the same site will be seen as redundant to Google.

And Google can't see text in graphics, so be sure to include text along with your videos and graphics.

Recouping from a Slap

If you've been slapped, copy all your ad groups from your old campaign into a new campaign and work through all your problems and begin a new campaign. If this doesn't work, get rid of all the keywords causing you problems and start a new campaign without those key words.

IF you're still having problems (probably not though), download the keywords in your ad groups and go through them with a fine-toothed comb identifying any problems, and then set up a new campaign.

IF all else fails, you may need a new adwords account and start a new campaign.

IF all this fails, get a new domain (if you need a new one built for you, here is a great site that will provide you with plenty of optimizations and prevent you from being slapped again) and start over.

So...give Google what they want... Be sure to provide plenty of original content and don't overload your ad group with too many different key words. I hope this has helped, and that you now feel encouraged to go out there and start producing great content and lots of it!

To your success,

Thea