subject: Are You Linking To Bad Neighborhoods Online? [print this page] Someone recently asked me about my opinion of Google's "Bad Neighborhood Penalty." It's an interesting topic that anyone who has a website needs to be aware of, so I'm going to share some thoughts about this topic.
First of all, what is a "bad neighborhood" in Google's eyes? Essentially a bad neighborhood is online junk. Some examples are: spam sites, porn, viagra sites, gambling, viruses, etc. You will certainly know it when you see it.
By trading links with these types of sites, Google may think that you endorse these types of activities and they may penalize you.
You may be thinking, "That's fine, I don't link to spammers or porn". True, but do you have a blog? If so, the spammers could post links to their site in your blog comments.
Now if a viagra link or two ends up in your comments, will your blog get banned? Probably not. But it certainly won't help your site. Your readers won't be impressed either.
If you are running WordPress, sometimes the plugin authors will place links to spam sites in your footer. It's sneaky and sometimes you won't notice it. I've had it happen to me and sure enough the site got penalized.
The other type of spam is when your site gets hacked. This can and certainly does happen. When there is a hack, your site could get penalized while the hack gets resolved. Luckily, sites will go back up in rankings once everything is fixed.
The other type of "bad neighborhood" is your inbound links. This area is a bit controversial in the SEO world. Some people say that you can get as many links as you want as fast as you want. Others claim that Google will penalize you for getting too many links too fast, especially if they are from websites with a less than stellar reputation.
I've personally found that I've not had any problems with getting links too fast. Worst case scenario, Google won't give me much credit for the links.
In summary, build quality links to your site and create outbound links to quality sites as well. Keep your site secure and always moderate your comments. If you use WordPress plugins, check your footer occasionally to make sure there aren't any strange links. Do these tips and you will be ok with Google.
by: Carlos Scarpero
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