Google Penalties & How to Avoid Them - Part 2

Read Part 1 here.

6. Penalty for Spinning Articles and Web Content

Spinning content (using artificial intelligence to take one article and create numerous derivatives of it for more content) is frowned upon. Law firm marketers will tell you not to take the risk of spinning. Instead, use content writing services with real human writers.

7. Penalty for Link Exchanges

A typical link exchange involves you teaming up with another firm or company and agreeing to send each other links as a favor. The idea behind it is to add more SEO power to each of your websites without having to spend a lot of money. It used to work, however not so much anymore. It can be tempting to team up with other websites and offer each other links to your sites. This is a gray area, however. If Google notices you doing this, they will penalize you. It’s best to allow others to naturally link to you once they discover your site.

8. Penalty for Selling Links

Just as you can be penalized for bad links to your site, you can get in SEO trouble if you are associated with selling links from your site to others. Don’t agree to link to someone’s site for any compensation to avoid being penalized.

9. Penalty for Widgets with Backlinks

Widgets are pieces of software that appear as collapsible menus and tabs on your site. Because they have more levels of code than HTML, they can include links back to your own site. However, don’t fall into this temptation and you will avoid the hammer from Google.

10. Penalty for Overusing Directories

SEO directories are useful for linking to your site in official ways and boosting your lawyer advertising. However, don’t rely heavily on these. Using them too much can signal to Google that you have ulterior motives.