How to Determine if Google Flags Your Website Pages as Spam
Have you noticed a lack of consistent traffic on your website? Maybe newly created, or even old, website pages are getting little to no action. This is an important indicator that Google’s algorithm is not pushing your content, but why? In most cases, it’s because Google has identified your website pages as spam. Being flagged can threaten your entire website’s ability to appear in search results. Just like with any problem, you can’t start solving it until you’ve effectively diagnosed it. In today’s article, we’ll explain why Google marks your pages as spam, how to identify the issue, and solutions to fix and prevent being flagged moving forward. Uncertain if some of your website’s pages have been marked as spam? Keep reading to find out our tactic to know for sure.
Reasons Why Google Marks Your Pages as Spam
Google marks certain web pages as spam for quality control. Google defines spam content as “web content designed to deceive users or manipulate our search systems in order to rank highly.” Pages must not violate Google’s content policies. Most websites only need to worry about the spam policy.
About every couple of months, Google releases a spam update that eliminates existing spam pages and prevents them from appearing in search results. As a search engine that people across the world rely on, it’s a priority for Google to ensure that their results are valuable. Results filled with spam pages containing malware or content created solely for the purpose of ranking leave users unsatisfied. Safe and valuable content appearing in search results ensures a pleasant experience for users, who can obtain the most relevant information before anything else. This has allowed Google to maintain its position as the internet’s top search engine.
How to Check if Your Pages Have Been Flagged as Spam
The key tool you’ll need to determine whether your website’s pages have been flagged as spam is Google Search Console. This tool is provided by Google completely free of charge and contains important information about your website’s search ranking, sitemaps, mobile-friendliness, and core web vitals.
Set up Google Search Console
Google Search Console is incredibly useful but also difficult to navigate for newcomers. It requires a complicated setup, but don’t abandon the tool out of confusion! The benefits of Google Search Console far outweigh the effort it takes to learn and make it work for you. If you have questions or need assistance setting up and using Google Search Console, Tactycs can help! Our team has worked with Google Search Console for years and it plays a vital role in creating successful, high-quality SEO content for our clients. Learn the ins and outs of GSC or let us take care of content for you — contact us!
How Google Search Console Shows Spam Pages
Google Search Console allows you to see which pages on your website are indexed. An indexed page is eligible to appear in search results, while an unindexed page won’t show up in these results. To check if your pages are indexed, click on the URL Inspection tab on the left and enter the URL you want reviewed.
Google will tell you whether or not the page is indexed. If it isn’t indexed, click on “REQUEST INDEXING.” If that doesn’t work and your page continues to come up unindexed, go back to the left-side menu and click on “Pages” under the “Indexing” drop-down.
When you scroll down, you should see a section titled “Why pages aren’t indexed.” There are many reasons pages do not get indexed, but the reasons that pertain to spam will state either “Page quality” or “Duplicate content” as the reasoning.
The next step would be to fix these pre-existing pages, but first, let’s check to see if your website has been flagged. A flagged website means your pages may not show up in searches at all, no matter how high-quality they are. This can be done in Google Search Console by heading to the left menu and scrolling down to “Security and Manual Actions.” Click on the “Manual Actions” tab. If your website is fine, you should see a message indicating no manual actions.
If there are manual actions that have been taken, follow this tutorial to learn when and how to request a re-evaluation from Google.
How to Fix Website Pages Marked as Spam
Once you’ve accurately identified which pages are considered spam, you can improve your search performance by editing the pages or your site as a whole. Here’s a list of what actions you should take to fix these pages:
Review Content Quality: Review the content flagged by Google and identify areas for improvement. Google prioritizes content that is relevant to the audience and matches the intent of the search. Remove instances of misleading or duplicate content that has been done before, and find a unique twist to make your content stand out. If the information is out of date, update it!
Analyze Links: When you embed links from outside of your website, they need to be from reputable and relevant sites. Remove any links that lead to spammy or malicious websites. Another factor to consider is your backlinks, which are outside links that lead to your own website. Use backlink analysis tools to identify harmful backlinks. You should disavow any links from low-quality websites.
Review Technical SEO: Some spam issues lie in technical mishaps with website SEO. Google prioritizes websites with fast loading times, not too many pop-ups, and a mobile-friendly interface. Correct these problems and fixing any 404 errors or broken links present on your website.
How to Prevent Future Pages from Being Flagged as Spam
Avoid Using AI for Content: Although Google says AI content is fine, we recommend you avoid it or at least enhance it. Google has become effective at identifying and flagging AI-written content. Google views AI-written content as low-quality, often resulting in indexing issues and an inability to rank high. More specifically, AI written content is created via previously written content which means if you use pure AI content then there is no unique value. Go with a hand-written approach for the best results.
No More Keyword Stuffing: Keyword stuffing refers to filling a page with keywords unnecessarily to help it rank higher. Google knows when websites are inserting keywords solely for ranking purposes and will flag it as spam. Instead of doing this, focus on using keywords naturally and in context. This involves finding the right content ideas that serve your keywords adequately.
Monitor Backlinks and Technical SEO: Backlinks and technical SEO issues can sneak up on you when you least expect it. Maintain your website’s health and credibility by staying on top of malicious backlinks and technical issues with Google Search Console and backlink analysis tools. Make it part of your routine to regularly audit backlinks and technical SEO.
