Spammy website dominating SERPs! Why!?
-
Hey guys,
I've recently noticed that a series of EMDs have been setup to completely spam an extensive set of keywords - and it seems to be working.
All of the URLs are keyword targeted with tons of keyword variations. And they're getting massive ranking preference over a number of more established websites.
These are just an example of some of the domains;
And then there's loads of local targeted domains such as;
Again, all of these are getting high ranking with what seems to be duplicated websites. It's pretty bizarre.
Will Google penalise these sites? Surely they will?
-
It really isn't that simple though, is it?
We're always at the mercy of Google's Algorithm and, unfortunately, the search engine is still in a certain state that it can still give preference to websites that don't have great content. In fact, websites with rubbish content.
-
I agree with EGOL, why focus on what these low-level spammers are doing, wouldnt it be better to focus on the BEST content you can create for that clients target customer and aim to make your client the BEST company in that industry?
Great Content = Great Traffic = Great Customers = Great Conversion = Great Profits = Great Client.....it really is that simple!
-
I agree with Irving, "It's just a matter of time until they get penalized." - lots hope its not that long.
Yes, this is it.
I read many of your posts on here, and if I was to ask you if I should do what they a have done with a site, I would guess you would say no - you need to create great content, lots of really great content and post it directly to your own site etc etc - right?
That is what I am doing every day on each of my sites.
For information sites I am trying to make the best page on the web for that topic.
For retail sites I have product pages that are about like everyone else's page - maybe a bit more wordy... but then I have lots of information pages that I try to make the best-on-the-web for that topic.
I attack everything with that method... and pay very little attention to the tricks that others are doing. It takes my eye off of the ball.
-
I don't think it is that simple.
They are a known scam out fit, operating under multiple names and ripping customers off. There are countless cases online of customers being scammed by using these sites. However, seemingly they create a new domain, and get ranked.
Thats fair enough, if they are able to do that they should be SEOs, however, its a clear scam, with replicated sites. Sites with no links, poor content and new domains - great SEO
And is that in-line with what is perceived to deliver rankings? Egol, I read many of your posts on here, and if I was to ask you if I should do what they a have done with a site, I would guess you would say no - you need to create great content, lots of really great content and post it directly to your own site etc etc - right?
So, how can a site, or rather multiple sites like this, with zero content, zero links (some have anchor text rich links from forums) and new registered domains, mostly on the same server, beat long established, big name companies in the UK (and no, not sites I have worked on) within days of registering a new domain, and then, not only stay there, but move up the rankings?
Its not that simple.
I agree with Irving, "It's just a matter of time until they get penalized." - lots hope its not that long.
-
I like Irving's answer... my initial impression is...
These are not EMDs. If you are not beating them then they have either earned their positions or you haven't.
I think it is that simple.
-
A further check reveals that the operators of these sites appear to be scam artists. I've checked and they own over 200 domains, many of them registered this year, all with similar EMDs.
There are also many many sites with customer reviews compalining about being scammed by them: http://www.reviewcentre.com/Kitchens-and-Bathrooms/Kitchen-Units-www-kitchenunits-co-reviews_1463360
So, is Google's algorithm really that advanced if these can operator and push out legitimate sites?
Should we all just become spammers in this case?
-
In terms of reporting them, I've noticed that Google only allows you to produce a spam complaint for one URL at a time. Is there a way to add multiple URLs?
-
Well, for one particular competitive keyword they've steadily been climbing from page two, one, and are now in position number three.
I know what you mean about the payday loan sector too. That search is even more spammy than this industry.
-
If you have only recently noticed them then i guess they are fairly new and exploiting their honeymoon preiod with search engines. As Irving says I am sure they will be penalised soon.
We work with a brand that operates within the UK Payday Loan sector and we see spam sites being created on a daily and hourly basis. Using several illegal methods to get links they tend to gain top rankings for a few days / a week before Google gets on top of them.
If you want to try and raise these to Googles attention prior to this you could file a spam report through Webmaster tools.
-
It's just a matter of time until they get penalized. I see same phone number, same content, i'm sure same server.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
List all keywords from a website per page in a table??
Hi all, Very basic question I know but strangely cannot find a solution to it? (its 20:40 on a Fri-night! 😉 ) I am working on a website that has over 100 pages and would like to see all the keywords associated with each page maybe in a table report of some kind? Is this at all possible? Heres an example URL KEYWORDS /index.html Moz, Moz local, London /aboutmoz.html Moz. Moz SEO, London and so on....
Search Behavior | | darrenbooy0 -
Re-Launching Old website with New SEO Friendly Features - What should I track?
Hey Mozers, I was brought on to the team to Optimize the old website to make it more SEO friendly and I was able to get some cool features up. What Analytic Key points should I keep track of? The website launches in 2 weeks and I think Now would be a great time to start gather data bout the old site. I'd like to make sure I keep the website under a microscope to make sure there are as little errors as possible. What am I missing I already have: Page Authority Domain Authority Bounce Rate Time on page Visitors/Sessions Unique Visitors/Sessions
Search Behavior | | rpaiva0 -
SERP with no "www"
I have noticed that Google SERP without login is showing the domains without " www " - all of them. Have you seen this too? What does it mean for us?
Search Behavior | | Elchanan0 -
All pages were returning 404 for an hour. Will it impact the SERPS?
Hi, Due to a bug in my website system, all the pages were returning an 404 default page for a period of 1 hour. Can this event impact the SERPs of this site? (the site is heavily visited, more than 500k users coming from google every day, so I assume google crawls my pages every moment)
Search Behavior | | lucasms0 -
How to optimize website for several US locations we service?
Hi, Our business has a few brick-and-mortar business locations, but it is servicing multiple big cities in the US, where we do not have a location, but we do business in though our independent agents (and we cannot use their locations).
Search Behavior | | SCLTeamShip
I have inherited the website, which has duplicate content for all the locations (cities and states), and I am worried about possible penalties. Every major city and state in the US has been targeted so far, but it seems pretty spammy to me- duplicate content, pages for all major US cities, pages for all states, etc. This is a B2C services website, and we can service anyone in the US. Example of pages: domain.com/services/service-from-x-city
and domain.com/services/service-from-x-state The goal is to rank locally for all the cities we are targeting. What on-page optimization should I work on besides unique content for each one? Should I consolidate some pages, and if yes, what do you recommend?
What overall strategies should I follow so I do not lose the traffic for the targeted cities?
Off-page, I am working on building local citations for these cities. Thank you.0 -
2 gallerys showing the same images on the one website
Hi, I was Just looking through some of our website and noticed that we have a slide show gallery and when you click on the image it loads onto a light box gallery. would this act a duplicate content as it shows in two different types of displays in the one place. Thanks again
Search Behavior | | Feily0 -
Spam like visits to website
I am having a problem where I'm getting an enormous amount of unique visitors that bounce from a small area in Oregon even though we never market there. It appears to be some type of ping. It messes up our tracking and inflates the bounce rate. Is there a way to block this? I'm OK with any type of block because our reach is statewide in Florida. ANy feedback?
Search Behavior | | marksierra0 -
Website coming up in omitted results for search term?
Hi, My website is coming up in omitted results for search term. Now I have heard before if this is the case then its mainly due to a duplicate content penalty. But the content I used is unique and produced by a copywriter so its good. Its a new site and was in the results for about 2 weeks, I changed the non www to www in webmaster tools 1 day ago and now its sitting in omitted results. In webmaster tools I had to add the domain twice one non www and one www. Both accounts I hooked up a sitemap. Is it just because the site is new and its just working out where to rank me? Just so you know the non www was indexed for the 2 weeks changed it in webmaster tools so I wanted the www one indexed and now gone into omitted results. Cheers
Search Behavior | | activitysuper0