You may have heard about Google Algorithm updates and how some websites have seen a significant drop in traffic. That may have been a result of negative SEO being implemented on those sites.

Negative SEO is real as we can see posted here by Barry Schwartz:



 "Bottom line, negative SEO is an issue. It is clear that it is an issue with the perception of negative SEO and I personally believe that negative SEO is an issue for Google's algorithms…"


Negative SEO can have a harmful impact on your business' website. Nowadays competitors are attacking higher ranking sites in order to get them to rank lower or removed from Google Index.

One tactic in negative SEO is when spammy links link to your website. Google considers any site that links to your site spammy if it's not related to your business. For example, if you're a car wash and a baseball card company links to your site. Generally, car washes do not conduct business similar to baseball card companies, thus it would appear to be a spammy link. Those types of links used to be done when black hat SEO was being conducted in order to boost a sites credibility. However, Google frowns upon black hat seo techniques and in order to be in compliance with Google's algorithm white hat seo techniques need to be applied.

What can you do about Negative SEO and your website?

Google Webmaster allows businesses to disavow links that link to their site. There are proper steps to take, though. For example, if you start disavowing every link it could actually harm your ranking in search engines. Thus, it is very important to know what you're doing when it comes to blocking links. As Matt Patel says:

"Law #1: Request removal first, disavow second
Here's the most important thing: Don't use the Disavow Tool unless you've tried to remove the link first.

 This is the only way you should go about things. First, try to remove the links by requesting removal from the "offending" webmasters. Once this has been attempted and proven unsuccessful, go through the disavow process…"

If you are considering disavowing links listen to what Matt Cutts from Google advises in this video.

In order to ensure your marketing techniques are in compliance with Google's algorithms it's crucial to know what search engines require or to hire a professional that knows how to comply and keeps up-to-date with changes in search engine algorithms. Contact Man vs SEO for professional help in building your business' online presence.