3 Simple Checks to Detect Spammy Site to Avoid Getting Links From

The quality of links which you have to accumulate is getting more and more crucial nowadays, especially with the constant algorithm updates implemented by Google. If you just go around picking up links from various sites without even checking their credibility as well as relevance towards your site, then without doubt yours could be a sorry member of the Google blacklist group.

Every ethical SEO specialist knows well how great the impact of quality as well as spammy links will be. However, it is better to not just left the task to them, as there are several things you can do to check out the quality of links you are getting, along with the credibility of the sites you are getting links from.

Where should you acquire your links from?

This question is what bothers most site owners at times. While there are millions of websites in existence, that doesn't mean you can just go around getting links from them. After all, who would want links from porn, gambling or viagra sites for their business?

Right before embarking on a link building quest, it is a best thing to know which telltale signs to figure out from a spammy website. Though they might be just some simple checks, it could still proved very helpful particularly if the reputation of your business is at stake.

How exactly can you perform such validity check?

Spotting a spammy website can be easily done if you know which factors to consider. Here are 3 simple checks that could help you sort out spammy sites from the good ones.

1. Quality of the contents

Usually, a spammy site contains contents which could either be duplicate, repetitive or useless in nature. They are often termed as fluff and are used by these spam sites just for the sake of filling their pages. Basically, contents from a spammy site offer no value to its visitors and has no sense of attracting them to make them stay.

Other than this, you could also find out that a content from a spammy site usually repeats itself over and over again, without having any sense of what the whole idea is all about.

2. Keyword stuffing

Needless to say, keywords are the lifeblood of any SEO campaign. They are the ones which are used by the search engines as one of the major ranking factors for SEO. However, most websites abused the capabilities of the right keyword density and tend to spam it. This can usually be found within spammy sites in which keyword stuffing is dominant. Keyword stuffing, as what it is called, is basically the method of overusing keywords within a particular webpage which results in excessive repetition therefore terming the website as a spam.

For a spam check, you will have to figure out whether or not a particular webpage contains excessive keywords within its pages. These can usually be located within its contents in which the flow is usually irregular due to high keyword density, making it sound crappy and of a poor quality. A healthy keyword density is around 5%, that is, not more than 10 for a typical 500 word article and so on.

3. Take a look at the design

A professional and good-looking design is essential for branding and establishing an online presence. Other than that, it also helps in sorting out between a reputable website and a spammy one. A poorly designed website could be a telltale sign for you to avoid as it might possibly be a spammy one. Usually, it lacks the essential elements which include:

a. A high quality logo
b. Proper placement of the page elements (text, images, media)
c. Free themes without any customization
d. Unorganized contents

Without these elements, you can easily tell that a particular website is a good-for-nothing spam. Also, if you think about it, reputable websites take their time to improve their designs, not only because it helps them look more reputable but it also enhances engagement between their visitors as well. For a spammy website with a poorly designed appearance, they only exist not because they want to impress their visitors, but because they just want to play with the algorithms and eventually mess up with you once you end up linking to them.

In spotting a spammy website, it is a best thing to take your judgement ability to a whole new level. There are some websites which might not look spammy at first, but if given the time for a check, will eventually turn out to be one. By simply following these 3 simple spam checks, you can be able to steer clear of spammy links that could only hurt your rankings as well as save a lot of time and effort from such useless link building endeavors.

About the Author:
Rahul Makhija has been in the internet marketing industry for more than 6 years. For more information you can visit Harbor Internet Marketing. He is an expert on SEO & PPC tactics and in his free times likes to read and understand about human behavior.