Negative SEO Attack - Recognizing and Defending

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Negative SEO refers to search engine optimization that, contrary to expectations, harms your online visibility. Instead of moving towards the top positions in search results, it results in decreased visibility or, in the worst case, penalties that may lead to removal from the index. Negative SEO or SEO attacks are sometimes used by competitors to weaken the rankings of their rivals and gain an advantage. While SEO attacks are illegal, they are unfortunately challenging to trace. Signs that your website is affected by negative SEO include new articles being non-indexable, deteriorating rankings, or bots attempting to manipulate session duration and other metrics. Is your web presence suffering from negative SEO effects? Contact us now at Contact. We are eager to plan the first steps with you.
 

Negative SEO Attacks – Diverse and Varied

There are numerous ways to attack a website and cause long-term damage. One of the most common methods is through the spamming of low-quality backlinks. These are intentionally placed from directories or link farms and quickly result in a deteriorated ranking. This method not only involves the creation of spammy links but also often utilizes poor anchor texts (naming of the link) that appear unnatural, leading Google to devalue the website. Content spam is another method to attack competitors. In this attack, poor-quality content is mixed with the original content, creating a blend of duplicate and bad content posted online. This causes a loss of visibility for your own articles. Websites also increasingly face hacking attacks. The goal of these attacks is to contribute to a lower ranking through targeted on-page manipulation. Examples include installing malware, placing backlinks to harmful websites, or requesting NoFollow or NoIndex. 
 

Real-Life Example of a Negative SEO Attack and Its Resolution

In early July, we were confronted with a negative SEO attack on a client. This became apparent when the client lost position for their main keyword, while still maintaining excellent top 10 positions for keyword combinations.

Since there were no significant changes on the website, suspicion quickly turned to the backlinks. We had previously warned about identifying bad linkages.

As part of our Link Risk Management, we closely examined the backlinks. 


The graphic illustrates the calculated DETOX score for the backlinks of the client's domain and how it changed within a week. A score of approximately 1000 or higher indicates high vulnerability to Google penalties.

Within just one week, the number of toxic backlinks increased. At this point, we engaged in a manual Link Audit. In a Link Audit, each link is thoroughly examined, and the website had approximately 777,000 backlinks.

When we were about to upload the disavow file in the Search Console, we conducted another check with LinkResearchTools NG, where we are one of the few alpha testers. Surprisingly, we found even more links that were harmful.

We set up Link Alerts for the client and their domains, allowing us to be informed about new backlinks – a part of our service within Link Risk Management.

During the assessment of the links, we received over 100 new backlinks daily – almost all of poor quality, mainly focused on the brand or keyword (a clear example of the effectiveness of the Realtime Penguin algorithm in penalizing the site for the specific keyword).

In the disavowal process, 51% of the backlinks were disavowed (via Google Disavow), and then we requested Google to recrawl all the bad links using DETOX Boost. This quickly corrected the ranking calculation for the client.

Within 5 days after devaluing the bad links, the website improved for many keywords, in some cases by up to 43 positions. The major keyword returned to position 5 five days after the devaluation.

However, the client is not completely safe from further negative SEO attacks. On the contrary, ongoing evaluation and potential devaluation of new links are necessary.

Such attacks underscore the importance of investing in Link Risk Management.

Christoph Cemper from LinkResearchTools interviewed me on this topic:

(Interview Christoph Cemper, Founder Link Research Tools with Ralf Seybold, LRT Certified Xpert)
 

Negative SEO Backlinks

Low-quality Backlinks Do More Harm Than Good

Before taking on off-page optimization as a site owner, it's crucial to know how to build backlinks correctly. Ranking of the website deteriorates rapidly with a large number of low-quality backlinks. Therefore, it's essential to build backlinks carefully and gather information beforehand. First, it's important to understand what a backlink is. It is a link from one website to another. Google introduced this ranking factor early on and treats a backlink as a kind of recommendation. The Google Search Console is a tool that helps gain an overview of existing backlinks. There, one can identify spammy links and devalue them using the Disavow Tool. Caution: the Disavow Tool is a powerful tool and should be used judiciously.
 

Broken Links – How to Get Rid of Them

Negative SEO signals, which the competition typically has no control over, are so-called Broken Links. These refer to defective internal links that lead to nowhere. Instead of strengthening specific subpages, the power flows into emptiness, resulting in a loss of potential. Tools like Sitebulb or SEMrush can easily identify broken links on the website. These can be repaired easily to harness the full potential. It's recommended to regularly check the website for broken links. After fixing the broken internal links, one can expect better rankings in the long run.
 

 

Distinguishing Negative SEO from Penalties – Workshop by Ralf Seybold on Semrush

Distinguishing negative SEO from penalties is crucial. Learn how to recognize and eliminate negative SEO in the workshop by Ralf Seybold with Semrush:
 

 


Join Ralf Seybold in our first hands-on webinar, an open discussion on Backlinks and Negative SEO.

This practical webinar is free. All SEMrush webinars are complimentary, entirely practical, showcasing real cases, and light on theory. You'll learn live—because that's crucial to us.

Experiencing a drop in rankings for a specific keyword? Is your entire website losing visibility on Google? While many professionals may initially attribute it to on-page issues and poor content, the reality often involves bad links and toxic backlinks. In some cases, targeted attacks, known as Negative SEO, by competitors could be responsible for ranking losses. Rest assured, you won't leave this hands-on webinar empty-handed. You'll also have the opportunity to directly ask Ralf questions! Learn: What makes a good backlink? What defines a bad one? And how to distinguish between them? Understand the impact of penalties and why a ranking loss isn't always a result of Negative SEO. If you suspect Negative SEO or want to be equipped to handle ranking losses, this webinar is for you.

Ralf Seybold will guide you on recognizing Negative SEO and penalties, identifying links disliked by Google, and using SEMrush Backlink Audit to detect and eliminate these links. Ralf Seybold is a renowned visibility expert and specializes in resolving Google penalties and Negative SEO.

TRY SEMRUSH FREE FOR 14 DAYS

 

What to do if your website has already been penalized?

Already facing a Google penalty? You might be wondering if the negative effects can be reversed. After devaluing bad backlinks, a ranking improvement can happen quickly, but in some cases, it might take a few months. Suspect you've fallen victim to a Negative SEO attack? Seybold is here to help. Contact us now for expert advice. 
 

The ultimate guide: Recognizing and defending against Negative SEO attacks


Is your website suddenly losing positions in search results or becoming untraceable? You might be a victim of a Negative SEO attack—a trend in recent years. 
Detected early, a Negative SEO attack can be swiftly and successfully eliminated. 
Ralf Seybold's e-book illustrates what Negative SEO attacks look like. It also serves as a guide to removing unwanted links, featuring methods with Ahrefs, CognitiveSEO, LinkResearchTools, SEMrush, and Xovi.  


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Links are and remain the most important factor in Google ranking. Relevant links greatly help a site in positioning. Bad links, on the other hand, can negatively impact entire websites, resulting in fewer visitors to the company's site. This ultimately leads to a Google Penalty. 
A manual link Audit helps demonstrate to Google that everything possible is being done to remove links from malware-infected or hacked sites. 

For penalized sites, a link audit can help recover top positions in Google within a few days. 

Negative SEO costs domains, revenues, and ultimately jobs. That's why it's necessary to conduct regular link audits as part of link risk management. Within such an audit, bad links are identified and declared invalid to Google. 

Negative SEO Attacks: Recognize and eliminate is your little helper in identifying, evaluating, and eliminating unwanted links to your valuable website.