When spam bots are mentioned, we typically think about the bad stuff they do, like defacing a website or posting content. But did you know that spambots can also affect your ranking? But to start with, what are spambots?
What are spambots?
Spambots are automated scripts, bots, or anything else that is designed to do one task over and over again. The most common spambot activity is posting spam or invalid content to web pages. This type of activity can not only be harmful to your website’s Google ranking but can also result in it getting marked as a malicious site and eventually banned by Google.
Even though there are many spam bots, we’ll focus on the ones that are the most common to web designers and owners of websites.
Spam Bots affecting ranking & SEO
Spambots can harm your website’s ranking and SEO. Here are ten ways:
1. Posting spam content
One of the most common activities of spambots is posting spam or invalid content to web pages on the internet. This type of activity can not only be harmful to your website’s Google ranking but can also result in it getting marked as a malicious site and eventually banned by Google. The spam content usually includes links to other websites, which not only benefits the spammer’s website(s) but can also harm your site’s ranking (if you allow them to link to your site).
2. Repetitive clicking of ads
Another type of behavior done by spambots is the repetitive clicking of ads. If a spambot clicks on the same ad repeatedly, this can damage your website’s ranking because Google usually gives preference to websites with “natural” traffic activity.
3. Defacing a website
Those who don’t know what defacing a website are means by changing content on your website without your permission. This could be as simple as changing the content on all of your pages, adding unwanted links to your website, or even taking your entire website offline.
4. Tampering with web forms
Spambots can affect your website by tampering with web forms, like the ones you use for contact or sign-up purposes. If a spambot fills out these forms with invalid information, it can result in your website getting blacklisted by email providers or even suspended from the internet.
5. Duplicate content
Duplicate content is another issue that spambots can create for your website. This happens when the same content is published on more than one page of your website. Not only does this harm your search engine ranking because Google can’t determine which page of your site is the best one, but it also confuses users who are attempting to find specific information about your products or services.
6. Spam comments on blogs
Some spambots can not only affect your website’s SEO strategy and ranking, but they can also affect other websites as well. These spambots aren’t only posting their links to your website, but they’re also posting comments with their links on blogs and forums around the web. By doing this, the spammer is not only taking up valuable space for people interested in reading legitimate comments or participating in discussions concerning a specific topic or blog post, but it also makes it difficult for other website owners to track down the spam bot and report them.
7. Direct linking to your site
Another activity spambots can engage in is directly linking their website to yours. This means that you’ll see a link to another site appear on your page, and it will usually be titled with something very similar or even same as what appears on your website if this has happened to you, then Google probably thinks that your website is just another spam site.
8. Site scraping
Another way spambots can affect your website is by site scraping. This occurs when a spambot takes content from your website and posts it independently without your permission. Not only does this harm your website’s ranking and SEO, but it can also result in you losing traffic and customers.
9. Crawling too frequently
Spambots can do that can be very harmful to your website’s SEO by crawling it too frequently. When a spambot crawls your website, it takes up valuable resources and can cause your website to crash or slow down significantly. This can not only lead to lost traffic but also lost customers.
10. Spam blog networks
Finally, spambots can affect your website’s ranking and SEO by creating spam blogs. These spam blogs usually link back to the spammer’s website or other spam bloggers’ websites and often use content from other popular websites. Not only can these spam blogs harm your search engine visibility, but they could also cause you to lose customers due to negative comments left on these blogs by the spambots themselves.
How can one spot Spambots?
Sometimes it can be difficult, but if your website’s traffic suddenly drops then, that could mean that you are the victim of spambots. However, there are some common signs to help determine whether or not spambots are targeting you.
They include:
- Your information is being posted on thousands of other websites
- You are having your email blacklisted by email providers
- Your web forms are rejecting legitimate users
- You are receiving tonnes of spam comments on your blog posts or forums every day
Final Thoughts
While spambots can be a nuisance and affect your website’s SEO and ranking in several, suppose there are some steps you can take to protect your website. These include using anti-spam plug-in or software, captcha codes, and regularly monitoring your website’s traffic to look for any sudden drops. By being proactive and using these measures, you can help protect your website from spam bots’ harmful effects.
