What is Spam Score and How to Reduce Spam Score of Website ?
Over 963K phishing sites were spotted globally in Q1 2024 alone.
It’s not a shocking figure, considering the rise in cyberattacks that has led search engines to become stricter about protecting users from malicious sites. This is where the relevance of your website’s spam score becomes crucial. But what exactly is a spam score, and how can you reduce it?
Understanding spam scores is essential for SEO. A higher spam score can negatively impact your site’s credibility, leading to lower rankings and even potential search engine penalties.
The good news is, you can take steps to lower your spam score and maintain a strong, trustworthy online presence. In this post, we’ll explore what spam scores are, why they matter in SEO, and provide actionable tips for reducing yours.
Decoding the Mystery: What is Spam Score?
Spam Score is the score given to a website, which determines its chances of being penalized by search engines like Google.
It’s calculated by Moz through 27 spam flags, each of which analyzes a certain feature of backlinks, domain authority, and link quality in general.
For example, if your website has several backlinks coming from spammy, unrelated, or low-authority domains, your spam score will likely increase.
A high spam score does not directly indicate a penalty for your website, but it acts like an alarm for the search engine, such as Google. Spam Score ranges from 0% to 100%, wherein:
- 0-30%: Low spam risk
- 31-60%: Medium spam risk
- 61-100%: High spam risk
A higher spam score means a higher chance of being flagged or penalized by search engines.
Why Does Spam Score Matter for SEO?
A high spam score can drastically change how well your website ranks within the search engines and all other online presences of your website. Here’s how:
- Lower Search Engine Rank: Google loves sites with clean, wholesome backlink profiles.
If your website contains backlinks from spammers’ websites or unrelated topics, then Google may delete your ranking, making it hard for people to find you.
- Google Penalty Risk: High spam scores increase your website’s risk of being detected by search engines, which could result in manual penalties.
In that case, the organic traffic may fall dramatically along with the website’s visibility.
- Loss of Credibility: Spammy backlinks will adversely impact your website’s reputation.
People won’t trust your business if your site links to low-quality and suspicious domains.
Consider for a moment an example of an e-store selling electronics. If your backlinks are from gambling or adult sites, then your store’s credibility as a genuine seller is compromised.
This may reduce traffic and sales because users will avoid clicking on your links.
How to Check Your Website’s Spam Score
Keeping an eye on your spam score can tell you when your SEO profile is no longer healthy. Here is how to check it and take all the right steps of “how to reduce spam score of website”:
1. Steps to Check Website Spam Score:
Access Spam Score Checker Moz: Go to Moz’s website and click on access to the tool called Spam Score Checker.
Enter your domain name: In this tool, enter your website’s domain name.
Analyze the Results: The tool will provide your spam score and highlight flagged issues. Pay attention to any high-risk backlinks or suspicious domains listed.
Another helpful tool is the Backlink Spam Checker, which can identify low-quality or toxic backlinks that might contribute to a high spam score.
2. Tools to Reduce Spam Score
Once you’ve identified any issues, your next steps can be working with various tools to bring necessary modifications:
- Spam Score Checker Moz: It will tell where the domain spam score stands and what amount of risk it has gone through.
- Google Link Disavowal Tool: This is aimed at letting you disavow the bad backlinks and telling Google not to consider them in your further SEO rating.
- Ahrefs/SEMrush: These tools will then give the solution for doing a deep backlink check and finding out the deadly links harming yours.
- Spam Link Checker by SmallSEOTools: This tool helps identify harmful links quickly, enabling you to act fast and reduce your spam score.
Using these tools, you can manage your website’s spam score proactively and ensure better SEO performance.
What is the Impact of Spam Score on SEO?
Although Moz’s spam score is an important indicator of potential issues in your backlink profile, it’s not a direct ranking factor for search algorithms. Google’s algorithms are complex and consider numerous factors when determining search rankings for websites, including:
- On-Page SEO: Optimization of content and HTML source code.
- Backlink Authority: Quality and relevance of inbound links.
- User Experience: Website usability, page load speed, and mobile-friendliness.
- Content Relevance: How well the content matches user search intent.
- Content Quality: Depth, originality, and accuracy of the content.
Google understands the value of backlinks and a strong backlink profile and has its own approach to assessing backlink quality. However, this does not mean Moz’s spam score is useless. The spam score is crucial for website owners and SEO professionals as it indicates potential issues in the website’s backlink profile.
While it may not be a direct ranking factor, the spam score helps you identify spam backlinks that could be damaging your site’s backlink profile. Since backlinks are an important ranking factor for Google, addressing spammy backlinks can improve your search ranking.
Thus, Moz’s Spam Score indirectly helps you maintain a healthy backlink profile, which in turn supports better search rankings.
27 Spam Signals Considered by Moz…
- Low Domain Authority: Websites with low domain authority scores.
- Few Inbound Links: Sites with very few inbound links.
- Heavy Use of Exact Match Anchor Text: Excessive use of exact match anchor text in backlinks.
- Low Quality Content: Sites with thin or low-quality content.
- High Number of Outbound Links: Pages with a high number of outbound links.
- Few Pages Found in Search Engines: Sites with very few indexed pages.
- High Ratio of Followed to No-Followed Domains: An unusually high ratio of followed links.
- Minimal or Nonexistent Contact Information: Lack of visible contact information.
- Large Number of External Links: Sites linking out to many external domains.
- High Percentage of Low Authority Links: A large percentage of backlinks from low authority sites.
- Exact Match Domain: Domains that exactly match highly commercial keywords.
- Heavy Use of AdSense or Other Ads: Overuse of ads, especially above the fold.
- Duplicate Content: Presence of duplicate or highly similar content.
- Low Quality Design: Poor or unprofessional website design.
- Short Domain Registration Length: Domains registered for short periods.
- Redirecting Domains: Use of domains that redirect to other sites.
- Suspicious TLD: Use of certain top-level domains (TLDs) that are commonly associated with spam.
- Low Quality Social Signals: Poor or low engagement on social media.
- Disallowed in Robots.txt: Blocking search engines in robots.txt.
- Domain Name Length: Very short or very long domain names.
- Low Number of Links from Different IPs: Links coming from a small number of IP addresses.
- Use of Subdomains: Heavy use of subdomains.
- High Number of Outbound Affiliate Links: Excessive outbound affiliate links.
- Domain Age: Newly registered domains.
- Thin Content on Multiple Pages: Multiple pages with thin content.
- Contact Page Absent or Thin: Poorly constructed or missing contact page.
- Keyword Stuffing: Over-optimization of keywords within content.
How to Reduce Spam Score of Website?
Now that we understand the importance of spam score and how to check it, let’s address the elephant in the room, which is ‘how to reduce spam score of website’.
1. Start by Checking Your Website’s Spam Score
The first step of ‘how to reduce spam score‘ is to rectify any problem by knowing where you stand. Use tools like Moz’s Spam Score Checker or backlink spam checkers to determine your website’s present spam score. These tools will analyze your website and highlight potential issues regarding harmful backlinks or spammy indications.
Example: Imagine your website has a spam score of 45%. This is a red flag, meaning you need immediate action to address the causes. Think of this like a health checkup: if your doctor says your cholesterol levels are a bit too high, you’d do something to lower them.
Similarly, using these tools regularly will help you monitor and reduce the spam score for your website.
2. Audit Your Backlink Profile Regularly
Backlinks are links to other websites pointing to your website. At the same time, they are great for search engine optimization; toxic backlinks from low-quality or spammy websites may hurt your site’s credibility.
Run a scan with a backlink checker to identify harmful links that exist.
Example: If your website sells eco-friendly products yet has backlinks to websites for gambling or adult content, then such links can certainly damage credibility. Search engines may think your website is not trustworthy.
What to Do:
- Manually remove toxic links: Contact those websites’ webmasters and request the removal of harmful links.
- Use Google’s Link Disavowal Tool: If it is impossible to manually remove toxic links, use this tool and instruct Google to ignore them while assessing your website.
3. Focus on Getting High-Quality Backlinks
Instead of seeking hundreds of backlinks, investing in links from influential websites within your industry is better. High-quality backlinks will help search engines identify your website as trustworthy and reputable.
Example: When it comes to eco-friendly products, one backlink from a trusted environmental blog holds greater value than several links from less relevant sites.
- Think of it this way: instead of having recommendations from random strangers, you have recommendations from well-known experts, which counts for more.
What to Do:
- To create quality backlinks, guest post on other trusted websites within your niche.
- Produce content worth sharing.
4. Improve Your Website’s Content Quality
Search engines love websites that provide value to users. If your content is low-quality, plagiarized, or stuffed with keywords, it can increase your spam score.
Example: If someone searches for “what is Google penalty list?” They want clear, actionable advice—not a page with keywords and vague sentences. By creating helpful content that answers your audience’s questions, you’ll not only lower spam score but also attract more visitors.
What to Do:
- Write original, useful, and engaging content.
- Focus on what your audience wants to know.
5. Be Careful with External Links
Regarding the question ‘how to reduce spam score of website,’ another solution is being careful with external links. The websites you link to can also affect your spam score.
If you link to websites with high spam scores or irrelevant content, search engines might also think your website is spammy.
Tip: Before linking to any website, use tools like Moz to check their spam score. If it’s high, avoid linking to them. Always ensure your outbound links add value to your readers.
6. Keep Your Website Updated
An old website can look untrustworthy in the eyes of both searchers and search engines. Having broken links, an old design, and old content can raise your spam score.
Example:
When, by clicking on a link to read more, a visitor ends on a broken page, it frustrates him. Similarly, search engines view broken links as evidence of negligence. Regularly maintaining all components reflects professionalism and ensures lower spam scores.
What to Do:
- Keep your website content and design fresh with an update.
- Repair broken links and speed up your site’s loading time.
7. Avoid Over-Optimizing Your Website
SEO is important, but overdoing it can harm your website. Practices like stuffing keywords into every sentence or using unnatural anchor text can raise your spam score.
Example:
Make your writing more dynamic by using phrases like “SEO improvement methods” or “effective SEO practices” instead of repeating “SEO Best Practices” throughout.
8. Stay Away from Black-Hat SEO Practices
Engaging in black hat SEO practices, such as using automated tools or buying backlinks, might offer temporary success but can harm your SEO efforts with penalties and increased spam scores.
What to Do:
- If you’ve used any black-hat tactics in the past, stop immediately. Audit your website to remove any traces of these practices.
- Focus on ethical, white-hat SEO techniques that improve your website long-term.
How to Prevent Spam Score Issues in the Future?
To prevent the question of “how to reduce spam score of website” in the future, you need to stay proactive and follow a few key practices.
1. Regularly Monitor Your Backlink Profile
Just like maintaining your health, regularly check your website’s backlinks. Here, tools such as Moz or Ahrefs can provide insight into the quality of links pointing to your site. If you see a lot of backlinks from unrelated or spammy websites, you can target those to be removed quickly.
2. Avoid Spammy SEO Practices
Avoid practices that may cause damage to your site’s reputation. For example, avoid purchasing backlinks or engaging in reciprocal linking. Such quick fixes may sound appealing; however, they will only raise your spam score long-term. Likewise, do not over-optimize your content by putting too many keywords into your pages.
3. Educate Your Team
If you work with others on your website’s SEO, make sure everyone understands the importance of a clean backlink profile and a well-optimized website. Educating your team can prevent mistakes that might lead to spam score problems.
4. Stay Updated with SEO Best Practices
SEO is constantly evolving. Google updates its guidelines often, so staying informed helps you adjust your strategy accordingly.
For example, what worked last year might not be effective today, so make sure you’re always using the latest techniques. By following these steps, you’ll know how to reduce spam score of website for future issues and keep your site in good shape.
Maintaining a Healthy SEO Profile: Lowering Your Spam Score for Better Website Performance
Understanding what is Spam Score and learning how to reduce spam score of website is critical for maintaining a strong online presence. Regularly checking your SEO Spam Score using tools like Moz Spam Score Checker and implementing best practices, such as removing toxic backlinks and improving content quality, can help protect your website from penalties.
Following the strategies outlined in this blog can lower spam score, improve your search engine rankings, and ensure a robust digital footprint. Don’t forget to monitor your website’s health regularly to stay ahead in the competitive SEO world.
FAQs related to Spam Score
A lower spam score is generally better. While there’s no definitive “good” score, a score below 5% is often considered acceptable. However, it’s essential to monitor your score regularly and take action if it starts to rise.
You can use tools like Moz Spam Score Checker, Google Search Console, or other SEO tools to check website spam scores.
A high spam score can be caused by several factors, including:Low-quality backlinks, Black-hat SEO tactics, Duplicate content, Keyword stuffing.
To lower your spam score, consider these strategies:- Disavow toxic backlinks,Create high-quality, original content, Build natural, organic backlinks, Improve website structure and user experience, Avoid black-hat SEO techniques
Acquiring good quality backlinks from reputed and relevant sites, writing valuable and original content, improving the user experience of your website, and then possibly correcting technical SEO issues can help improve your domain authority.
It’s recommended to monitor your spam score regularly, ideally monthly or after significant website changes, such as a large-scale content update or a link-building campaign.
A high spam score can negatively impact your website’s search engine rankings and organic traffic. Search engines may penalize your website, leading to lower visibility and fewer visitors.
Indeed, you can use tools such as Google’s Disavow Tool to manually remove or disavow bad backlinks, thus avoiding the possibility of them harming your spam score and your SEO endeavors.
A high spam score can negatively impact your domain authority. Search engines view websites with high spam scores as less trustworthy and authoritative, which can lead to lower rankings and reduced organic traffic.
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