Introduction
In short, it is a metric designed by the company, Moz to determine the difference between worthy websites (those which are following the correct guidelines) and the untrustworthy websites. Now, that does not mean, if a website has become spammy, it means that there is no other option. Even if a website or blog has got a high spam score range, with relevant steps and following the guidelines, the owner can reduce the spam score.
The spam score range guidelines are as follows –
Usually, the grade is given on a scale of 0 to 17. In normal fashion, if the number increases, the pattern spells positive, but in this situation, the trend is negative. So, zero means trustworthy and 17 means the worst trend.
Disadvantages of Having High Spam Analysis Score
Now, what does it mean if your blog has a high spam score?
Well, if you have an own home, and your kids play music to a high pitch, rarely any neighbour will complain. The reason, it is your own home. But when it comes to your blog, it is necessary to keep a tab on the Domain Authority, Page Authority and Spam Score of the website. The reason, you need to network with other website owners, bloggers and digital marketers to gain a good page ranking not only from Moz but also from search engines. And if you want to gain backlinks to your blog from authoritative websites, definitely they will look into your spam score before making the next move. Also, digital marketers, content creators will never give a thumbs-up when it comes to making partnership with blogs having a high spam average score.
The reason, if your blog has a high spam score, then their rankings will suffer a hit or go down. Worse, you may receive a penalty from the search engines for following unwanted practices.
What Should You Know Regarding Spam Score?
If your blog has a score of 0 to 4, then it is low risk. And if the score comes between 5 and 7, it is medium risk, but the level above 8 can be marked as dangerous. Yet, that does not mean, every blog having high spam score has followed practices against the guidelines set by Google or Moz. It can also be that the owner unknowingly followed some steps that have put his /her blog in bad light. However, others viewing the same blog will have suspicion and they may lose valuable partnerships or getting good links from authoritative websites.
How To Check The Spam Score of a Website
It is very easy to check the spam score of a website or blog. There are various tools online to check the number for free. While there are some where you can check only one blog, there are others where you can check at least ten blogs at a single time.
websiteseochecker.com
moz.com/free-SEO-tools
prepostseo.com/domain-authority-checker
Along with the Spam Score, you will also get information on the Domain Authority and Page Authority in many websites. There are some tools where you can get even information on inbound links and outbound links, but in this article we will focus on Spam Score.
Spam Score Level of Pages
In addition, you can also get Spam Scores for every page. If your website is new, there are chances you can see a zero for your spam score. But yes, the Domain Authority and Page Authority will also have the number of 1. If your website has a score more than 8, then there are tools such as Open Site Explorer where upon a click, you will be able to see the details. Please note, as already mentioned, it is not down the hill for your blog in case of a high Spam Score. You just need to follow certain guidelines and rectify the errors such as removing spam score backlinks from other unwanted websites. It may take months, but yes, it is possible to reduce your spam score to zero.
Let us first see the details of Spam Score.
Let us see the general tips on reducing the spam score level for your website or blog.
A. Low Moz Score
For a general thought, when do you get low scores for your blog? When you do not have great backlinks from authoritative websites. If you can gain links from the mentioned blogs/websites, this problem is solved but the challenge is time. You need to have a proper strategy to gain backlinks from these sites or blogs.
If you have got backlinks from websites which are not trustworthy, then it is possible to gain a spam score. You can set this right by getting backlinks from authoritative sources and websites. It is a challenge, but consistency and practice can make your website get the best links as per your niche.
B. You Have A Large Blog But Very Few Links
Do you have a large blog but very less backlinks? Then this will give a sign that your content is of low quality or your blog contains info on low quality products. After all, not many websites want to link to a website containing rubbish.
Please note, if you start a blog, it is necessary to have a proper backlink gaining strategy.
C. Back Link Diversity Contains To Only A Few Blogs
You may have hundred good backlinks from three authoritative websites. Then your blog will gain a spam score. The reason, as per Moz, it is necessary to gain backlinks from various websites instead of a hundred links from a very few.
D. Do-Follow and No-Follow Links
Remember, in backlinks, there are two types. One is the do-follow links which can cause a change in rankings and no- follows which do not cause much of an impact. For a healthy website, you need to have a combination of both do- follows and no-follow links in the proper manner. The ratio can be in the rage of 70 percent do-follows and 30 percent no-follows.
Also, there is one important point. If you have a number of authoritative websites with no-follow link pointing to your blog, then it means untrust. So, your blog may suffer a hit, and it can get a greater spam score level for your website.
E. Less Number of Links
This is easy to understand. Let us imagine, an important event has happened in your native place, by name – ANZ. Now to make your website come up the rankings, you give anchor text to only the specific keywords containing the phrase ANZ. If you have followed this step, naturally, the search engines would have demoted your blog. The reason – there are many hyperlinks targeting a specific keyword or term. Yes, there is no ratio on the number of hyperlinks connected to a word, but the range comes between one to ten percent. When it comes to Moz, if the percentage of links concerning a specific keyword comes to more than five percent in a blog, then this tool will slap a Spam Score.
F. Thin Content & Other Factors Can Lead To A Spam Score of a Website
Yes, you have a blog which is a representation of your skills, company and more. It is necessary that the blog be filled with vital information and others. If you have thin content of less than three hundred words in your articles and very few titles, then it is of little use to the search engines. Please note, you need to have more content, topics with relevant articles pointing to your niche. Then you can gain a high score.
Also, note, you may contain big articles, but if the content is not of good quality, then it may result in a high spam score level for your blog or website.
G. Site Mark-up
If there is one point which has been the most debated, argued in Spam Score, it is Site Mark-up. Yes, the normal SEO guideline mentions to keep the text in the web pages relation to code ratio to below 25 percent. The reason, a very low code can result in a not-so-good experience for the search engines and visitors. So, the Spam Score.
You can also use CSS and Java Script to enhance the experience of a reader on your website.
H. External Links
Let us say, you have ten categories in your blog. Out of them, only two categories have external links pointing to a large number of websites. This situation is known as “Link Farm” and can give the impression of manipulation to search engines. Many a time, these links are usually paid links, and Google can penalize your blog.
I. Large Number of Anchor Text in Pages
Are you a blogger who wants to give large number of external links in few articles? This technique is followed to give another website a higher score in the Domain and Page Rankings. But this practice can make the search engines levy a high spam score for domain of your own.
Although, there is no specific rule regarding the number of anchor text in an article or a web page, it is easy to calculate based on the pulse of a reader. Will you like an article, if every line in the article has an anchor text? No, right? So, create a rule as per the requirement.
J. Internal Links
You may have various categories or niche type articles in your website. But it is wise to give sufficient number of internal links among the pages. In other links, the web pages should have links to each other.
A search engine can definitely give a high score to a blog which has followed a clear internal link strategy. The reason, the search robots or bots crawling is made easy.
There are some bloggers who have websites mainly for commercial purposes. They might be part of private blogger networks and will have low quality content. Yes, they will have external links to another website. Search engines will seldom trust a website where articles are not interlinked to each other.
Let us take an example. You are reading an article. The first sentence should connect with the next one. Then, you will gain interest in completing the article. OR else, you will skip to another article. Naturally, every search engine is interested in giving the reader make the best use of his/her time, and so the penalization.
K. External Links
This practice is seldom followed, and only a quack can do the job. If you want to gain money via your website, then set upon an advertisement where you give external links to other articles in every part of your online presence such as in footers/sidebars.
There are many who will not buy these links, but some can, provided if you allow a decent number of external links as no-follow. Does this title remind you of blog directories?
L. Contact Information
Every search engine will always trust a blog which has proper contact information and details on the owner. Not having this basic requirement means, the online presence is following a shady practice. You can give a registered email address and also put social media buttons on your website to give an authentic look.
M. Less Number of Pages
If you have a website, ensure you fill it with at least many URL that have valid content. Please do not have few web pages in your blog. Try to add at least four articles every month. If you have really less number of URLs even though the blog is a year old, then you can get a spam score.
N. Top Level Domain and Spam Score
Is your website or blog a sub-domain and linked to a top-level domain? Then you may get into trouble. If the Top Level Domain associates with spam score gaining activities, your website can get a spam score. So, it is always better to set up a website with an individual domain. You gain more flexibility and control.
O. Domain Length
Just have a look at the popular websites of e-commerce businesses. They will have a short catchy name where you can type without a spelling error. If the domain name is long and the people can forget the name or will find it too tiring to type the entire words. Also, if they make a mistake, then it will result in less traffic for your website.
If your website is concerned with a special niche, then it is wise to take SEO and other factors to account while settling for the domain name.
P. Numerals in Domain Name
It is the silliest way of getting a spam score but some persons vouch for this activity. If you have a numeral in your domain name, you can get a penalty although not of the serious variety.
Do not forget the fact many famous websites have numerals in their domain name.
Conclusion
So, we hope you have gained enough information from reading this article about spam score. Please follow the right practices and you can earn a good ranking for your online presence.