We all know that Google is a Player’s Ball, and if you want to stay invited you have to play by the rules.
So why doesn’t the rap lyric website Rap Genius show up in Google results anymore? Why were they struck from the list? In short,
Why does Google have to hate?
As any P.I.M.P. will tell you, you have to stick to your established expectations if you hope to keep those bills rolling in. And Google’s rules on what it considers unnatural or spammy link building practices are pretty clear. Let’s take a listen to Google’s #1 Playa Hater, Matt Cutts, and his Dark Fantasy relating to unnatural link building:
The short version is this: step up in Google’s value and quality-focused grill, and you better Check Yo Self. Google’s got mad business to run here, and they’re not above getting rough to make everything go smoothly. Since Rap Genius was conducting some shady link building strategies, they were severely punished.
You might be thinking, is there any love in the Heart of the City (of Mountain View)? Will Google banish my domain if I tend to Act a Fool?
It’s possible, and Rap Genius is an example. Google can punish a domain in a number of ways, but outright banishment is pretty rare. Most often, domains with some behavior problems are usually flagged, notified, and required to complete lengthy and touchy disavow projects, which basically includes sifting through all of the domain’s backlinks and attempting to Hit Em Up.
These relatively high-profile exclusions could be a power play by Google, just to remind us that they have a Block Lockdown. So it’s best to
“Ackrite.”
Make sure your link building strategy focuses on natural links. Things like guest blogging, links from speaking events and news stories, and local listings are great, but once you start sending out mass invitations for submitting blog posts in exchange for a plug on Twitter like Rap Genius did, that’s when you start to run into trouble. And at the end of the day, as long as we’re stompin’ in our Air Force Ones on Google’s block, we have to play by their rules. And of course, it Ain’t Nothing But a G Thang, and Google is just trying to retain the quality of their search results (and the internet at large) in the long run.
And quality, as the Notorious Thugs at Google will tell you, is what leads to bigger return on investment because ultimately, It’s All About the Benjamins.
If you have any questions about the best SEO practices, you can find Clix in St. Louie, where we’d be happy to answer them, with or without all of the rap references.
