What does Bad Neighborhood means?
Translated, Bad Neighborhood means “bad neighborhood”. As soon as a website violates the search engine guidelines, it is penalized by its PageRank dropping to zero. In the worst cases, it can lead to the website being removed from the search engine index. A bad neighborhood occurs when backlinks on such a website lead to your site. This can result in a lower ranking for your own website.
It is worse when a link on your own website leads to a Bad Neighborhood page. After all, with the backlink you are giving the reader a personal recommendation of a website that is not up to scratch. A PageRank of zero does not mean any danger in the first place, after all, every website starts at zero. Within just a few steps, a link checker tool can determine whether a questionable link profile exists and whether there is a need for action. To have a reputable website, individual link texts and high-quality link sources are a must.
How does a penalty come about?
As soon as Google penalizes a website, this does not always have to be for the same reason. The following measures could reflect the cause of black hat SEO:
Linkframing, paid links
Cloaking
Keyword Stuffing
Excessive spamming
How do I avoid a bad neighborhood?
As a first precaution, a regular analysis of the backlink profile should be carried out. As soon as abnormalities are detected, it is advantageous to pay attention to the following points:
Are there any dubious links on my website that I can remove myself immediately?
It is advisable to send a request to the site in question to remove an unwanted backlink from your own website.
If the backlink could not be removed with these two options and your website has already been removed from the search engine index, the next step is to submit a reconsideration request via Google. With a reconsideration request, the page is checked manually by Google. Hacker manipulations can also be detected in the process.
It requires a careful review and constant monitoring of all activities of your link partners in order not to jeopardize the website position through dubious backlinks.