What Is Over Optimization?

robertman11 Level 2

April 9, 2012, 9:53 am

7

Write the reason you're deleting this FAQ

What Is Over Optimization?

What Is Over Optimization in SEO?

Comments

Please login or sign up to leave a comment

Join

huntinghack

Over Optimization happens when your website is considered "too good" by Google - either in terms of a sudden volume of backlinks, or because of heavy on-page optimization. In other words, if Google considers that your website optimization is beyond acceptable limits , your website will be red-flagged and automatically restricted or penalized.
There is a fine line between over optimization and spamming, and it is on this line that Google can appear to err. However, this is not a mistake by the search engine - in fact, Google calculates rankings by considering thousands and thousands of different factors - and a lot of importance is attached to average "trends" within the niche / keyword range that a website is optimizing for.

The bottom line is that over optimization is non-spamming search engine optimization that is misread by Google as being beyond acceptable limits, thus leading to a penalty in search engine rankings.

14 years ago

Are you sure you want to delete this post?

Corzhens

What do you think is the purpose of Google in checking a site for over optimization? What is wrong with too many backlinks, does it hurt Google and why would Google care about the excessive backlinks? Pardon me for asking those questions because I am really wondering why Google would penalize a site for keyword stuffing and excessive backlinks. What is the business or Google, is it still a search engine to give us information or is it an internet police now?

7 years ago

Are you sure you want to delete this post?

BestSeoCompany

Over Optimization has just been added to the list of â??donâ??t doâ??sâ?? by Google. I thought only black hat techniques were placed in this category but obviously now that is no longer the case. Even natural, white hat SEO now has a fine line that it cannot cross. That line is named just enough optimization.

14 years ago

Are you sure you want to delete this post?

idealmike

It's basically when you build too many backlinks to your site too quickly. Or if you build too many of one kind of links and not enough of the other. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is fine to do but do too much of it and you could get that sort of penalty from doing over optimization. If you are a follower of SEO trends and news, I'm sure you have heard about it. An article over at the Search Engine Land blog has the headline Google to Penalize Over SEO'd Websites. Before that, the Wall Street Journal published a report which basically stated that Google will slap your site if you focus too much on optimization and not on solid/relevant content. The word is now out: over-optimization is bad. You are going to get into a lot of trouble if you wade into it. At least as far as Google is concerned. We cannot say the same thing about Yahoo or Bing. These two smaller search engines almost have no voices when it comes to search engine optimization. It's not that they aren't relevant or anything. The obvious question now is what constitutes over-optimization? I think this is as simple as the difference between a natural optimization and a website trying to game Google. The latter I believe is what constitutes over-optimization. Gaming Google tactics like link exchanges, aggressive social bookmarking and keyword stuffing are I believe perfect examples of over-optimization. Let's just wait and see what happens once Google implements their newest algorithm change with RankBrain. One thing is for sure, if you are creating solid, relevant and valuable content and only high quality backlinks in a natural way you have nothing to worry about!

10 years ago

Are you sure you want to delete this post?

Corzhens

The way I understand the term regarding SEO capability of the site, over optimization is when you had done SEO work excessively like keyword stuffing and spreading too many backlinks on undesirable websites. When you say over optimized, it clearly means like you have been spamming your website with excessive SEO work. However, my question on the subject is this – what is wrong with an over optimized site? Will it be penalized by Google?

8 years ago

Are you sure you want to delete this post?

Process Time: 0.066336870193481

Possible Duplicate queries found!

Match	Count	SQL	Script
SELECT * FROM members_ledger WHERE ip = ? AND added>=unix_timestamp(NOW())-86400	1	SELECT querystring, added FROM members_ledger WHERE ip = ? AND added>=unix_timestamp(NOW())-86400	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/includes/security.php 398 fetchMemberLedger() include_once()
SELECT * FROM `questions` as q JOIN categories_faq as c ON q.catid=c.CATID WHERE (q.status=1 OR (q.status=2 AND userid='') ) AND q.quesid='322'	1	SELECT q.*, c.seo as CatSEO, c.name as CatName, c.parentid FROM `questions` as q JOIN categories_faq as c ON q.catid=c.CATID WHERE (q.status=1 OR (q.status=2 AND userid='') ) AND q.quesid='322'	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/viewfaq.php 496 () ()
SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='9'	1	SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='9'	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/includes/member.php 445 GetAllUserDetails() ()
SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID=9	1	SELECT googleplus_profile FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID=9	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/main.php 16914 GetGooglePlusProfileFromId() ()
SELECT * FROM ratings_faq as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=322 LIMIT 5	1	SELECT m.username FROM ratings_faq as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=322 LIMIT 5	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/main.php 17159 GetVoters() ()
SELECT * FROM answers a, seoclerks.members b WHERE a.quesid='322' AND a.userid=b.USERID and b.status='1' AND a.status=1 ORDER BY a.combined_votes DESC, a.date_answered asc	1	SELECT a.answer, a.USERID, a.upvotes, a.downvotes, a.ansid, a.parentid, a.combined_votes, a.date_answered, b.username, b.userlevel, b.profilepicture FROM answers a, seoclerks.members b WHERE a.quesid='322' AND a.userid=b.USERID and b.status='1' AND a.status=1 ORDER BY a.combined_votes DESC, a.date_answered asc	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/viewfaq.php 1245 () ()
SELECT * FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=1221 LIMIT 5	1	SELECT m.username FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=1221 LIMIT 5	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/main.php 17159 GetVoters() ()
SELECT * FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=182795 LIMIT 5	1	SELECT m.username FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=182795 LIMIT 5	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/main.php 17159 GetVoters() ()
SELECT * FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=1956 LIMIT 5	1	SELECT m.username FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=1956 LIMIT 5	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/main.php 17159 GetVoters() ()
SELECT * FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=39615 LIMIT 5	1	SELECT m.username FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=39615 LIMIT 5	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/main.php 17159 GetVoters() ()
SELECT * FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=159803 LIMIT 5	1	SELECT m.username FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=159803 LIMIT 5	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/main.php 17159 GetVoters() ()
UPDATE questions SET total_views = total_views + 1 WHERE quesid='322'	1	UPDATE questions SET total_views = total_views + 1 WHERE quesid='322'	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/main.php 1765 update_Faqviewcount() ()
SELECT * FROM questions WHERE quesid!='322' AND status='1' AND (question like '% Optimization?%' OR question like '%Optimization?%') -- ORDER BY RAND() LIMIT 15	1	SELECT quesid, question, seo, userid FROM questions WHERE quesid!='322' AND status='1' AND (question like '% Optimization?%' OR question like '%Optimization?%') -- ORDER BY RAND() LIMIT 15	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() ()
SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='19120' limit 1	1	SELECT profilepicture FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='19120' limit 1	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() insert_get_member_profilepicture()
SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='147' limit 1	1	SELECT profilepicture FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='147' limit 1	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() insert_get_member_profilepicture()
SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='12794' limit 1	1	SELECT profilepicture FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='12794' limit 1	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() insert_get_member_profilepicture()
SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='17031' limit 1	1	SELECT profilepicture FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='17031' limit 1	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() insert_get_member_profilepicture()
SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='18733' limit 1	1	SELECT profilepicture FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='18733' limit 1	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() insert_get_member_profilepicture()
SELECT * FROM members_ledger WHERE script='/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/viewfaq.php' AND querystring LIKE '%id=322%' AND added>=UNIX_TIMESTAMP(NOW())-1200 GROUP BY USERID	1	SELECT USERID, username FROM members_ledger WHERE script='/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/viewfaq.php' AND querystring LIKE '%id=322%' AND added>=UNIX_TIMESTAMP(NOW())-1200 GROUP BY USERID	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() ()
SELECT * FROM categories	1	SELECT * FROM categories	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() parseRedundantQueriesCache()
select * from categories_software order by name asc	1	select * from categories_software order by name asc	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() insert_GetSoftwareCategories()
select * from categories_wanttobuy order by name asc	1	select * from categories_wanttobuy order by name asc	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() insert_get_wantcategories()
select * from categories_wanttotrade order by name asc	1	select * from categories_wanttotrade order by name asc	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() insert_get_tradecategories()
SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='256.jpg'	1	SELECT profilepicture FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='256.jpg'	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() getUserProfileImage()
SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='600657.jpg'	1	SELECT profilepicture FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='600657.jpg'	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() getUserProfileImage()
SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='1152.jpg'	1	SELECT profilepicture FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='1152.jpg'	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() getUserProfileImage()
SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='272.jpg'	1	SELECT profilepicture FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='272.jpg'	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() getUserProfileImage()
select * from categories_faq order by name asc	1	select * from categories_faq order by name asc	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() insert_GetFaqCategories()

Invalid SQL

count(*)	sql1	error_msg

Expensive SQL

Tuning the following SQL could reduce the server load substantially

Load

Count

SQL

Max

Min

Suspicious SQL

The following SQL have high average execution times

Avg Time	Count	SQL	Max	Min
11.660559	1	SELECT A.*, C.username, C.profilepicture, C.userlevel, C.ratingcount, C.rating, C.lastlogin, C.ip, C.lip, C.profile_data from posts A, seoclerks.members C WHERE A.active=1 AND A.USERID=C.USERID AND A.sold_out=0 AND category IN (17,18,22,30,33,47,49,50,72,84) AND gtags like'%Custome%' AND type !=99 AND A.feat=0 AND A.catfeatured_upgrade=0 order by A.lastgigedit desc limit 0, 40	11.660559	11.660559
11.086774	1	SELECT A.*, C.username, C.profilepicture, C.userlevel, C.ratingcount, C.rating, C.lastlogin, C.ip, C.lip, C.profile_data from posts A, seoclerks.members C WHERE A.active=1 AND A.USERID=C.USERID AND A.sold_out=0 AND category IN (42,64,90) AND gtags like'%with%' AND type !=99 AND A.feat=0 AND A.catfeatured_upgrade=0 order by A.lastgigedit desc limit 0, 40	11.086774	11.086774
10.548764	1	SELECT A.*, C.username, C.profilepicture, C.userlevel, C.ratingcount, C.rating, C.lastlogin, C.ip, C.lip, C.profile_data from posts A, seoclerks.members C WHERE A.active=1 AND A.USERID=C.USERID AND A.sold_out=0 AND category IN (42,64,90) AND gtags like'%Bookmarking%' AND type !=99 AND A.feat=0 AND A.catfeatured_upgrade=0 order by A.lastgigedit desc limit 0, 40	10.548764	10.548764
0.558587	1	SELECT count(A.PID) as total from posts A , seoclerks.members C WHERE A.active=1 AND A.USERID=C.USERID AND A.sold_out=0 AND A.USERID=C.USERID AND category IN (42,64,90) AND gtags like'%illustrator%' AND type !=99	0.558587	0.558587
0.545001	1	SELECT A.*, C.username, C.profilepicture, C.userlevel, C.ratingcount, C.rating, C.lastlogin, C.ip, C.lip, C.profile_data from posts A, seoclerks.members C WHERE A.active=1 AND A.USERID=C.USERID AND A.sold_out=0 AND category IN (87) AND gtags like'%forumpost%' AND type !=99 AND A.feat=0 AND A.catfeatured_upgrade=0 order by A.lastgigedit desc limit 0, 40	0.545001	0.545001
0.489115	1	SELECT A.*, C.username, C.profilepicture, C.userlevel, C.ratingcount, C.rating, C.lastlogin, C.ip, C.lip, C.profile_data from posts A, seoclerks.members C WHERE A.active=1 AND A.USERID=C.USERID AND A.sold_out=0 AND category IN (48) AND gtags like'%Instant%' AND type !=99 AND A.feat=0 AND A.catfeatured_upgrade=0 order by A.lastgigedit desc limit 0, 40	0.489115	0.489115
0.472612	1	SELECT A.*, C.username, C.profilepicture, C.userlevel, C.ratingcount, C.rating, C.lastlogin, C.ip, C.lip, C.profile_data from posts A, seoclerks.members C WHERE A.active=1 AND A.USERID=C.USERID AND A.sold_out=0 AND category IN (22) AND gtags like'%Pbns%' AND type !=99 AND A.feat=0 AND A.catfeatured_upgrade=0 order by A.lastgigedit desc limit 0, 40	0.472612	0.472612
0.462955	1	SELECT A.*, C.username, C.profilepicture, C.userlevel, C.ratingcount, C.rating, C.lastlogin, C.ip, C.lip, C.profile_data from posts A, seoclerks.members C WHERE A.active=1 AND A.USERID=C.USERID AND A.sold_out=0 AND category IN (22) AND gtags like'%writing%' AND type !=99 AND A.feat=0 AND A.catfeatured_upgrade=0 order by A.lastgigedit desc limit 0, 40	0.462955	0.462955
0.455961	1	SELECT A.*, C.username, C.profilepicture, C.userlevel, C.ratingcount, C.rating, C.lastlogin, C.ip, C.lip, C.profile_data from posts A, seoclerks.members C WHERE A.active=1 AND A.USERID=C.USERID AND A.sold_out=0 AND category IN (51) AND gtags like'%MCexcel%' AND type !=99 AND A.feat=0 AND A.catfeatured_upgrade=0 order by A.lastgigedit desc limit 0, 40	0.455961	0.455961
0.324100	1	SELECT count(A.PID) as total from posts A , seoclerks.members C WHERE A.active=1 AND A.USERID=C.USERID AND A.sold_out=0 AND A.USERID=C.USERID AND category IN (48) AND gtags like'%Instant%' AND type !=99	0.324100	0.324100