Google has begun to roll out algorithm updates intended to remove hacked site spam from their search results. The goal of these updates is to help keep their searchers and users safe by removing these potentially harmful sites from their search results.
What are hackers looking to gain by compromising a site? Their goals include adding malware downloads to the site, sending traffic to low quality sites, promoting adult content and selling illegal products.
Google says that the update will eventually impact roughly 5% of queries. That's huge a number! Compare this to Penguin, one of the largest and most talked about Google updates in recent memory . Penguin impacted just 3% of searches. You definitely don't want your site to get hacked in the first place. You certainly don't want to be removed from Google's listings.
It's more important than ever to keep your site secure. There is a whole laundry list of things you can do to help keep your site secure. Below are five major tasks that will significantly improve your site's security. It's likely you could complete all of them within the next hour.
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Use secure login passwords
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Keep your software up to date
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Keep plugins and themes up to date and uninstall any you're not using
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Use captcha on login pages (and comment pages when applicable)
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Use Google Webmaster tools to be informed when Google suspects potential compromises on your site
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