{"id":4818,"date":"2023-05-01T08:51:08","date_gmt":"2023-05-01T08:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.searchberg.com\/blog\/?p=4818"},"modified":"2023-05-02T09:09:26","modified_gmt":"2023-05-02T09:09:26","slug":"cyber-security-issues-a-hidden-threat-to-your-seo-rankings-and-online-visibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.searchberg.com\/blog\/cyber-security-issues-a-hidden-threat-to-your-seo-rankings-and-online-visibility\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyber Security Issues: A Hidden Threat to Your SEO Rankings and Online Visibility"},"content":{"rendered":"

Online security breaches have become dangerously common in recent years. Did you know that they increased by a whopping 41% in 2022<\/u><\/a>? Tech giants like Target, Twitter, Apple, and Yahoo have been victims of cybercrime too<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, it isn\u2019t just big companies that are being targeted. Small businesses are actually more vulnerable, as statistics show that 46% of all security breaches<\/a>\u00a0affect businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees.<\/p>\n

In September 2022, hackers accessed and compromised<\/u><\/a>\u00a0around 35 million files from different companies, that included highly sensitive data and flagship assets. The consequences of such a breach can be devastating for any business, big or small.<\/p>\n

One particular area of concern is intellectual property theft, which has become a major part of the cybercrime ecosystem. In fact, companies in the US alone lose $600 billion every year<\/u><\/a>\u00a0due to IP theft.<\/p>\n

So, if you think cybersecurity isn\u2019t a big deal, think again.<\/p>\n

The stakes are high, and the potential consequences are dire. These security issues can cause financial and reputational damage to your business.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t where the story ends.<\/p>\n

Cybersecurity issues can impact your SEO performance too.<\/strong><\/p>\n

From a potential fall in ranking to website hacks, cybersecurity issues\u00a0can lead to spammy links that impact your pages\u2019 visibility\u2014and ultimately hinder your business\u2019 growth.<\/p>\n

This is why it\u2019s crucial to be proactive about website security to prevent malicious website exploitation<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a closer look at how cybersecurity is closely linked to your SEO performance and why you should devise an effective cybersecurity plan to rank higher in SERPs.<\/p>\n

Understanding the Relationship Between Cybersecurity Issues And Your SEO Performance<\/h2>\n

55% of US consumers<\/u><\/a>\u00a0are less likely to continue with a business that has experienced a \u00a0security breach.<\/p>\n

As a small business, increasing your credibility, reputation, and trustworthiness is one of the most essential<\/em>\u00a0rules for dominating Google SERPs and attracting more customers.<\/p>\n

How can you achieve that? By shielding your website from SEO spam attacks.<\/p>\n

Hackers use a range of ways to launch SEO spam attacks. One of the most common methods is inserting malicious links into your existing web pages or creating a new web page with spammy content and malicious links.<\/p>\n

The more well-protected your website is, the more robust your online presence will be.<\/p>\n

5 Ways CyberSecurity Issues Affect Your SEO Performance<\/h2>\n

1. ‘Unsafe’ Sites Can be Penalized by Search Engines<\/h3>\n

Robust website security is a major ranking factor<\/u><\/a>, especially since it helps websites gain a competitive edge. When creating the search ranking algorithm, every reputable search engine prioritizes site security and accounts for whether a connection is encrypted or not.<\/p>\n

The HTTPS<\/em>\u00a0at the beginning of your web address shows search engines that the connection to your website is encrypted, and users can browse it safely.<\/p>\n

To obtain an HTTPS connection, you will require an SSL certificate (Secure Sockets Layer) which provides authentication and privacy to Internet communication. With this encryption-based Internet security certificate, you can increase your click-through rate and foster brand trust.<\/p>\n

Without an HTTPS connection, your business will likely rank low on Google SERPs, and users may be hesitant about visiting your website.<\/p>\n

2. Crawling Errors<\/h3>\n

A major portion of website traffic comes from bots like scraper bots and spider bots. These bots scan the web to analyze and classify information to the index of the search engine.<\/p>\n

While these don\u2019t pose any security risk, it is believed that more than a quarter of web traffic is made of \u2018bad bots\u2019 instead of \u2018good bots.\u2019<\/p>\n

Bad bots serve a more nefarious purpose since they can be used within a wide botnet to deliver a <\/u>DDOS attack<\/u><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0against your organization. A DDOS obstructs the traffic of a targeted server, network, or service by flooding it with unwanted Internet traffic.<\/p>\n

This unwanted traffic from bots and spiders can also result in:<\/p>\n