The security of your website is one of the most important aspects that you should pay attention to given the rapidly growing number of cybercrimes .
One of the significant problems in the internet world is URL blacklisting. For security reasons, search engines and authorities blacklist suspicious website URLs and IP addresses.
Google blacklists about 10,000 website URLs every day, which is considered suspicious. This means that these sites are not safe for visitors. Google blacklists URLs to protect internet users.
In this article, you will learn a detailed description of the URL blacklist, how it happens, what is its impact, and how to protect yourself from it.
So, let’s begin!
URL Blacklist: what is it?
In short, URL blacklisting is the process by which search engines and other authorities like Google, Norton Safe Web, Bing, McAfee SiteAdvisor, etc., blacklist or remove the URL of a web -site from its respective index. They do it to find sites as potentially malicious, which can be in various forms, such as phishing schemes, Trojans, spam, and so on.
Thus, authorities and search engines prevent users from going to the site and notifying the site owner, thereby discouraging the malicious intent of the attacker.
How does a URL get blacklisted?
Search engines such as Google seek to offer their users a secure online service To achieve this goal, search engines and other security authorities are investing resources in detecting and labeling malicious websites that could pose potential online threats.
Since search engines never want to lose their users to infected websites that harm users’ computers, they do not show such sites in search results.
There are many reasons why a site might be blacklisted.
They can include:
- Phishing schemes
- Trojans
- Pharma hacks
- Web scraping
- Spam
- Downloading unwanted programs
- Insecure plugins or libraries
Thus, if a website is found with such vulnerabilities, the browser displays security warnings and informs visitors that the visit is unsafe. A warning, as shown below, may be displayed if the site contains malware.
However, many website owners have no idea that their website is at risk or has already been hacked. So how can you check if your site’s URL is blacklisted?
Is your site blacklisted?
You can perform various security checks to determine if your site is blacklisted or not. We recommend checking through a special service from Google.
Google Safe Browsing – Displays problems with your website, as well as whether it is blacklisted or not.
Check site traffic – there will be a rapid drop in traffic. You can use Google Analytics to check your site’s traffic, and if you notice any rapid decline, it could be a warning that your site might be blacklisted.
How does this affect business?
URL blacklisting can be really damaging to a business, both in terms of revenue and reputation. In fact, a website can lose around 95% of its organic search engine traffic. As a result, it directly affects sales as well as income.
Not only search engine traffic, but when users access your site manually, the browser displays warnings and that’s not good. Your potential customers will immediately leave your site and move elsewhere.
How can I avoid blacklisting a URL?
As they say:Prevention is better than cure
You must watch the security of the site.
Continuous updating
Outdated plugins, libraries and themes can leave your site vulnerable to potential threats. As a result, cybercriminals can easily use your website when they spot any loopholes.
Use a mechanism to automatically update the components of your site.
If you are using WordPress then you may want to consider using iThemes Sync , which allows you to centrally manage multiple websites. You can update hundreds of sites with one click.
Don’t use untrustworthy software
Try not to use software from untrustworthy developers. This is because by trying to get it for free, you are putting your site at risk in terms of its online security.
You can find many sites offering free themes and plugins. But it is always a wise decision to refrain from unreliable sources, because this can open doors for malicious acts.
Wherever possible, choose premium software and tools from trusted websites to keep your website secure.
Go to a reliable hosting platform
It is recommended that you choose a secure hosting platform that you can trust.
Finally, let’s take a look at some of the best tracking and site fixing services.
Manually monitoring your site and fixing it when it gets blacklisted can take a long time. Instead, you can seek help from trusted services that can monitor the security of your website as well as blacklist fixes. This way, you can save your time and invest in other important tasks that require your attention.
1. Sucuri
Sucuri is one of the most trusted platforms and security leaders when it comes to website security. With extensive industry security experience, they can quickly analyze what and how attackers are carrying out their intentions.
It can perform effective security checks to detect malware, spam, and other malicious activities to keep your site safe. And if your site gets blacklisted, it can fix it by the authorities as well, such as:
- Google Blacklist
- Norton Safe Browsing
- SpamHaus Blocked Domain List
- Yandex
- Bing Blacklist
- Phishing Buck
- ESET
- McAfee SiteAdvisor
- AVAST and much more …
Sucuri offers a wide range of website protection tools using the most advanced malware scanners for optimal security.
- Security Scanner
- Monitoring SSL / TLS Certificates
- Uptime and DNS Monitor
- SEO spam scanning
- Restore backup
- Cloud WAF
You can rely on Sucuri to protect your website from online vulnerabilities and fix it when blacklisted.
2. Astra
Astra offers top-notch services to combat hackers and other online threats. You can use its 360-degree real-time protection against malware, bots, hackers, SQLi, spam and more.
It offers security solutions for various platforms like WordPress, Magento, Drupal, Joomla, OpenCart, PrestaShop, etc. Their security solution includes hundreds of features.
3. SiteLock
One of the widely recognized web security providers, SiteLock , offers automated cybersecurity solutions to help companies counter malicious activity.
SiteLock offers a powerful yet affordable solution. Thanks to automatic fixes, you don’t have to worry about the security of your site.
4. MalCare
MalCare offers effective WordPress protection for website owners, developers and agencies.
It crawls your site efficiently on a dedicated server to reduce server load. If your website is blacklisted, MalCare can help you fix it quickly by leveraging its website network and detecting sophisticated threats in real time.
Conclusion
Cybercrime is growing rapidly and has a significant impact on businesses in terms of both revenue and reputation. URL blacklisting is one such factor that plagues businesses today. Thus, implementing website security is an important step.