About AnnWiens
Rank 771
314 followers Joined February 2021
Hi everyone. I am definitely new to affiliate marketing! I work in education, and as much as I love it, it doesn't pay very well.

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11

Questions

34

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asked in
Search Engine Optimization

I had a recent enormous spike in traffic. Unfortunately, it looks like it's some sort of robot spamming me. Has anyone else had this happen? I didn't even know that traffic spa

Hey Ann,

Yep, there's been a couple of "weird things" happening with Google over the last week.

Firstly, many SEOs assumed there was an algorithm update on 14th & 15th February.

Turns out it was a glitch.

ALL of Google's Featured Snippets DISAPPEARED.

However, they "returned" a few hours later.

So, a lot of people saw weird traffic stats on those days.

Next, the "Polish Website Spam".

Yup, this is being discussed in forums EVERYWHERE.

I've counted 16 forum threads alone on 5 different platforms, with 1000s of people having the same issue.

As I put in my reply to Lizzy in the thread Diane shared below, Google will typically ignore this.

Sites get "bot spam", quite often it's from a traffic exchange website.

The hope is you will follow your Google Analytics and visit the website in question and then purchase "traffic".

Please DO NOT purchase this traffic, it is bot spam, and if purchased regularly Google will take notice.

There's nothing specifically you can do to stop these websites, but you can block the stats showing up in GA4 by blocking the url or IP address or even block traffic from a specific country.

However, this doesn't stop the bot spam from happening it just stops your Google Analytics looking "Wonky" for want of a better word.

My advice, ignore it, Google will deal with website accordingly.

Make sense?

Partha

Yes, that does make sense. Thanks, Partha. I know you mentioned to another WA member with the same problem not to disavow it the link, but to use that sparingly. Why is the disavow tool something that should be used with caution?

Thanks for explaining this.

Yes, it is coming from Polland after my GA info.

Thanks, Jóhann! Nice to know I'm not the only one having this strange experience :)

It happens regularly. Sad, but I just need to let it be.

Hi - you may wish to read this post.

Thanks Diane :)

Do you have membership clicked in your Settings > General

Do you use a forum or some other contact form without CAPTCHA? I had that happen to me, ending in thousands upon thousands of spam signups.

Oh, I don't know I will check. I don't use a contact form. I'm signed up for Reddit and Quora but I don't ever post anything and I don't think I connected it to my website yet.

Ok, no I don't have that checked off. I have "new user default role" set to "subscriber," but I think that's only if I give someone access to my website.

Right, is it ticked off now :) Trying to think where else they could come from.

Maybe a plugin?

Have you been in touch with support? Maybe they can provide more assistance here.
https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/websites/support

No I haven't tried them yet. Good idea. Thanks!

Please keep us updated on your progress :)

Will do, thank you :) I think I will just ignore the link after reading Partha's response he sent in, and I'll change Google Analytics so I can't see the traffic data. It's really hard to dig out the real traffic if that's not blocked from GA4.

See more comments

How to deal with recieving traffic spam?

How to deal with recieving traffic spam?

asked in
Search Engine Optimization

I had a recent enormous spike in traffic. Unfortunately, it looks like it's some sort of robot spamming me. Has anyone else had this happen? I didn't even know that traffic spa

Hey Ann,

Yep, there's been a couple of "weird things" happening with Google over the last week.

Firstly, many SEOs assumed there was an algorithm update on 14th & 15th February.

Turns out it was a glitch.

ALL of Google's Featured Snippets DISAPPEARED.

However, they "returned" a few hours later.

So, a lot of people saw weird traffic stats on those days.

Next, the "Polish Website Spam".

Yup, this is being discussed in forums EVERYWHERE.

I've counted 16 forum threads alone on 5 different platforms, with 1000s of people having the same issue.

As I put in my reply to Lizzy in the thread Diane shared below, Google will typically ignore this.

Sites get "bot spam", quite often it's from a traffic exchange website.

The hope is you will follow your Google Analytics and visit the website in question and then purchase "traffic".

Please DO NOT purchase this traffic, it is bot spam, and if purchased regularly Google will take notice.

There's nothing specifically you can do to stop these websites, but you can block the stats showing up in GA4 by blocking the url or IP address or even block traffic from a specific country.

However, this doesn't stop the bot spam from happening it just stops your Google Analytics looking "Wonky" for want of a better word.

My advice, ignore it, Google will deal with website accordingly.

Make sense?

Partha

Yes, that does make sense. Thanks, Partha. I know you mentioned to another WA member with the same problem not to disavow it the link, but to use that sparingly. Why is the disavow tool something that should be used with caution?

Thanks for explaining this.

Yes, it is coming from Polland after my GA info.

Thanks, Jóhann! Nice to know I'm not the only one having this strange experience :)

It happens regularly. Sad, but I just need to let it be.

Hi - you may wish to read this post.

Thanks Diane :)

Do you have membership clicked in your Settings > General

Do you use a forum or some other contact form without CAPTCHA? I had that happen to me, ending in thousands upon thousands of spam signups.

Oh, I don't know I will check. I don't use a contact form. I'm signed up for Reddit and Quora but I don't ever post anything and I don't think I connected it to my website yet.

Ok, no I don't have that checked off. I have "new user default role" set to "subscriber," but I think that's only if I give someone access to my website.

Right, is it ticked off now :) Trying to think where else they could come from.

Maybe a plugin?

Have you been in touch with support? Maybe they can provide more assistance here.
https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/websites/support

No I haven't tried them yet. Good idea. Thanks!

Please keep us updated on your progress :)

Will do, thank you :) I think I will just ignore the link after reading Partha's response he sent in, and I'll change Google Analytics so I can't see the traffic data. It's really hard to dig out the real traffic if that's not blocked from GA4.

See more comments

asked in
Getting Started

Hi Everyone,

I have followed Jay Neill's training on "Harnessing Chat GPT to Boost Productivity." The point in the video I'm asking a question about is at the 27-minute

Hooking up google sheets with chatgpt?

Hooking up google sheets with chatgpt?

asked in
Getting Started

Hi Everyone,

I have followed Jay Neill's training on "Harnessing Chat GPT to Boost Productivity." The point in the video I'm asking a question about is at the 27-minute

asked in
Search Engine Optimization

Just wondering, has anyone else had a big drop in traffic for the last 5 days straight? Is this just the holidays starting? Post Black Friday? Everything- keywords, rankings- s

My traffic has been stable as well, but others have given you some very good advice and guidance here…let us know if you have any further questions.

-Mike

For sure, thanks Mike :)

You are very welcome!

-Mike

Hi Ann

My traffic has been stable over the past 5 days. I did have a significant organic traffic decrease with Google after the Helpful Content Update, but my traffic on Bing and Yahoo increased dramatically.

Frank 🎸

Hi Frank, ya I think that the update helped me a bit, too- on Bing and Yahoo. I don't think it affected me much on Google. I guess it's too late after the update for the update to just be hitting me now? That seems too far after the update. I've never had 5 days in a row be so low. Usually, it's just a day here and there. Maybe its nothing to worry about!

Hi Ann

I would keep monitoring your metrics in GSC and GA4 to see if and where any traffic shifts develop.

Frank 🎸

Sounds good, thanks Frank!

You're welcome, Ann. 😎

Frank 🎸

Im getting traffic mostly from social media but not from Big G or other search engine results. If you're not using social media, maybe it's a good time to use it to get more eyes on your website. Pinterest is a great place for that. Typically, people spend money over the Holidays, so traffic should be coming through from social media. Im using it, and I see traffic increasing. 👍🏻😀

Oh okay, thanks Brenda. I have just started to look into Pinterest so that's a good reminder to have some faith in it. I'm not a big interest person myself, but I know a lot of people are.

Oh awesome I will! Thank you!

See more comments

Anyone else had a drop in traffic for the last 5 days?

Anyone else had a drop in traffic for the last 5 days?

asked in
Search Engine Optimization

Just wondering, has anyone else had a big drop in traffic for the last 5 days straight? Is this just the holidays starting? Post Black Friday? Everything- keywords, rankings- s

My traffic has been stable as well, but others have given you some very good advice and guidance here…let us know if you have any further questions.

-Mike

For sure, thanks Mike :)

You are very welcome!

-Mike

Hi Ann

My traffic has been stable over the past 5 days. I did have a significant organic traffic decrease with Google after the Helpful Content Update, but my traffic on Bing and Yahoo increased dramatically.

Frank 🎸

Hi Frank, ya I think that the update helped me a bit, too- on Bing and Yahoo. I don't think it affected me much on Google. I guess it's too late after the update for the update to just be hitting me now? That seems too far after the update. I've never had 5 days in a row be so low. Usually, it's just a day here and there. Maybe its nothing to worry about!

Hi Ann

I would keep monitoring your metrics in GSC and GA4 to see if and where any traffic shifts develop.

Frank 🎸

Sounds good, thanks Frank!

You're welcome, Ann. 😎

Frank 🎸

Im getting traffic mostly from social media but not from Big G or other search engine results. If you're not using social media, maybe it's a good time to use it to get more eyes on your website. Pinterest is a great place for that. Typically, people spend money over the Holidays, so traffic should be coming through from social media. Im using it, and I see traffic increasing. 👍🏻😀

Oh okay, thanks Brenda. I have just started to look into Pinterest so that's a good reminder to have some faith in it. I'm not a big interest person myself, but I know a lot of people are.

Oh awesome I will! Thank you!

See more comments

asked in
Search Engine Optimization

Does anyone know an easy way to make sure google analytics isn't tracking your own clicks?

Awesome, thanks Abie :)

You're awesomely welcome :)

Do you know if Monsterinsights automatically filters out your own clicks and data?

You do not need MonsterInsights.

You also do not need to upgrade AIOSEO; the standard version suffices.

I don't know, as I have not used it.

ok, thanks!

Awesomely welcome :)

See more comments

Does anyone know an easy way to make sure google analytics isn't tracking your own clicks?

Does anyone know an easy way to make sure google analytics isn't tracking your own clicks?

asked in
Search Engine Optimization

Does anyone know an easy way to make sure google analytics isn't tracking your own clicks?

Awesome, thanks Abie :)

You're awesomely welcome :)

Do you know if Monsterinsights automatically filters out your own clicks and data?

You do not need MonsterInsights.

You also do not need to upgrade AIOSEO; the standard version suffices.

I don't know, as I have not used it.

ok, thanks!

Awesomely welcome :)

See more comments

Login
Create Your Free Wealthy Affiliate Account Today!
icon
4-Steps to Success Class
icon
One Profit Ready Website
icon
Market Research & Analysis Tools
icon
Millionaire Mentorship
icon
Core “Business Start Up” Training