What Is Website Security? Why Does It Matter for SEO and PPC?
Website security refers to the practices and measures taken to protect a website from cyber threats, attacks, and data breaches. It’s about making sure the website and its data are safe from hackers, malware, and other malicious activities that could compromise a business and its users. This includes everything from securing the website’s code to protecting user data and preventing unauthorized access.
But why is website security so important for digital marketing efforts? A secure website is the foundation for a smooth user experience, which is vital for keeping your audience engaged and ensuring your online business runs efficiently.
Without proper security, your website becomes vulnerable to a variety of risks that can affect its performance, trustworthiness, and reputation. A compromised website can lead to a loss of customers, penalties from search engines, and wasted ad spend. Ultimately, strong website security protects sensitive data and builds trust with both users and search engines.
Key Website Security Issues That Impact SEO and PPC
Website security issues can have a significant impact on both your SEO and PPC marketing efforts. While they affect different aspects of digital marketing, their consequences are often intertwined. Let’s break down some of the most critical security issues that can harm both areas:
Data Breach and User Trust
One of the most serious security risks is a data breach. When a website is attacked, user data most often falls directly into the hands of the attackers. This can lead to legal problems for the site owner and, even more critically, reduce the credibility of the site. Once word spreads about the breach, users lose trust in your website, which can result in fewer visits, lower engagement, and increased bounce rates.
Google also takes a hard stance on sites with poor security practices, warning visitors about potential dangers. This warning is a major red flag for users and drastically reduces the amount of traffic to your site.
For SEO, a security breach can lead to a significant drop in rankings, as Google prioritizes user experience and trust when determining search results. A compromised website not only loses organic visibility but also drives users away, signaling to search engines that it’s unreliable. This decline in trust can also impact PPC performance—higher bounce rates and lower engagement can drive up your ad costs, reducing your ROI.
Worse, if users hesitate to click on your ads due to security warnings or a lack of credibility, your ad spend goes to waste, reducing your campaigns’ effectiveness.
Malware and Website Infections
Malware infections can compromise your website’s functionality and security. If your website starts showing unwanted ads or redirects users to unfamiliar pages, it’s a sign that your website might be infected with malware, such as the Yahoo redirect virus.
Infected sites not only disrupt the user experience but can also be penalized by Google, resulting in a loss of organic visibility. These types of security issues are often invisible to users but can significantly damage your site’s SEO and the effectiveness of your PPC campaigns. Google may flag your website as unsafe, which could hurt your reputation and prevent users from engaging with your site, whether through organic search or paid ads.
If you’re dealing with this issue, it’s crucial to delete redirect virus threats, update your browser and antivirus software regularly, and clear your cache to protect your website and maintain your marketing performance.
Unsecured Connections and HTTPS
Having an unsecured website can also impact both SEO and PPC. Websites that don’t use HTTPS are marked as “not secure” by browsers, creating a major deterrent for visitors. Google, which prioritizes user safety, has been emphasizing the importance of secure websites for years now.
Sites without HTTPS can lose rankings in search results, as Google uses security as a ranking factor. Furthermore, PPC ads directing traffic to an insecure site might see lower conversion rates and a higher bounce rate, which directly impacts the quality score and increases ad costs.
Slow Load Times and User Experience
Security issues often contribute to poor site performance. A compromised site might load slower due to the additional processes required to run or deal with security breaches. Page load speed is a known ranking factor for SEO, and slow websites can push users away, whether they’re coming from organic search or paid traffic. In PPC, slow load times can lead to lower quality scores, meaning higher costs per click and lower ad placements.
Spam and Blacklisting
Spammy backlinks or malicious content can also cause your website to get blacklisted by search engines or even email service providers. If your website is linked to spam or hosting suspicious content, Google may penalize it with lower rankings or even remove it from the search index entirely. For PPC, if your website is flagged as unsafe or linked to spam, your ads may be disapproved or not shown at all, leading to wasted ad spend.
How Google Responds to Security Issues
Google takes website security very seriously, and any sign of a compromised site can trigger immediate actions that impact both SEO and PPC performance. Since Google’s primary goal is to provide users with a safe and trustworthy browsing experience, it actively scans websites for security threats and penalizes those that pose a risk.
Security Warnings and Search Engine Penalties
When Google detects malware, phishing attempts, or other security threats on a website, it may display a “This site may be hacked” or “This site may harm your computer” warning in search results. This drastically reduces organic traffic, as most users will avoid clicking on a flagged website. If the issue isn’t resolved quickly, the site may be completely deindexed, meaning it won’t appear in Google search results at all.
Google Safe Browsing and Blacklisting
Google Safe Browsing is a security feature designed to protect users from unsafe websites. If your website is flagged, Google will blacklist it, preventing visitors from accessing it through Chrome, Firefox, and other browsers that use Google’s security database. This warning is a red flag to users, eroding trust and making recovery even more difficult.
Impact on Google Ads and PPC Campaigns
Security issues don’t just harm organic rankings—they also affect PPC campaigns. If your landing page is deemed unsafe, Google Ads may disapprove your ads, block them from running, or even suspend your entire account. This results in wasted ad spend and lost revenue opportunities.
Additionally, if users who click on your ads encounter security warnings or experience redirects, it lowers your Quality Score, increases your cost-per-click (CPC), and ultimately reduces the effectiveness of your paid campaigns.
Manual Actions and Recovery Process
Once a security issue is detected, Google may issue a manual action, meaning a human reviewer has determined that your site violates Google’s security policies. To recover, website owners must remove the threat, request a review through Google Search Console, and wait for Google to verify that the site is safe again. This process can take days or even weeks, during which both SEO rankings and PPC campaigns remain affected.
Website Security Best Practices for SEO and PPC
Keeping your website secure isn’t just about protecting data—it’s also essential for maintaining search visibility and ensuring your PPC campaigns run smoothly. Here are the best practices to keep your site safe while optimizing for SEO and PPC success:
1. Use HTTPS for Secure Connections
Google has confirmed that HTTPS is a ranking factor, meaning websites with SSL certificates have an advantage in search rankings. Indirectly, it can also impact quality scores and raise cost-per-click in PPC ads. Secure your site with an SSL certificate to protect user data, improve credibility, and prevent browser warnings that might discourage visitors.
2. Regularly Scan for Malware and Security Threats
Hackers often inject malware into websites without the owner’s knowledge, leading to Google blacklisting, security warnings, and PPC ad disapprovals. Use security tools like Google Search Console’s Security Issues Report, Sucuri, or Wordfence to detect and remove threats before they cause damage.
3. Keep Software, Plugins, and Themes Updated
Outdated CMS platforms, plugins, and themes are common entry points for hackers. Regularly updating your website’s software reduces vulnerabilities and prevents potential breaches that could harm SEO rankings or lead to PPC account suspensions. If you’re using WordPress, enable automatic updates for core software and security patches.
4. Implement Strong Login Security
Weak passwords and a lack of two-factor authentication (2FA) make it easy for attackers to gain access to your website. Enforce strong password policies, limit login attempts, and use 2FA to prevent unauthorized access that could lead to hacks, data theft, and website downtime.
5. Monitor User Behavior and Traffic Patterns
Unusual spikes in traffic, excessive bot activity, or unexpected redirects could signal a security issue. Use Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and firewall solutions to monitor traffic patterns and detect suspicious activity before it affects your search rankings or ad campaigns.
6. Protect Against Click Fraud in PPC Campaigns
Cybercriminals sometimes exploit security weaknesses to engage in click fraud, draining PPC budgets with fraudulent clicks. To minimize this risk, use click fraud protection software, IP exclusions, and Google Ads’ fraud detection tools to keep ad spend focused on real users.
ClickGUARD can help you monitor and block bot traffic. Click here to learn how this click fraud prevention tool can boost your ROAS.
7. Set Up Automated Backups
A cyberattack, accidental deletion, or malware infection can wipe out valuable content and data, hurting both SEO and PPC performance. Schedule automatic daily or weekly backups with cloud-based services like Google Drive, Dropbox, or hosting provider backups to restore your site quickly if needed.
8. Use Web Application Firewalls (WAFs)
A WAF helps block malicious traffic before it reaches your site, preventing attacks that could damage SEO rankings or disrupt PPC landing pages. Services like Cloudflare, Sucuri, and AWS WAF provide added security by filtering out harmful requests and keeping your website safe.
Conclusion
Website security isn’t just an IT concern—it’s a fundamental part of both technical SEO and PPC marketing. A compromised site can lose organic rankings, face Google penalties, and see a sharp decline in user trust and conversions. For PPC, security issues can increase ad costs, lower Quality Scores, and even lead to ad disapprovals, wasting valuable marketing budgets.
By proactively securing your website, you’re not only protecting your business from cyber threats but also creating a safer, more trustworthy experience for users, which can boost search visibility and ad performance.
