{"id":35118,"date":"2016-03-09T08:00:29","date_gmt":"2016-03-09T16:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/blog\/?p=35118"},"modified":"2020-02-20T10:12:37","modified_gmt":"2020-02-20T18:12:37","slug":"free-seo-cloaking-checker-tool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/blog\/free-seo-cloaking-checker-tool\/","title":{"rendered":"Free SEO Tool: Maintain a Transparent Site with the SEO Cloaking Checker"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the market for new SEO tools? Thinking about Bruce Clay Inc.\u2019s SEOToolSet<\/a>? We recommend trying our free samples. Just for you, we\u2019ve selected ten powerful tools from this renowned set and made them available to you, free of charge. These ten FREE SEO tools<\/a>\u00a0featured on SEOToolSet.com can be used right now to improve your SEO campaign without logging in or providing your credit card information. Useful? Yes!<\/p>\n

You know what’s also useful? Brief how-tos without fluff. To help you get the most out of our free tools, we\u2019ve created the Free SEO Tool Alert<\/a>\u00a0series \u2013 short, easy-to-digest blog posts\u00a0on the free SEO tools\u00a0in our toolbox. Today’s free SEO tool is:<\/p>\n

The SEO Cloaking Checker<\/h2>\n

Tool type: <\/strong>page analyzer, server health<\/p>\n

What you\u2019ll learn:<\/strong> The free SEO Cloaking Checker shows you if you\u2019re cloaking, or featuring two different versions of the same URL \u2013 one for search engine robots and the other for human visitors.<\/p>\n

Why this matters: <\/strong>Cloaking goes against Google\u2019s Webmaster Guidelines<\/a> and is considered a \u201cdeceptive\u201d SEO technique. If you discover cloaking on your site while using this tool, you can dig deeper to fix the root issue(s), improve the health of your server, and improve your search engine rankings. You can resolve to be transparent.<\/p>\n

\"Reveal<\/p>\n

This is the SEO Cloaking Checker; submit a URL to use the tool. <\/strong><\/p>\n

SEO Cloaking Checker<\/h2>\n
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How to Use the Tool<\/h2>\n
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  1. Submit a URL into the SEO Cloaking Checker and press Check for Cloaking<\/em>. <\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. This free SEO tool shows you the SEOToolSet Page Cloaking Report<\/strong>, a straight-forward chart that features major search engines Google, Bing, Yahoo, as well as web browsers Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Opera.<\/li>\n
  3. Use the chart to see if the page you have submitted is cloaking according to each listed search engine and\u00a0web browser.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Here is an example of a site, www.bruceclay.com, with\u00a0a negative cloaking report:<\/p>\n

    \"Negative<\/a><\/p>\n

    A green check mark means there was no cloaking found; a red X means cloaking has been detected.<\/p>\n

    5 Ways to Use the Data<\/h2>\n

    The SEO Cloaking Checker tool is a quick way to discover whether a web page is cloaking according to the search engines. Use the chart to:<\/p>\n

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    1. See if major search engines and browsers detect cloaking on your web page.\u00a0<\/strong>If you\u2019ve run the complimentary SEO Cloaking Checker and received a report with one or more red \u201cXs,\u201d the tool has discovered possible cloaking. Now what? While a positive cloaking report is not necessarily a good thing, knowing there is cloaking on your site gives you a starting point from where you can hunt down the issue and fix the problem. But before we dive into what comes after a\u00a0Positive Cloaking Report<\/strong>,\u00a0let\u2019s take a break to learn how the tool works and what sets it apart from other cloak checkers.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
      How it Works\u00a0<\/strong>The typical cloak checker on the market today examines the amount of content on a page and compares it across browsers. The problem with this type of method, however, is that differences such as a small tweak in the content or an A\/B Test can come back as cloaking, or a false positive. In other words, it\u2019s too sensitive of a method and can\u2019t be relied upon. Bruce Clay Inc.\u2019s SEO Cloaking Checker bypasses this problem by analyzing the page differently. This free SEO tool examines sections of a page and compares the content across the browsers. The result is a smarter tool that can gather contextual information about a page and provide a more accurate cloaking report.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Positive Cloaking Report<\/strong><\/p>\n

      With a positive cloaking report in your hand, here\u2019s what you need to do next:<\/p>\n

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      1. Investigate the source of cloaking.\u00a0<\/strong>A simple cloak checker will not tell you what the issue is, only that cloaking has been found. See a positive cloaking report as a red light, signaling you to stop and explore the possible cloaking issues that might be negatively affecting your rankings.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        There are many different types of cloaking, some done on purpose to manipulate rankings, some that are not deceptive by nature but still show up as cloaking, some are pure\u00a0accidents, and a host of practices fall in the grey area. \u00a0While checking your site for the source of cloaking you might even find that it was placed by a hacker. \u00a0Since\u00a0not all cloaking is considered deceptive<\/a>, it\u2019s up to you to decide whether what the tool has found is something you want to fix or keep. Of course, this is when an experienced SEO comes in handy. With enough experience and wisdom, a manual check should lead to the discovery of a\u00a0cloaking technique that’s affecting your site.<\/p>\n

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        1. Fix cloaking issues found on your site<\/strong>. Once you\u2019ve discovered the type of cloaking that is affecting your site, go to work to resolve the problem. The opportunity to take care of any cloaking issues ensures that you\u2019re showing search engines exactly what you\u2019re showing your users, and this type of transparency is rewarded by the search engines.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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          1. \u00a0Improve rankings.<\/strong>There\u2019s a reason for a sudden drop in rankings or that manual spam report you received. \u00a0Learning that a search engine has found cloaking on your site means that you\u2019ve found one possible reason it is not performing as well as it could be in the SERPs. Cloaking can result in the outright exclusion of your site from Google\u2019s index, and when you fix the issue, there\u2019s a great chance you will improve your rankings and make it easier for your customers to find you online.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            In addition to finding a positive cloaking report \u2013 and using the information to identify the issue, fix the problem, and hopefully improve your rankings \u2013 you can use the information in the Page Cloaking Report to:<\/p>\n

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            1. Discover that your site has no cloaking issues.\u00a0<\/strong>You\u2019ve submitted a URL into the SEO Cloaking Checker tool and received green check marks across the chart. Congratulations, the page you\u2019ve entered has no cloaking issues. Interpret this data as a green light to move on to other monthly maintenance checks and server health procedures.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              When to Use This Tool<\/strong><\/p>\n

              The Free SEO Cloaking Checker is fast and easy way for you to find out if your site has cloaking issues. Making sure your site is free of cloaking ensures that it\u2019s not running afoul of Google\u2019s quality guidelines.<\/p>\n

              If you have the SEOToolSet Lite or Pro package<\/a>, this free SEO tool gets run automatically each time you run the Single Page Analyzer, our robust on-page SEO analyzer tool.\u00a0 But if you don\u2019t own it yet, you can easily use this complimentary tool to check for cloaking as often as you want, including:<\/p>\n