“Fetch as Googlebot” tool helps to debug hacked sites

Matt Cutts  reminds us of this very useful tool within the Google Webmaster tools. It’s the sort of tool that is very easily ignored for the very simple reason that you never need to use it or you perceive you don’t need to use it.

“Fetch as Googlebot” tool helps to debug hacked sites.

He reminds us that it is an excellent way of identifying whether your website is getting hacked or not. Matt gives an example of a recent communication with the Webmaster of a well-known musicians website.

I have had to use this to myself on two or three occasions over recent years on a couple of WordPress websites that have not been updated with the latest versions. As a consequence, they were hacked and had been for some time. The client actually came to me because he could not understand why his rankings had nosedived in recent months. After some investigation, this tool helped me identify that the issue was “hacking”.

Maybe it’s worthwhile every now and again testing your own site – just in case!

What do you think? Post your comments and own experiences below . . . . .

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