Google is a search engine that is indeed the most popular and most widely used. With influence throughout the web, it functions by crawling and indexing most of the web, putting them all together for easy searching.
Browsing the internet has never been this easy. As a web owner/ webmaster that rely on Google to get most of your web traffic, there is always a chance that Google will "dislike" you for what you've did (or anyone) to your website. This will result in your site being penalized or blacklisted.
The outcome? A sudden and severe drop in web traffic. Usually, Google will send you the "manual action" notice to your Google Search Console to let you know that you're blacklisted.
As a search engine with the most influence, Google isn't sending you that 'dreaded" notice for no reason. Google works using sophisticated algorithms, and when they see something that isn't in line with its policy, the search engine will dislike you.
One of the most common reasons for being penalized is when you're using any of the black hat SEO techniques. No matter how well the techniques can "trick" Google in bringing your website up in its SERP (Search Engine Results Page), Google will find you sooner or later.
Some other reasons for being penalized include and not limited to: unethical SEO strategy by you or any of your hired individuals/companies, negative SEO campaign launched by others against your site, being hacked, or having a thin and low quality content that Google found to be spam or unethical.
If you stumbled into any of the above, the result is a penalty that can stop the flow of good traffic to your website.
Besides that, you should also keep in mind about Google's algorithms' update. Any changes to its algorithm may also damage your reputation in Google's eyes.
When you do get penalized for any reasons, while it's indeed difficult to appeal, there is always a chance for your to redeem yourself. Below is the steps your can do to get your site back on track.
Is It Really Google Related? Or Is It Something Else?
If you notice any sudden change of web traffic, you should first confirm whether you're actually receiving Google's penalty or not. So before attempting any kind of assumptions or fixes, you should head to your Google Search Console to read any messages Google has sent you, if there is any.
If the cause is really a penalty, Google will usually notify you with a message here with the action related to the cause. Once you have confirmed that you're suffering from manual action, you can then take specific steps to remove the penalty.
Understand The Penalty, Track The Issue
Like earlier said, Google will not penalize you for no reason it sees unnecessary. If you have received the manual action, Google also explains the reasons. The types of actions include: hacked site, user-generated spam or doing any spam actions, spammy freehosts, spammy structured markup, unnatural links to or from your site, thin /low-quality content and hidden text or keyword stuffing.
Before attempting to fix, you should first know what exactly is the manual action you're receiving as this is the only way to know how to fix it. This will also ensure that this won't happen again.
You should also make sure to identify whether the action applies to every parts of your website or just its specific URLs.
Find The Problem And Fix It
Here is where you take your measures to fix the underlying problem. Once you've identified the type of actions, you can go straight to the problem and fix the issue. While fixing may or may not be easy, getting back to Google's side is usually difficult and nevertheless time consuming.
If your site is being hacked, you need to see the log of your site'to see any suspicious activities. Track them to revert the changes.
When your site is considered a spam or doing any spammy actions, you need to block those attempts. The spammy actions may come from yourself or your visitors doing unwanted activity. You'll likely need to take different overall approach to SEO, how your visitors access your site, or probably a complete overhaul of your site.
But first relate the spam and spammy issues to know the fix.
For link-related penalties, you may need to perform a full link audit to find any "bad" and unnatural links. Suspicious links usually come from those that link your site many times. Paid links or any link exchange you've done in the past may also be the culprit. Ask the site owner(s) to remove the links, or disavow them so Google knows you're doing everything you can.
Fixing outbound inks related to spam is fairly easy to detect and remove. If the action is user-generated spam, you can manually remove the spammy content and tighten up the access to your site.
And if your site is having low-quality, you can either remove the content entirely or update those posts of yours to be higher quality ones.
Create Your Reconsideration Request: Take Your Time, Be Honest And Explain
Assuming you have the manual action done and fixed, now it's the time to appeal back to Google. When you request Google to review you website, you'll need to detail the steps you've taken to fix the issues, as well as providing any other relevant information to strengthen your appeal.
The information you may want to add in your reconsideration request:
- Articulating the issue that led to the penalty: make Google sure that you understand what went wrong, and not to do it again.
- Include the contact information of websites and their webmasters you've contacted about link removal with their dates.
- Mention your disavow files if previously submitted.
- Explain your attempts to ensure that none of this will happen again.
In most cases, Google only allow one reconsideration, so take your time before sending your request.
Send Your Request Only After You Finish Fixing The Issue
Your reconsideration request should only be submitted once you've done everything you can to deal with the source of the problem. Sending your request before fixing the problem won't appeal Google. The search engine will know and absolutely will reject your request.
Google also recommends you to check for any additional security issues before submitting your request. These issues, if there are any, will show up in the main dashboard of your Google Search Console. Once you're certain that there is nothing else wrong with your site, you can then click on the "Request a review" button in the manual actions report.
Sit Back And Wait For Google's Response
After you've submitted your request, there is nothing else you can do other than to wait for Google's response. You should receive an email confirmation that your request has been received. Typically, Google will respond within a few days to a week or so. There are four possible responses you can receive:
- Reconsideration request approved. Google accepts your reconsideration request with the steps you've made to fix the issue. Your site's ranking and traffic should return to normal shortly.
- Reconsideration request denied. Google denies your request. It will also let you know what should be done in order to get the action removed. Google won't be specific; usually it will only go as far as referencing some guidelines you should follow.
- We have processed your reconsideration request. This response comes in between "approved" and "denied." You may still have some issues need to be fixed, or Google needs more time to reconsider the changes.
- No manual actions found. Google has seen no changes to your site. This message is a response when you submit your reconsideration without doing any manual action.
Wait for traffic and rankings to improve
When you reconsideration request is approved, expect site to have its traffic and rank back to normal within a few days, weeks or months (depending on the complexity of the problem). While link-related issue may come easy to some people, other types of penalties could appeal harder.
So if you've received the "dreaded" notice webmasters and web owners normally avoid, there is still a workaround to fix the problem. While you may find your site to be able to appeal back to Google, it's possible that the traffic and rank won't return to what they were before. But still, you'll get pretty close.
After you've appealed Google, just make sure that the problem won't happen again because Google may pass you easy for once, but won't if it happens twice.