Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a critical component of digital marketing, as it helps to drive organic traffic to websites. However, when a website receives a Google penalty, the effects can be severe and far-reaching for any search engine visibility.
This article will explore the best practices when dealing with a Google penalty, providing readers with practical steps to restore their search engine rankings and ensure future compliance. From fetching pages from affected portions of the website to resolving discrepancies and submitting requests to Google, this guide will provide users with an informative overview of how to address a Google penalty competently and confidently.
What is a Google Penalty?
It is important to understand the concept of a Google Penalty and its implications.
A Google Penalty is an algorithmic or manual action by the search engine that reduces a website’s rankings in search results, usually as a result of violating its guidelines.
This can have severe effects on traffic and revenue for businesses, which rely heavily on their website being visible to potential customers who use search engines such as Google
It is critical for websites owners to be aware of the various types of penalties they may face, as well as what steps they should take if they suspect they have been penalised.
Google penalties are punitive measures designed to discourage websites from engaging in certain practices deemed unacceptable by the search engine.
Such practices include keyword stuffing, link schemes, duplicate content and cloaking among others.
Understanding how these practices can lead to penalties will help webmasters avoid them in their SEO efforts, ensuring their sites stay safe from damaging actions taken by Google against them.
Best Practices For SEO After A Google Penalty
Navigate to Google Search Console > Crawl > Fetch as Google, then fetch pages from the affected portions of your website
Statistical analysis reveals that navigating to the Crawl section of Google Search Console and Fetching as Google can be a beneficial action when attempting to mitigate the effects of website penalties. By using this tool, webmasters can gain insight into how their content is being indexed by Google, allowing them to identify potential issues that could be causing a penalty.
This can then be used to create more effective strategies for optimising webpages and recovering from any negative search engine rankings. Furthermore, it also provides an opportunity for users to test how their changes are reflected in real-time before they are made permanent.
The process of fetching pages through Fetch as Google also serves as a valuable way for webmasters to stay up-to-date with the latest changes in SEO best practices and algorithm updates from Google. Doing so helps ensure that websites remain compliant with search engine guidelines and avoids any potential pitfalls that may arise due to outdated SEO tactics or strategies.
Moreover, utilising this feature gives webmasters greater control over which parts of their site will be indexed by the search engine and allows them to prioritise certain aspects based on what is most important for achieving higher rankings.
Compare the content
Comparing the content of a website to its indexed version can help identify potential issues that may be causing negative search engine rankings. This process should be repeated regularly to ensure any changes made are correctly implemented, and that the website is performing as expected.
A comparison between the indexed content and what is actually being displayed on the website will reveal discrepancies which may have caused a Google penalty. Issues such as duplicate content, missing meta titles or descriptions, thin content, broken links or slow loading pages all could potentially lead to a Google penalty. Careful analysis of these issues can help in fixing them and restoring lost search engine rankings.
Furthermore, using software tools such as SEMrush can help further analyse a website’s SEO performance and uncover other areas where improvements need to be made. By implementing best practices for SEO after a Google penalty, it is possible to regain lost visibility in organic search results and restore traffic levels from search engines.
Resolve
In order to regain lost visibility in organic search results and restore traffic levels from search engines, it is necessary to resolve any potential issues identified in the comparison of indexed content with what is actually being displayed on the website.
To do this, SEO practitioners must identify why a penalty was applied, and then take proactive steps to improve their website’s content quality. This can include checking for broken links, identifying low-quality or duplicate content that could be removed or consolidated, creating more engaging titles and descriptions for each page, as well as ensuring that all images have descriptive text in place so they are properly indexed by search engines.
Additionally, SEO professionals should also monitor their website’s performance regularly and make sure to respond quickly if any errors arise.
With careful attention given to resolving these issues associated with a Google penalty, websites can recover their lost visibility and traffic levels over time while still adhering to best practices for SEO.
Submit a request to Google
Once the necessary changes have been made, it is important to submit a request to Google in order to lift any potential penalties and restore visibility and traffic levels. It is essential to make sure that the changes implemented are in line with SEO best practices, as well as accepted by Google before submitting the request. This helps ensure that the penalty will be lifted without further delays.
If possible, it is also beneficial to include an explanation of why the violation occurred so that Google can better understand what happened. When submitting a request to Google for lifting a penalty, it should be done through either the Search Console or Reconsideration Request Form.
The former provides more data about why a website was penalised while the latter allows for details about how violations were corrected and how they can be avoided in future. Doing this allows businesses and webmasters to demonstrate their understanding of SEO best practices while seeking relief from any existing penalties imposed by Google.
Conclusion
The consequences of a Google penalty can be severe for any website. If such a penalty has been assessed, the best practices are to navigate to Google Search Console, fetch pages from the affected portions of the website and compare content. Once the steps have been taken to resolve any issues found, submitting a request to Google is advisable.
It is important to continue monitoring your website’s progress in order to avoid further penalties. How much time and effort one will need to invest in order to get back on track after a penalty? Ultimately, it depends on how much work needs to be done and whether or not all steps are followed diligently.
