Google penalty—what first comes to your mind?
The keyword “penalty” probably isn’t strange to you if you’re in the SEO industry.
However, as you already know, knowing about something and having the ability to recognize and get rid of it is an entirely different matter.
Today, let’s focus on the core of the matter; you’ll find out how to recognize and then eliminate Google penalties.
Let’s get started.
What is a Google Penalty?
A Google penalty is a punitive action taken by Google against a website for violating its Webmaster Guidelines.
These guidelines are a set of rules and best practices that websites must adhere to maintain a positive online presence and visibility in search results.
When any given search engine detects that a website has breached these guidelines, it can impose penalties, causing the site’s rankings to plummet and, in some cases, even removing it from search results altogether.
First and foremost, if you want to run a high-quality website that is effective, has high position rankings, and is sustainable in the long term. You have to work in line with the prime search engine (and not only with this one).
When Can Your Website Get a Google Penalty?
Fortunately, there isn’t one way to get the penalty from Google.
But unfortunately, your website can catch it without even being aware that you’ve done something wrong.
But no worries, here are the most common reasons for receiving a Google penalty:
1/ Unnatural Backlinks: If your website is associated with spammy or low-quality backlinks, it can lead to penalties. It’s essential to monitor your link profile regularly and disavow harmful links. Use for it, a disavow tool: https://search.google.com/search-console/disavow-links
2/ Keyword Stuffing: Or so-called keyword density. It’s overloading your content with similar words in order to manipulate search rankings. It aims to attract search engine’s attention in the wrong way to make the website visible, which is against its policy.
3/ Duplicate Content: Using duplicate or plagiarized content can harm your site’s credibility and result in penalties.
4/ User Experience Issues: Slow page loading times, poor mobile optimization, and intrusive pop-ups can all lead to penalties.
Can it really cause a penalty? These pitfalls themselves are not pitfalls, but with the combination of these aforementioned issues, indeed.
5/ Security Concerns: Your website’s security is at stake? Here we are. Websites without proper security measures (like an SSL certificate) may face penalties as the search engine prioritizes user safety.
6/ Cloaking: Displaying different content to search engines than what users see is a deceptive practice that can lead to penalties.
7/ Hidden Text or Links: Hiding text or links within a website’s code to manipulate search to lift your website — will be counterproductive.
8/ Malware or Hacked Content: Hosting malicious software or having a hacked website can lead to a loss of rankings (and further, serious repercussions), as Google aims to protect users.
What Kind of Penalties Can You Get from Google?
These penalties are divided into two main varieties: manual and algorithmic.
- Manual: These were imposed by a dedicated person at search engine who reviewed your website. Manual penalties can target specific issues, such as unnatural links or thin content. Furthermore, manual penalties are easier to eradicate and prove that your website is already clear.
- Algorithmic: These are triggered automatically by Google’s algorithms when they detect violations of the guidelines. Common algorithmic ones include Panda (targeting low-quality content) and Penguin (targeting spammy backlinks).
In practice, a manual penalty is less severe and easier to lift. You can consider it as a kind of “warning” from a Google employee who manually placed it on your site. Its purpose is to deter you from further violating the search engine’s rules.
However, when it comes to algorithms, it’s a more serious matter. When an algorithm comes into play, it means you’ve likely been quite naughty in the search engine’s eyes. 🙂
Of course, you can also recover from it, but after cleaning up your site, make sure that in your future SEO efforts, you steer clear of undesirable actions.
How to Avoid Getting a Penalty from Google?
Prevention is always better than cure when it comes to penalties.
Long story short: don’t play with Google, acting against its policy.
Nevertheless, to avoid landing in hot water with Google, consider these three proactive strategies:
1/ Follow Google’s Webmaster Guidelines: The best way to avoid penalties is to adhere to its rules and guidelines from the start. Stay informed about updates and changes.
2/ Audit Your Backlinks: Regularly check your backlink profile and remove or disavow any harmful and unnatural links.
3/ Create High-Quality Content: Correct, focus on creating valuable, original, and relevant content that caters to your audience’s needs and interests. And don’t use ChatGPT to copy-paste your content. In so many cases, it doesn’t sound like you and Chat creates too many similar words (even not synonyms), which will lead your content to keyword stuffing.
4/ Avoid auto-generated content and article spinning: Automatically generated text often involves the use of AI, while text spinning employs multiple synonyms and forms for content that was originally created. Both practices are against Google’s policy—your website’s search rankings will drop (if already went high), and your potential audience will never find your site.
It is essential to keep your online presence credible and thriving. This type of content tends to be of poor quality, often creating text that makes no sense, frustrates and puzzles your website’s visitors.
How Do I Recover from a Google Penalty?
Recovering from a search engine penalty can be a challenging and time-consuming process, but it’s possible with the right approach.
These are four steps that you’ll be able to identify and get rid of the undesirable move from Google:
- Identify the Penalty: First, you need to determine which type of penalty you’ve encountered and the specific issues that caused it.
- Fix the Issues: This is the most challenging step. You have to address the issues that led to the penalty. This may involve removing harmful links, improving content quality, or enhancing the user experience. And don’t forget about the type of penalty: it can be manual or algorithmic. The manual is usually easier to toss out.
- Submit a Reconsideration Request: For manual ones, submit a reconsideration request to Google once you’ve rectified the problems. Be transparent and demonstrate your commitment to following the guidelines.
- Monitor Progress: When your website has been noticed as a loss of trust with Google (read: penalty), it will be easier for it to surprise the search engine again. Keep a close eye on your website’s performance in search results. Recovery may take time, but with persistent effort, you can regain lost ground.
Monitor Your Website Every Day
Proactive monitoring of your website’s health is a critical step in avoiding Google penalties.
Fortunately, Google provides a valuable tool for this purpose—Google Search Console. It allows you to track the performance of your website, receive notifications about issues, and even request reconsideration if you’ve received a manual penalty.
Regularly check Google Search Console (GSC) for messages, notifications, or ensuing issues.
Additionally, consider using third-party tools to monitor your website’s SEO health, backlink profile, and overall performance.
Personally, I do it on a daily basis, and believe me—it helps.
Don’t Be Penalized: Keep Up with Google’s Algorithm Updates
As you know, search engines frequently update their algorithms to provide users with the best possible search results.
While these updates aim to improve the quality of search results, they can also impact your website’s rankings. The more you stay with its policy, the quicker and for a longer period of time your website will stay ahead of your competition in search engine results.
Staying informed about these updates through reputable SEO news sources is essential.
Again, it’s important to remember that SEO is an ongoing process that requires adaptation (sometimes, you have to say: unfortunately) to stay in Google’s good graces.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Google Penalty:
Once my website gets penalized, can I have further problems with its positioning?
Yes, if your website has been penalized by search engines like Google, it certainly encounters further issues with its positioning. Of course, depending on how grave that penalty used to be.
Nevertheless, once a website has experienced a penalty from Google, it typically directly translates into a drop in rankings, making your website less visible to your current and future audience, both in the short and long term.
How can I find out if my website has been penalized?
It’s crucial to spot any penalties on your website, so you can address the issues right away and kick off the recovery process. Here’s how you can check if your website has been hit with a penalty:
1. Check Google Search Console: GSC provides valuable insights into your website’s health. It may send notifications if a manual one is applied.
2. Monitor Traffic and Rankings: If you notice a sudden and significant drop in organic search traffic or a decline in keyword rankings, it could be an indicator of a penalty.
3. Check for Manual Actions: In GSC, review the “Manual Actions” section. This is where you’ll find information about any manual penalties applied by Google.
4. Use Penalty Checker Tools: Several online tools and SEO software provide penalty checker features. These tools can scan your website for potential issues that might lead to penalties.
Keep in mind that it’s crucial to deal with penalties as soon as you spot them. Once you’ve encountered such a pitfall, take the needed actions to fix the issues, submit reconsideration requests if needed, and make sure you’re consistently practicing ethical SEO to avoid further troubles.
And how do you handle search engine penalties?
Let me know in the comments!
And if you enjoyed the post, please share it, and don’t forget about coffee late! 👇
Thank you for reading my blog!
Simon
Author Profile
- Simon Gorlak is a Digital Marketing Expert with over 8 years of experience. He specializes in 3 areas: SEO, Lead Generation on LinkedIn, and Email Marketing. Simon's blog gathers knowledge that helps Marketers & C-level to increase profits from their online businesses. Also, his content helps to reach the most difficult customers, make others' content to be read & purchased. Besides digital marketing, Simon speaks 4 languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Polish & works as a Head of Business at an Indian Start-up.
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