Google is consistently working on making SERPs the best place for users. In short, it’s about updating its algorithms and meeting search intent through good practices. The sole purpose is to provide high-quality and helpful information to users on the web. But do you know the other side of Google’s action?
Yes, it doesn’t matter if you are an SEO specialist, a savvy marketer, or a website owner; you need to be aware of this! Google penalizes websites that use false content practices.
The action is indeed powerful: it can deindex your entire webpage, meaning it will no longer appear in search results. It might be caused by various factors, such as copying content, buying links, low-quality or AI-generated content, etc. These are the common reasons for
Google penalties, which every business must be aware of.
All you need to do is follow the best search practices and avoid Google penalties. This article walks you through everything around the same time.
So, let’s get started.
What are Google Penalties?
Google Penalties are basically actions that Google takes to decrease the website’s visibility in the search results. As discussed above, in some scenarios, the site may be completely deindexed.
In addition, Google penalties are applied to sites that engage in black-hat SEO practices and violate Google’s search and spam guidelines. There are two main types: automatic and manual actions, which are carried out intentionally for false purposes.
Following, we will discuss the different types of Google Penalties:
Algorithmic Penalties:
Algorithmic penalties are automated actions taken by Google’s algorithm to lower a website’s search rankings. This generally occurs after Google announces major changes to its search algorithms.
Manual Penalties:
Google has an expert team that manually reviews the site and checks if it violates the search guidelines. Based on the review, action is taken.
Both these types of penalties can affect:
- Organic search rankings
- Organic traffic
- Conversions
- Website trust and credibility
How is the Impact of a Penalty?
A Google penalty not only affects your search rankings and site but also goes beyond that. If the severity is high, your entire site may be deindexed by Google, leading to a complete drop in website traffic and, in turn, your business. However, if the severity is low, it might affect pages, again causing a decline in traffic.
How to Identify if Your Site has a Penalty?
There are several ways to identify Google penalties.
Google Search Console
You can check if your site has been hit by a Google penalty with Google Search Console. Manual Actions will be shared if Google has identified any violations. If no issues are found, then your site is not hitting Google’s manual penalty. Or if issues appear, you need to check Google penalties has affected the complete site or specific pages are affected.
Monitor Traffic
A sudden and apparent decreasing number of search traffic is another good indication that there is something wrong. You can review your performance reports in GSC and find out whether the decline of the traffic is connected to significant changes in Google algorithms.
Match Traffic Drop with Site Changes
You also need to think about whether the drop is seen after the recent changes don’t affect your site. Unintentional effects can sometimes be caused by content change, technical change, or experiment with SEO.
Unless you can find a reason, or the analysis process seems to be too complicated, then professional help is an excellent idea to recover from a Google penalty.
How to Avoid Google Penalties? Tips that Actually Work
Avoid Outbound Spammy Links
It’s a good way to link your websites to authoritative sources, help build credibility and trust, and ensure your content is relevant. Alongside, it also helps to improve your search rankings. But before you go linking, make sure you are going with the valuable and trusted sites, rather than considering the spammy websites with no value or credibility. This will help you to avoid Google penalty surely.
Removing Thin/AI-Generated Content
This is one of the topmost factors putting your site at risk. Publishing AI-generated content at a scale can harm your site, as it may get flagged. Google is serious about helping users find helpful, valuable, and reliable content that isn’t meant to manipulate search rankings.
So, all you can do is remove the content, and first analyze it with the AI-detection tools. Alongside, you can also improvise the content, but again, it’s time-consuming,
Keep Your Website Security
The security of your website shouldn’t be overlooked. A hacked or malware-infected website can also be considered as Spam by Google. To avoid the unexpected Google penalty, keep your website secured with this checklist:
- A green padlock – SSL certificate
- Enabling two-factor authentication
- Install security plugins
- Block suspicious IP addresses
- Scan malware regularly
Avoid Keyword Stuffing
Gone are the days when you optimize the website page with excessive keywords to rank better in SERPs. However, this technique is now considered a black-hat SEO tactic that no longer supports website rankings. Google’s algorithm penalizes websites that intentionally stuff keywords in web pages.
Pro Tip:
1] Try to include keywords in your content flow.
2] Use long-tail keywords rather than single-word keywords. In this scenario, keyword research tools can help.
Stay Updated with Google’s Algorithm Updates
Google consistently rolls out core updates and spam updates for search marketers. This aims to make search engines a better place for helpful and reliable content. If you experience a sudden drop in your website traffic, it might be the impact of Google’s core or spam update. Following are some of the tips to stay in the know of Google’s algorithm changes:
- Keep a track of your website traffic
- Follow the Google Central blog
- Review the search console regularly
Take action in advance to avoid unexpected ranking surprises.
Doorway Pages
There are different tactics to rank better in the SERP, and another false or black-hat SEO strategy is creating a doorway page. Here, another page is optimized to rank for a particular query. But that’s not acceptable, and Google may penalize such sites for doing the same.
Top Tip:
If your site is penalized for using this tactic, you can remove the doorways from your site and your sitemap. Doing the same will also ensure it is redirected to the right page.
Focus on Responsive Site
- Make sure your website is optimized for mobile devices. Most users browse websites on their mobiles.
- Alongside this, focus on improving site speed and user experience to help visitors return.
Strong Technical SEO
Major to minor technical issues can hurt your SEO and also appear spammy. The following points should be considered.
- Remove broken links
- Proper indexing
- No errors in the site map
- Reliable hosting server
How Long Does It Take to Recover from a Google Penalty?
The recovery time depends entirely on the severity of the penalty. Here’s an idea of the time required:
- For manual penalties, up to a week or a month will be required. It totally depends on how quickly the Google team member picks up on changes.
- With algorithmic penalties, it’s totally different. The recovery time is at least 6 months and may be longer.
Wrapping it Up
Google penalties are not limited to your site. It’s beyond that, putting your entire business at risk. Thus, following the best content practices, focusing on white-hat SEO, and abiding Google’s algorithm will definitely help you rank better in SERPs, alongside protecting Google’s penalties. Hope the above article has given a clear idea about Google penalty and the top tips to stay ahead!
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Frequently Asked Questions
1] What is Google’s spam penalty?
Ans: Google penalty is basically a drop in the search rankings due to false SEO practices that violate Google’s spam policies.
2] How can I recover from a Google penalty?
Ans: There are different ways to recover from the penalty, including removing AI-generated content, disavowing toxic backlinks, implementing strong technical SEO and security practices, and more.
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