A penalty from Google is probably every webmaster’s worst nightmare. Google applies penalties whenever they suspect a website of using “black hat” SEO techniques. The phrase refers to tactics intended to manipulate Google’s algorithm in a manner that violates the search giant’s Terms of Service (ToS).
Once a Google penalty is applied to a website, that site’s Google search ranking will be reduced. The site will typically experience a huge drop in traffic. If a webmaster believes the penalty has been applied in error and should be removed, the first thing he or she will want to do is submit a reconsideration request to Google.
There are a few steps that should be taken on behalf of your builder website in preparation for submitting that request, however.
1. Confirm that a penalty has actually been applied
Though it might be tempting to attribute any sudden drop in traffic or ranking to a Google penalty, it is essential that a builder marketing webmaster investigate the issue before jumping to that conclusion. There is no point in spending valuable time attempting to have a Google penalty lifted if a drop in your site’s traffic is due to some other factor, such as the site’s keywords being searched less, or problems with the links that your site is using.
2. Determine why Google has applied a penalty to your site
After you have confirmed that Google applied a penalty to your site, the next step is to determine why that penalty has been applied and figure out how to resolve the issue.
Study the different types of offenses that can result in penalties being applied to builder marketing sites. Then go over the penalized site in detail to ensure that it has no violations. If you discover a violation, remove it and document what changes have been made to the site and why.
3. Make sure there are only brand-based keywords pointing to your site
Use a program to look at the different “backlinks” that lead to your builder marketing site and confirm that they are worded appropriately. They should include the name of your company, rather than just vague wording that relates to what your company does in general. If any of these links are not anchored appropriately, change them and document EVERY change that you make.
4. Use analysis tools to make sure your website doesn’t look spammy
If Google looks at a site in order to determine whether it should be penalized for using “black hat” SEO techniques, and the site in question looks spammy, the chances of a penalty being applied increase tenfold.
There are various programs that builder marketing webmasters can use in order to ensure that their sites do not appear to be full of spam. You should put those to work prior to sending any reconsideration requests to Google.
5. Draft a proper reconsideration request to Google
Once you’ve taken the appropriate steps to resolve the factors that lead to Google’s decision to apply a penalty to your site, it is time to compose a reconsideration request for submission to Google.
It is crucial that the request is well thought out, clear and concise. It should tell Google what to look for when making a decision with regard to rehabilitating the builder marketing site.
The reconsideration request should include the following key points:
- Who owns the website
- The purpose of the site
- The webmaster’s reasons for believing that a penalty has been applied
- Why the webmaster thinks the site was penalized
- A summary of what has been done to correct the issue(s)
- An attached document with detailed evidence of attempts at correction
- Steps that will be taken to prevent re-offense
- An apology
