Millions of websites are affected by search engine penalties each year, many go undetected.
They are usually caused by a small number of factors
Algorithm Updates
Malicious Attack
Outdated SEO Practices
Google Manual Penalty
How Does a Penalty Affect a Website?
The effect depends on what kind of penalty is involved, but it is never a good scenario.
This means YOUR business may not appear in results for your most important search terms.
The site may become fixed on pages where they will not be found by searchers. Worst case scenario, a site may be “de-indexed” completely, which means it will not be visible at all.
How Do I know If I have been Penalized?
The simple answer in some cases you won’t know and in some instances, it will be obvious.
It takes expert judgment to determine what happened and that is where we can help.
Google or other search engines do not always notify site owners that they have been penalized. In other cases, you will receive a notice in your Google Search Console. There may be more than one penalty and yet only notified about a single issue. It can be very difficult to determine if you have been penalized to the untrained eye.
You may notice a sudden drop in your rankings but distinguishing this from normal fluctuations is complex.
Can a Penalty be Resolved?
In many cases, the answer is yes, but the goals of the individual business and the cost must be considered.
However, every single case is different as every site has unique characteristics, such as content and backlinks, traffic, social signals and much more.
These are factors such as your niche, your site’s history and how badly damaged it has become.
Prevention Is Better Than Cure
Avoiding a penalty is the smartest move a business owner can make, as recovery may take some time and there are costs involved which depend on many variables.
Your website may even be heading towards a penalty without your knowledge. This can be caused by outdated or risky SEO techniques used in the past.
It possible that another algorithm update will trigger the full-on penalty which requires remedial action.
Concerned About Penalties?
Next Steps
Contact Us
We will give you an unbiased opinion on how we can help and if we find no issues, that is what we will report to you.
After the initial contact from a client. we will carry out a site audit for no charge and will report back with our findings on what we believe can be done to resolve any potential issue.
Our recommendations will be based upon the site itself and the individual business goals.
When certain types of penalty are imposed, it may be better to obtain a new domain and build a new website as the existing site may not regain search positions that the business once enjoyed.
This will, of course, be a last resort as no business wants to have to build up a new website if it can possibly be avoided.
Contact us today and we will be pleased to discuss if your site may have been affected, and what we can do to resolve the situation.