Penalties of Google: Strategies to Detect, Recover, and Prevent

Google is the biggest search engine in the world, and all kinds of websites want to rank higher on the search engine result pages to reach their target audiences. While everyone follows the guidelines for Google, sometimes issues of a penalty can appear due to various reasons. It requires expert-level strategies to safely navigate through the platform without causing any penalty.

Sometimes these penalties can appear out of nowhere and without any notification. But you will understand once you witness an exponential reduction in web traffic, and if the rankings are damaged for SERP (search engine result pages). Google sometimes puts up a hidden algorithmic filter that can bring down the visibility of your website. It can take more than 4 to 6 months to recover from this, and that is why you should be careful. Let’s find out more about the Google penalties, especially the stealthy ones that often stay hidden.

What are considered Google penalties?

Penalty is referred to as any kind of enforcement that stops your seamless experience, and for Google, it is about reducing a site’s visibility and presence among users. If Google finds that website to be problematic for users, the site can be deindexed permanently, which is a huge penalty for any website that is trying to survive in the digital age.

In this case, the most common penalties are manual actions, which are triggered by a human reviewer who has manually flagged a violation against Google’s Search Essentials. It can be spam, manipulation, or an attempt to deceive the algorithm. However, sometimes penalties can appear from SEO, too. Google’s automated actions can be a part of a penalty, too, even if it is not labeled that way. Therefore, finding the difference between manual actions and algorithm impact is the key here.

Different Types of Manual Action

User-generated or Third-party Spam – If the site is unable to match its web content and does not add value to it, it rather distracts from the purpose. It happens when there are spammy comments on the post that do not have anything to do with the blog but work as a clickbait for the interested users and make them click.
Spam-free Host – Is your site hosted on a free web host or server that also supports other spammy websites and low-quality platforms? The reputation of the hosting server can trigger a penalty for your website on Google.
Issues with Structured Data – This mainly refers to the issues that revolve around schema markup. It is like an indication to Google that there is something on your website that is not really present there and thus, deceiving the users.
Unnatural Links – These links are mainly backlinks to your website that are generated from irrelevant or low-quality sites, which raises red flags and penalties. While backlinks are important for SEO, unnatural links can hamper your site’s web presence.
Cloaking – This takes place when the website represents a version of the web page to the search engine but a different version to the users. Misleading content for the user is never entertained on Google, as user satisfaction is the top priority here.
Thin Content and Keyword Stuffing – Thin content is not about the word count but the quality of content and its impact in the market. Google appreciates original content that can offer some value or insight. Overloading a web page with numerous keywords can also appear spammy, and instead of boosting rank, Google provides a penalty for this.
Sneaky Redirects – This is a sneaky attempt where a visitor lands on a page that appears relevant but quickly changes and redirects users to another page, which is literally deceiving.
AMP Mismatch – AMP stands for Accelerated Mobile Pages, which are smaller versions of webpages built for mobile users to load and perform faster. When the AMP version does not match the original web page, it is going to trigger a penalty.
News and Discover Policy – Publishers who use Google News or Discover can trigger a penalty for violations when they spread misinformation, hatred, discrimination, or harmful content.
Site Reputation Abuse – When someone tries to exploit the ranking power of high-authority sites with low-quality content, it can be flagged and result in a penalty.

Manual Action vs. Algorithmic Penalties

A comparative discussion between manual and algorithmic penalties is required to understand what you are dealing with. Every time the ranking for your website falls, it does not mean another penalty, as sometimes it can be technical errors or some self-inflicted issues that are not necessarily a penalty. However, if the ranking drops significantly without any technical error, it can be due to some manual action or algorithmic penalties.

Manual Action

It is done by a human reviewer at Google
Related to manipulative links, spam, or the violation of Google’s Search Essentials
It often triggers a notification email
Appears in Google Search Console

Algorithmic Penalties

Google’s ranking systems automatically trigger this
It does appear on the search console
Comprises user experience, linked profiles, and content quality

Both of them can significantly affect web traffic and ranking for your website. However, the main difference lies in visibility. Google’s algorithm has an impact on a website in three ways which include Devaluation, Demotion, and Suppression. Google’s penalty can be a big obstacle to your site’s visibility and online presence.

Final Thoughts

Google penalties can drop visibility for a website significantly, and that is why you need the support of a professional agency. The Video Promotion Club seems like a good option to hire as this company specializes in promotion, SEO optimization, and promoting YouTube videos. It is well-versed in ad strategies and capable of empowering all kinds of industries. When you hire a professional and reliable agency, they can ensure improved visibility and presence for your website.

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