TRAFFIC
FIVE STEPS TO AVOID WHEN
YOUR SITE HAS BEEN PENALIZED
While the instinct is to react swiftly when faced with a manual spam action, webmasters should think very
carefully before taking steps which could ultimately hold them back instead of aiding the reconsideration
effort, according to SearchBrothers’ Fili Wiese and Kaspar Szymanski, both former members of the
Google Search Quality team.
GOOGLE APPLIES MANUAL spam
actions, also known as penalties, to
websites that are found to be in violation
with their Webmaster Guidelines. The
extent and impact of manual actions
depends on the specific violation identified
and can range from barely noticeable to
complete removal from Google Search
Top 5 steps to avoid while applying
for reconsideration
1. Contacting an AdWords, AdSense or
other Google product representative,
seeking advice or merely to vent
frustration, is on top of the list of most
common mistakes while trying to resolve
a manual spam action applied to a
“Trying to establish communication with a random Google
employee regarding a manual spam action is both a waste
of time and puts them in an uncomfortable position.”
results. Several techniques can trigger a
manual spam action to be applied, such
as content hidden fro