Biz Features

3 Tips for Cleaning Up Your Company’s Google Website Penalty

by . March 8th, 2014

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Google has been working tirelessly for many years to ensure that their search results only return high quality websites. They have zero tolerance for any webmasters who try to produce a poorly thought out product in the hopes that they can parlay it into page views and internet success.

Google
Websites found to be in violation of the rules will face some stiff penalties. Luckily, there are ways to remedy the situation and regain your website’s place on the internet. Before you are able to address the penalty, you need to determine its severity.

Your Google Webmaster Tools will have the necessary information for you to figure out what’s going on. You should only look at the suggestions below when you determine a penalty has been accessed.

3. Understanding Current SEO Tactics

The tools that webmasters have in their SEO arsenal have changed rapidly over time. What worked in the past could result in stiff penalties in the present. This is why every webmaster should study current SEO literature to ensure that their knowledge is up-to-date.

Old techniques are being thrown out of the window on a regular basis. The algorithm that Google uses to rank its websites is constantly changing. Webmasters have no choice other than to adapt.

2. Developing a Solid Inbound Marketing Campaign

Everything associated with your website comes down to its design and how frequently you post content. Once you have this part of your website ironed down, you should look into ways to reach out to your potential audience, whether it’s through social media or any other PR efforts.

You can’t take your audience for granted. Your content has to always be high quality, adding value to the internet where it was previously missing. The people who visit your website should see you as a subject matter expert.

1. Clearing Out All the Junk

You should focus on quality over quantity when it comes to other websites linking to yours. The process of requesting the removal of low quality links is tedious. You will encounter webmasters that are unwilling to accommodate your request.

In these instances, you should compile a list of the responses that you receive from the webmasters in question to document your efforts. Sometimes you will encounter webmasters that never respond to request. You should use the disavow tool to address unresponsive webmasters. Wait until you have manually requested the removal of the links before you resort to using the disavow tool.

Header: marciookabe via photopin cc

About the Author

Dan OgdenDan Ogden has been in the online marketing industry for over 5 years. He and a partner just recently launched an inbound marketing agency called Digital Flavor. They use content marketing and website messaging to attract, convert, close, and retain new customers.    

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Arthur Piccio manages YouTheEntrepreneur and has managed content for major players in the online printing industry. He was previously BizSugar's contributor of the week. His work has appeared multiple times on The New York Times' You're the Boss Small Business Blog. He enjoys guitar maintenance and reading up on history and psychology in his spare time.