Your traffic takes a serious hit when Google blacklists your website. It doesn't end there. The incident severely affects your reputation online and your ability to attract potential customers.
Whenever someone tries to access your website, the search engine displays alarming security warnings, making your potential visitors reconsider their decision.
Google takes user security very seriously. Certain restrictions are in place to protect users from harmful activities across the internet, such as malicious attacks and deceptive content.
When your website fails to meet the safety criteria, Google takes action to safeguard its users. It may temporarily or permanently remove your site from search results. The good news is that you can fix things. You can find your way out of Google's blacklist.
Don't know how? We are here to help you with that.
What is Google Blacklist?
Before we talk about the steps to remove your website from Google's blacklist, let’s learn about the blacklisting process itself.
Google is likely to blacklist your site when it detects potential security threats associated with your platform. The search engine may also blacklist you when it finds you violating its policies. Think of it as Google's measure to keep its users safe.
Here are the problems that you may encounter:
-
Safe Browsing Warning
Google actively scans your website for security threats. When it finds any suspicious activity, it displays a warning whenever its users try to access your website. You may encounter this issue when your website is under a malware attack or susceptible to phishing attempts.
Google may also show this warning when you publish deceptive content. There's nothing wrong with a little marketing gimmick, but Google doesn't appreciate it when you try to deceive its users. The platform will show a safe browsing warning to protect its users from various threats.
Source: techcrunch
It may not necessarily be your fault. For example, if hackers inject malicious code into your website, you don't ask for it. Similarly, it's not your fault when someone tries to access your customers' information. Yet, Google detects these issues and starts showing warnings to prevent users from accessing your site.
Source: webmasters.stackexchange.com
It significantly affects your website traffic, as many of the potential visitors choose to leave rather than proceed to access your content. Hence, it's important to keep your website secure by any means necessary.
-
Manual Penalties
Sometimes, Google reviews your website manually to see if it violates the quality guidelines. You can avoid these penalties by sticking to the content best practices and ensuring that you offer value through the information you publish on your site.
These penalties encompass specific rule violations. For example, if you buy links to manipulate search rankings, leverage auto-generated content, or create doorway pages, Google's team will flag these issues. You may also acknowledge manual penalties for hiding text, keyword stuffing, or joining link schemes.
Source: https://support.google.com/
Google notifies you about the penalty through Search Console. You can easily identify pages that violate Google's content quality guidelines. So, fixing the issues is not that hard. Don't think that these penalties just affect specific pages. Your entire website takes the hit. It all depends on how critical the violation is.
-
Algorithm-based Penalties
You receive an algorithm-based penalty when Google's system automatically detects issues with your website. You often receive these penalties without any warning or notification. So, finding your way around them is tricky compared to manual penalties. What gives away such penalties is that you see a sudden drop in your website's search rankings or traffic.
Google's algorithm comprises over 200 ranking factors. It constantly evolves, ensuring quality search engine recommendations.
Source: https://thephagroup.com/
You may encounter algorithm-based penalties, mainly due to publishing thin or poor content quality. You can't expect Google to recommend duplicate or machine-generated articles that offer no value to its users.
These penalties may also hit your site when it offers a poor user experience. For example, It’s less likely for you to stay in Google’s good books when your pages take forever to load because 47% of visitors expect their preferred sites to load within 2 seconds. Expect a similar outcome when you display excessive ads or your pages are difficult to navigate.
Steps to Restore a Website from Google Blacklist
Removing your website from Google's blacklist isn't going to be an easy process. It doesn't mean you don't have a chance to redeem yourself. You just have to make a few adjustments to the way you do things.
-
Check Manual Actions
Start by accessing the Search Console and look for the "Security & Manual Actions" section. Next, click on "Manual Actions" to find issues Google identified through a manual review of your site.
Go through the report carefully to understand the problems you need to fix. Google generally provides you with specific details, such as the guidelines you violated and the pages that caused the problems. Note down all the problems mentioned. This list will come in handy when fixing the problems and submitting a reconsideration request.
-
Explore Security Warnings
After checking manual actions, go through the security warnings in the Google Search Console. Go to the "Security & Manual Actions" section again and access “Security Issues”. The report will tell you about the security concerns associated with your website.
Security warnings regarding malware, phishing attempts, and harmful downloads are common to find. Some of these issues may be recent, whereas others may be affecting your reputation for long. Prioritize the ones that cause the most damage and work your way from there.
Search Console will help you pinpoint the compromised areas of your website. You can plan a cleanup accordingly and verify after fixing all problems.
-
Work on Website Security
You must strive to strengthen your website's security. It's unwise to wait for the security issues to occur and fix them. It's a reactive approach. You should be proactive and try to prevent future attacks.
Schedule periodic scans to find malware or malicious code. Using reliable security plugins like Cloudflare, Sucuri, Wordfence, and MalCare may come in handy in identifying your site's security loopholes.
You must always set a strong password and enable multifactor authentication. Periodically check access permissions and make sure that only authorized personnel have access to your data.
Last but not least, choose a reliable hosting service provider. Sometimes, your website's security can be compromised because of an insecure server.
-
Fix Compromised Pages and Spam Content
There are a few things that give away that your website may contain compromised pages or spam content. You should remove any malicious content you find on your site, as it compromises your visitors' security and may cause problems for you. Check page redirects and ensure that your visitors don't end up landing on harmful sites through your site.
Spammy content is likely your own doing. However, at times, it's user-generated. For example, people may abuse your comment section. So, see that you're producing quality content and following Google's guidelines. Plus, review user-generated content before letting it appear on your site.
Always keep a record of the changes you make to your site. You may need it when you ask Google to reconsider its decision.
-
Leverage SEO Best Practices
Improving your SEO can help you come out of the blacklist and avoid future penalties. Your goal should be to write for the visitors, not to climb the search engine rankings. You should embrace E-E-A-T and tailor your content to align with the search intent of your visitors.
The content you produce should be original and answer questions in the minds of your target audience. You should structure your content properly and improve its readability.
Adding relevant keywords to your content may be useful, but try not to go overboard. Keyword stuffing causes more harm than good and negatively affects your online visibility. Make sure that your website is easy to navigate and visitors can easily find all important pages.
Try and boost your website's speed and see that you offer a seamless user experience on all devices, be it desktop or mobile.
Look for broken links and set up 301 redirects for any altered URLs. Evaluate your backlink profile and disavow any spammy backlinks associated with you. Only relevant links send positive signals to search engines.
-
Ask Google to Reconsider its Decision
Once you have fixed the issues that potentially got you blacklisted, submit a reconsideration request through Google Search Console.
Be as detailed as you can. Talk about all the changes that you made and show that you have learned from your mistakes. Consider it as a detailed apology. So, you have to mean it.
Specifically, mention the problems you discovered, steps you took to fix each issue, and measures you have taken to prevent future problems. You have to prove that your website is now secure for browsing and offers value through the information published.
Google will review your website thoroughly and evaluate your initiatives. If you have rushed things, Google will know. You may have to start the process all over again. So, take your time and make sure that you’re not missing out on anything.
-
Be Careful
Just because you found your way out of the blacklist doesn't make you immune to it. It's an ongoing process. You should be vigilant and try to prevent potential issues in the future. If you see any unusual change in traffic or search engine rankings, try to find the causes and be quick to respond to such concerns.
You should always keep an eye on your website's security. Keep all your website components up-to-date. They include your CMS, themes, plugins, and so on. Create and deploy a security checklist for your team to follow. Make sure that your content provides value and that you offer an enhanced user experience through your platform.
Wrap Up
Don't panic when Google blacklists you. You can recover from it by fixing what caused it. You need to identify the issues, fix them, and stick to the quality guidelines.
You should always strive to prevent such issues from occurring, rather than wait for the search engine to blacklist you. Conducting a detailed website security audit and maintaining the quality of the content you produce may serve as efficient measures to prevent future concerns.
Educate yourself about Google's guidelines and try to keep up. If you spot any warning signs, act quickly. Don't wait for the issues to cause critical damage. You can request Google to reconsider its decision and restore the previous rankings. However, it won't do you any good if you keep repeating the same mistakes over and over.
For the latest digital marketing news, read our blog. To book an appointment, call 866-208-3095 or contact us here.
