As a website owner, you should be aware of the penalties that Google can impose on your website. One of the most significant penalties that you could face is a manual action. In simple terms, this is a penalty that’s imposed on your website by Google’s human reviewers after they’ve found something that violates Google’s webmaster guidelines. In this post, we’ll delve into what manual action is and provide answers to some of the most popular questions about it.
Manual action refers to the process by which Google reviews your website when it receives a report that your site violates Google’s webmaster guidelines. Once the review has been completed, Google’s human reviewers will impose a penalty on your website if they find any violations.
There are several reasons why your website could receive a manual action from Google. Some of the most common reasons include link spam, thin content, duplicate content, and cloaking.
Link Spam: This refers to the practice of creating links to your website in an attempt to manipulate your search engine rankings.
Thin Content: This refers to content that provides little or no value to users.
Duplicate Content: This refers to content that appears on multiple pages of your website or across different websites.
Cloaking: This refers to the practice of showing different content to search engines and users.
If your website has received a manual action from Google, you’ll receive a notification in your Google Search Console account. The notification will indicate the reason for the penalty and provide information on how to fix it.
To fix a manual action penalty, you need to identify the cause of the penalty and take appropriate steps to fix it. For instance, if your website has been penalized for link spam, you need to identify the spammy links and remove them. Similarly, if you’ve been penalized for thin content, you need to add more valuable content to your website.
The time it takes to recover from a manual action penalty depends on the severity of the violation and the steps taken to fix it. Once you’ve fixed the problem, you can submit a reconsideration request through your Google Search Console account. Google will review your request and lift the penalty if it’s satisfied that you’ve taken appropriate steps to fix the problem.
To avoid manual action penalties, you need to adhere to Google’s webmaster guidelines. Some of the best practices that can help you avoid penalties include creating valuable content, avoiding link spam, and ensuring that your website is easy to navigate.
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