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Google penalty recovery that starts with a diagnosis

When organic traffic falls, the first job is finding out why. We establish the cause from the evidence, then set out the route back in priority order.

What it is

Find the cause before you change anything

A sharp fall in organic traffic tends to get called a penalty. Sometimes it is one. A penalty in the strict sense is a manual action. Someone at Google has judged that part of your site breaks its spam policies, and the action is listed in the Manual actions report in Search Console. Recovery means putting the problem right and asking Google to review the site.

When that report is empty, the cause lies elsewhere. It might be a core update that changed what Google rewards, a spam update that discounted your links, a migration that lost pages, or a results page that now answers the question before anyone clicks. Each needs a different fix, and the wrong one can make things worse.

Troubleshooting and Recovery is built for that moment. It suits a business that has lost traffic, and the enquiries or sales that came with it, and wants a senior read on why before committing to a fix.

Approach

How we find out what happened

01

Date the drop

We pin the fall to the day and set it against Google’s published update history and your own release log. Timing is the first clue.

01

Date the drop

We pin the fall to the day and set it against Google’s published update history and your own release log. Timing is the first clue.

01

Date the drop

We pin the fall to the day and set it against Google’s published update history and your own release log. Timing is the first clue.

02

Shift or loss

Impressions on commercial queries tell you which. If they hold, people still see you and fewer need to click. If they fall, you are losing visibility and the work goes deeper.

02

Shift or loss

Impressions on commercial queries tell you which. If they hold, people still see you and fewer need to click. If they fall, you are losing visibility and the work goes deeper.

02

Shift or loss

Impressions on commercial queries tell you which. If they hold, people still see you and fewer need to click. If they fall, you are losing visibility and the work goes deeper.

03

Locate the loss

We break the drop down by page, query, device and market until the loss has an address. A fall confined to one template tells a different story from one spread across the site.

03

Locate the loss

We break the drop down by page, query, device and market until the loss has an address. A fall confined to one template tells a different story from one spread across the site.

03

Locate the loss

We break the drop down by page, query, device and market until the loss has an address. A fall confined to one template tells a different story from one spread across the site.

04

Test every cause

Manual action, core update, spam update, technical fault, lost links, a changed results page. Each leaves a different trace, and we check for all of them before naming one.

04

Test every cause

Manual action, core update, spam update, technical fault, lost links, a changed results page. Each leaves a different trace, and we check for all of them before naming one.

04

Test every cause

Manual action, core update, spam update, technical fault, lost links, a changed results page. Each leaves a different trace, and we check for all of them before naming one.

05

Measured once settled

We judge recovery after an update has finished rolling out and your fixes have been crawled. Numbers read mid-update give false alarms and false comfort.

05

Measured once settled

We judge recovery after an update has finished rolling out and your fixes have been crawled. Numbers read mid-update give false alarms and false comfort.

05

Measured once settled

We judge recovery after an update has finished rolling out and your fixes have been crawled. Numbers read mid-update give false alarms and false comfort.

What you get

A named cause and a route back

Two of these apply only when the cause calls for them.

01

Drop analysis

When the fall began and exactly which pages and queries it hit, taken from your own Search Console and analytics data.

01

Drop analysis

When the fall began and exactly which pages and queries it hit, taken from your own Search Console and analytics data.

01

Drop analysis

When the fall began and exactly which pages and queries it hit, taken from your own Search Console and analytics data.

02

Cause diagnosis

The cause named, with the evidence behind it and the explanations we ruled out along the way.

02

Cause diagnosis

The cause named, with the evidence behind it and the explanations we ruled out along the way.

02

Cause diagnosis

The cause named, with the evidence behind it and the explanations we ruled out along the way.

03

Manual action response

Where Google has taken manual action, a clean-up plan for the issue it flagged and a reconsideration request drafted for your review.

03

Manual action response

Where Google has taken manual action, a clean-up plan for the issue it flagged and a reconsideration request drafted for your review.

03

Manual action response

Where Google has taken manual action, a clean-up plan for the issue it flagged and a reconsideration request drafted for your review.

04

Migration comparison

Where a migration or redesign is involved, the old and new sites compared URL by URL, with the redirects and pages that need restoring.

04

Migration comparison

Where a migration or redesign is involved, the old and new sites compared URL by URL, with the redirects and pages that need restoring.

04

Migration comparison

Where a migration or redesign is involved, the old and new sites compared URL by URL, with the redirects and pages that need restoring.

05

Recovery plan

The fixes in priority order, each with its likely effect and the effort involved, specified for your developer or content team.

05

Recovery plan

The fixes in priority order, each with its likely effect and the effort involved, specified for your developer or content team.

05

Recovery plan

The fixes in priority order, each with its likely effect and the effort involved, specified for your developer or content team.

06

Recovery measures

The few numbers that will show whether the fixes are working, and when it is fair to read them.

06

Recovery measures

The few numbers that will show whether the fixes are working, and when it is fair to read them.

06

Recovery measures

The few numbers that will show whether the fixes are working, and when it is fair to read them.

FAQ

Common questions

Answers to what most people ask before we start. If yours is not here, get in touch.

Contact us

Contact us

How do I know if my site has a Google penalty?

Open the Manual actions report in Google Search Console. If Google has taken manual action against your site, it is listed there. If the report is empty, the drop has another cause, such as an algorithm update, a technical fault, a change to the results page or a fall in demand, and the diagnosis starts from there.

How do I know if my site has a Google penalty?

Open the Manual actions report in Google Search Console. If Google has taken manual action against your site, it is listed there. If the report is empty, the drop has another cause, such as an algorithm update, a technical fault, a change to the results page or a fall in demand, and the diagnosis starts from there.

How long does Google penalty recovery take?

Nobody can honestly give you a date. A manual action is removed when Google accepts your reconsideration request, and any recovery from an algorithmic drop comes as Google re-evaluates the site. Both run on Google’s timetable. What we control is the diagnosis, and every engagement starts there.

How long does Google penalty recovery take?

Nobody can honestly give you a date. A manual action is removed when Google accepts your reconsideration request, and any recovery from an algorithmic drop comes as Google re-evaluates the site. Both run on Google’s timetable. What we control is the diagnosis, and every engagement starts there.

Can you guarantee our traffic comes back?

No. Rankings are Google’s decision, and some traffic does not return because the results page itself has changed. We commit to a clear diagnosis with the fixes in priority order, and to honest reporting on what is recovering and what is not.

Can you guarantee our traffic comes back?

No. Rankings are Google’s decision, and some traffic does not return because the results page itself has changed. We commit to a clear diagnosis with the fixes in priority order, and to honest reporting on what is recovering and what is not.

Our traffic fell after a site migration. Can you help?

Yes. We compare the old site with the new one, URL by URL, and trace where the traffic went. We check for missing redirects, pages that did not make the move, internal links still pointing at old addresses and canonicals pointing the wrong way. Your developer gets a fix list in priority order.

Our traffic fell after a site migration. Can you help?

Yes. We compare the old site with the new one, URL by URL, and trace where the traffic went. We check for missing redirects, pages that did not make the move, internal links still pointing at old addresses and canonicals pointing the wrong way. Your developer gets a fix list in priority order.

What do we get at the end of the diagnosis?

A named cause with the evidence behind it, and the fixes in priority order, written for the people who will make the changes. You can run the fixes in-house, or keep us on to oversee them and read the recovery once it has settled.

What do we get at the end of the diagnosis?

A named cause with the evidence behind it, and the fixes in priority order, written for the people who will make the changes. You can run the fixes in-house, or keep us on to oversee them and read the recovery once it has settled.

Ready to find out what happened to your traffic?

One conversation with the person who would actually do the work. No juniors, no handoffs.

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