Chapter 7: Google Penalties - What They Are and How They Work
Google penalties can be applied to a specific page, a group of pages, or an entire website. They can also be temporary or permanent, depending on the severity of the violation and the steps taken to resolve the issue.
When a website is penalized, it will typically experience a drop in its search engine rankings, resulting in reduced traffic and visibility. In some cases, a website may be completely removed from Google's search results - an action known as “deindexing.”
Deindexing refers to the process of a search engine removing a webpage or website from its index. This means the webpage or website will no longer appear in search results when users enter relevant keywords. There are two main categories of deindexing: temporary and permanent.
Temporary Deindexing
This is the more common scenario. Here are some reasons why a webpage might be temporarily deindexed:
Technical issues. Crawling errors, broken links, or website downtime can prevent search engines from accessing and indexing your content.
Recently updated content. Search engines might take some time to re-crawl and index your website after you've made significant changes.
Low-quality content. If your webpage is deemed to be thin, irrelevant, or lacking value to users, search engines might temporarily deindex it for further review.
The good news is that temporary deindexing is usually not permanent. By addressing the underlying issue (fixing technical errors, updating content, etc.), you can encourage search engines to re-crawl and re-index your webpage.
Permanent Deindexing
In some cases, deindexing can be permanent. This typically happens when a webpage violates Google's Webmaster Guidelines. Here are some examples:
Spammy content. Content with excessive keyword stuffing, misleading information, or hidden content can be permanently deindexed.
Hacked website. If your website is hacked and distributes malware or redirects users to malicious sites, Google might permanently deindex it to protect users.
Duplicate content. If your website has a significant amount of duplicate content copied from other sources, Google might remove those pages from its index.
Negative SEO. The practice of negative SEO aims to point low-quality sites and links to another web property, and also usually involves fake bad reviews, along with other nefarious tactics designed to hurt a site’s organic rank.
If you suspect your website has been permanently deindexed for violating guidelines, you'll need to take corrective action and then request a review from Google. This process can be complex and time-consuming, so it's important to prioritize creating high-quality content and following best practices to avoid permanent deindexing in the first place.