Guest contributor Matt Beswick looks at the difference between algorithmic and manual penalties, and show you how to recover from both.
Sudden and unanticipated declines in organic traffic can typically be traced back to one of two sources: algorithm updates and manual penalties. There’s quite a bit of confusion regarding these SERP-related occurrences as well as the appropriate response to each.
An algorithm change takes the human element out of the equation and is entirely software-based. A Google penalty, on the other hand, is a manual assessment of the worth of a website and a subsequent downgrade in its ranking. Recognizing the difference between penalties and algorithm updates can save you quite a lot of headache in the long run.
Assessing the damage
First of all, figure out if you’re dealing with an algorithm update or a penalty. Search for your brand or company name on Google, or look to your rank-tracking solution for recent metrics on all of your branded keywords.
If you’re seeing a big, abrupt hit to branded searches, the chances are quite good that you’ve been manually de-indexed or penalized.
If you’ve been hit with an algorithm change, you’ll see both branded and non-branded keywords affected more or less equally. You need to determine which algorithm update is affecting you. Check Google’s Webmaster Central blog or the algorithm time lines of Panda and Penguin to match the date of your website’s traffic drop-off with the release of an update.
Grappling with the Panda Update
The Panda update released in February of 2011 dealt with poor SEO and thin content rather than outright malicious SEO.
If you were hit by Panda, that means that you’ll need to beef up the quality of your websites with better content, remove duplicate content, and simultaneously clean up your internal linking structure. Using rel=canonical to indicate which pages should take precedence for indexing purposes is the best way to avoid being slapped down for having similar content in different locations.
Make an effort to improve the overall user experience of your site and cut down on bounce rates to demonstrate that your website is a high-quality online resource. Remember: Panda refreshes don’t happen each day so it may take days or weeks before your changes take effect.
Dealing with the Penguin Update
As opposed to Panda, the Penguin update targets things like unnatural links, cloaking, sneaky redirects and doorway pages. Penguin also lessens or entirely negates the impact that low-quality web directories have on the SERPs.
If you were hit by Penguin, remove directory links that could harm you, and don’t go overboard with exact-match anchor text in your link building. Some keyword optimization is good, but too much of a good thing will get you red-flagged in a hurry. Make sure that the web pages that you present to average surfers are the same as the ones that you allow Googlebot to index.
Reinclusion via Google’s manual tools
In the event that a manual penalty occurs, the all-important Google Reinclusion Request Form is worth a look.
When requesting reinclusion after a manual de-indexing, document the bad links you’ve dealt with in spreadsheet form and make the case to Google that you’ve cleaned up your site’s act.
Reinclusion attempts don’t guarantee success, but they’ll at least give you a shot if you make a convincing argument that you deserve a second chance. Google even publishes a handy instructional guide on the reconsideration request process and how to go about it properly for the best results.
Mopping-up operations
Once you’ve determined how you’re being pinched, assessed the extent of the damage and concocted a repair strategy, you’ll of course have to measure the impact of your recovery efforts.
In the weeks and months following your penalty or algorithm-related traffic decline, take advantage of everything that Google Webmaster Tools has to offer, leverage Google Analytics to keep an eye on how your traffic is recovering, and use a reputable rank-tracking solution to see the big-picture impact on your rankings. In particular, focus on reducing bounce rates for traffic that originates from search engines.
The wrap
Great rankings are rarely the result of sneaky or clever SERP finagling. Rather, they’re the result of good SEO, good content, and good intentions.
Google is a large company that employs some of the smartest software engineers on this blue-green orb we call Earth. If there’s a new trick to manipulating SEO that crops up, they’ll deal with it in the next update.
If you’re in the SEO game for the long haul, it’s worth your while to just do things right from the start. Don’t cut corners. Put out the best content you can if you want to avoid Google’s algorithmic or manual wrath.
