What is a Google penalty for SEO? A thorough explanation of its causes and how to remove it!

Many companies today focus on SEO as a core marketing strategy.
While implementing SEO measures, some of you may have heard the term “Google penalty.”
Some people may be wondering, “I’ve received a Google penalty, but I don’t know what to do.”
Therefore, in this article, we will explain Google penalties during SEO, including their causes and how to have them removed.

1. What is a Google penalty?

A Google penalty, also known as an “SEO penalty,” refers to a penalty imposed by Google on websites, web pages, and other content that is deemed to violate Google’s established ” quality guidelines .”
If your website receives a Google penalty, your search rankings may drop significantly, or your website may even disappear from search results altogether .
If a website’s search ranking drops or it disappears from search results altogether, user traffic to the site will decrease significantly, which will be a major blow to the company and website operator.

1-1. Types of Google Penalties

Google penalties include:

There are two types.
Manual penalties are imposed manually by Google staff after visual inspection, and they can target content such as malicious spam sites and hacking, in addition to the types of content described in the next chapter.
Automated penalties are determined automatically by Google’s algorithm and are generally less severe than manual penalties.

2. Things that can result in a penalty

As mentioned earlier, SEO penalties are caused by violations of Google’s guidelines.
The following two factors are the main causes that affect penalties: There are two types.
Manual penalties are imposed manually by Google staff after visual inspection, and they can target content such as malicious spam sites and hacking, in addition to the types of content described in the next chapter.
Automated penalties are determined automatically by Google’s algorithm and are generally less severe than manual penalties.

2-1. Low-quality content

The content that ranks highly in search engines like Google is content that has been deemed “useful to the user.”
Therefore, content deemed to be of low quality and of no value to users will not receive a good rating from Google, and specifically, the following types of low-quality content may be subject to penalties.

2-2. Malicious or unnatural links

Another major cause of penalties is content with many malicious or unnatural backlinks .
Google’s content evaluation criteria include backlinks from other websites.
Content that collects links is considered valuable content that has gained external recognition, but conversely, malicious links such as the following may be subject to penalties.

3. How to check for penalties

So, how can you check if you’ve been penalized?
The method for checking for penalties varies depending on the type of penalty.

3-1. Checking Search Console

You can check for manual penalties using Google Search Console .
Google Search Console, a free tool provided by Google that can be used for SEO, allows you to receive notifications if you receive a manual penalty.
You can check the message in the “Manual Actions Report” within Search Console, so take action according to the message.

3-2. Checking search rankings, etc.

Unlike manual penalties, automatic penalties do not result in notifications or messages from Google, so it is generally impossible to know if you have been penalized .
Therefore, you should regularly check your search rankings , and if your ranking suddenly drops significantly or disappears from the search results altogether, you should suspect an automatic penalty and check for any underlying issues to make improvements.

4. How to remove the penalty

If you see in Search Console that you’ve been penalized, improve your content to get the penalty removed.
The penalty warning messages you receive in Search Console will explain the reason why you are being penalized .
Review the message and address the issue that is causing the problem.
After making improvements, submit a ” reconsideration request ” through Search Console. If Google determines that the site now complies with the guidelines after the issues have been resolved, the penalty will be lifted within a few days to a few weeks.
You will receive a message in either case, whether the penalty is lifted or your reconsideration request is denied. If your request is denied, please address the issues listed again.

5. Measures to avoid penalties

We’ve shown you how to get your penalties lifted, but sometimes you can get penalized without realizing it, so it’s important to create a website that avoids penalties as much as possible.
To avoid incurring penalties, please pay attention to the following points.

5-1. Create high-quality content

You can gain Google’s favor by creating high-quality content that is valuable to users.
Instead of focusing solely on SEO, let’s create content that considers user needs and provides useful information to our users .

5-2. Do not include hidden links or similar content.

A hidden link is an SEO technique that involves placing links that are invisible to users by making them the same color as the background or by making the font size extremely small, so that only search engines can read them.
These kinds of malicious methods are called “black hat SEO,” but black hat SEO is ineffective against modern search engine algorithms and can even result in penalties .
Focus on creating content to acquire natural backlinks.

6. Leave your secure search engine ranking optimization to BrandCloud.

SEO is a crucial initiative for companies to increase their market value by improving brand awareness and acquiring customers.
However, to make your online branding even more effective, it’s recommended to entrust the task to a company with specialized knowledge.
If you’re looking to increase your company’s value safely and without incurring penalties, please entrust your business to our company, ” Brand Cloud .”
Our company offers brand lifting services that leverage our unique expertise , based on a systematic approach developed in the United States using statistical methods .
Brand Cloud focuses on “branding,” “reputation improvement,” and “awareness enhancement” for companies, products, and services. We offer comprehensive branding strategies and implementation, as well as the ability to effectively measure and analyze the effects of branding using a scientific approach .
Furthermore, in today’s world, where the internet has developed and the risk of reputational damage has increased, it is also important to improve negative online reputation in order to enhance the positive recognition of one’s own brand.
Brand Cloud uses AI to analyze such risks and enables the implementation of fundamental measures to mitigate reputational damage .
If you’re struggling with increasing brand awareness or improving your branding , please contact Brand Cloud for a consultation .

6. Summary

In this article, we’ve provided a detailed explanation of Google penalties, a common issue in SEO, including their causes, how to remove them, and measures to take to avoid them altogether.
Receiving a penalty can cause significant damage to your website, such as a drop in search rankings or even complete removal from search results.
To ensure safer and more effective landings, we encourage you to use our “Brand Cloud” service.