Search Console reports a penalty.
WHAT IT MEANS
A human reviewer determined your site violates guidelines. Affected pages or the whole site are demoted or removed.
READING IT
Search Console states the reason and whether it affects the whole site or specific pages. That determines the response.
COMMON REASONS
Unnatural links to your site, usually from buying links Thin content with little value Cloaking, showing different content to engines than to visitors Hidden text or keyword stuffing Spam content, frequently from a compromise User-generated spam in comments or forums
WHAT TO DO
- Understand exactly what triggered it.
- Fix it thoroughly, not partially.
- Document what you did.
- Submit a reconsideration request explaining honestly what happened and what changed.
FOR UNNATURAL LINKS
Remove what you can, disavow the rest, and explain the history.
WHAT NOT TO DO
Submit a reconsideration request before fixing. Rejected requests lengthen the process. Deny responsibility for something you did.
RECOVERY
Weeks to months. Prevention is considerably cheaper.
