Removal of search engine sanctions
If your site has suddenly started to rank poorly and traffic has dropped to almost zero, you should think about whether it has fallen under the filters of search engines. For any action of SEO specialists, there is a counteraction in the form of algorithms of numerous filters created by employees of antispam departments of search engines..
Search engine sanctions– are actions aimed at violating the rules of search engine promotion. A new site or page is indexed in the search engine at the time of its appearance, after which it goes to the public library. As a result, the robot knows about the existence of the site and begins to add to the issue. Periodically, the system checks the entire library again for new information, and if something appears that it may not like, sanctions are applied to the site. The whole difficulty for an SEO specialist is that the algorithms used to check the pages are not announced. For what exactly the site fell under the filter, you can only guess.
The search engine applies the following measures to violators:
Two companies — Google and Yandex — presented the most popular search engines in Ukraine. But, after the decree of the President of Ukraine, the latter is banned. So let's look at how search engine sanctions work and how to get out of them, using the example of Google.
The site is checked against Google search filters using the Search Console. You can find the information you need in the Search Appearance, Google Index, Search Traffic, Crawl sections. If your site is on the list of violators, these sections will contain a warning message or simply inform you that the site is subject to restrictions. There are also programs that can only be used as an additional analysis tool. SEO Tool, SEO Lib, and Fruition are examples.
In addition to automatic sanctions, there are also manual ones. During the check, the system signals to the search engine specialist that something is wrong with the site. He reviews it manually and decides whether to impose sanctions or not. The site is checked for manually applied search filters in the same Search Console in the section Manually actions.
We will consider actions aimed at removing filters (sanctions) from Google search engines on the example of these same filters.
Panda is part of a search algorithm that evaluates content, page content, and usability. Its signs are a drop in traffic and a position on the issue. It is imposed for copying content from other people's sites, many keys in the texts, which can be considered spam. Actions to remove from the filter: conduct an audit, optimizing the site for all parameters — from design to content of each page.
Penguin is a filter that checks the quality of links. As a penalty, Google lowers the site's rating, or it may be subject to manual review. Removing a site from the Penguin filter is to remove all low-quality links to the site and increase the plan by using organic, natural, relevant links.
Hummingbird is a filter that is responsible for the relevance of queries. If we make a search query, we want to find the information we need on the pages provided by the search engine. But when the semantic load is artificially increased, we will not find information on request on the site. That's why Hummingbird checks this component to prevent such sites from being released.
If your site is not adapted to mobile devices, it may fall under the filter for lack of a mobile version. Of course, this is not a filter in the traditional sense, but rather part of the algorithm, but the site's position in the issue is reduced as a result of its action. To avoid this, check that it is displayed correctly on all gadgets.
The site may fall under the filter for slow performance. He will never reach the top positions if the loading of pages is slow. The solution is obvious – you need to speed up the site and download speed.
The filter for non-working links is also part of the general algorithm. It is very difficult to keep track of which links on your site, and even more so, which of the external links do not work. In order not to spend a lot of effort and time checking them all, there is a tool called Link Checker.
You can get under the filter for reoptimization if:
1 there are too many keywords in the text that are used inorganically. Keys like "shooting a video Kyiv cheap" are long gone;
2 too much emphasis on keywords when highlighted in a different type, color, etc.;
3 too many keys in title and description.
To get out of this filter, you need to have your texts edited by an experienced copywriter. And to avoid it, remember that texts should be written for humans, not robots.
The key to success in promoting sites is gradual action and the use of honest methods. Using black hat techniques, you can get under sanctions. But further removal of the site from the Google filter requires a lot of money and time.