Being banned by a major search engine is a major disaster for any website. But is there any way that you can get back in the game again?
Regardless of where you have been ranking in Google's search results, discovering that your website has been banned altogether is devastating. Depending on where you were ranked before disaster struck, it could result in you losing anywhere from a few dozen visitors to several thousand.
So what can you do to put things right?
Firstly it should be noted that there is nothing which says you have any right to be relisted at any point. Google determines whether or not a banned site ever gets to appear in their results again.
You have two main courses of action. The only thing you can do as far as Google is concerned is to figure out why your site may have been banished. Were you linking to or from any dodgy sites, such as link farms? Did you indulge in black hat SEO techniques like hiding text on your pages or cramming as many keywords as you could into the content?
Anything like this - which you will no doubt realize you were doing - provides grounds for being banned from Google (or any other search engine for that matter). If you want to stand any kind of chance of being relisted you will have to remove the offending material and make sure that the only search engine optimization techniques you are using are white hat ones.
With that said, there is still no guarantee that you will be readmitted into the search results - even if your website is now squeaky clean and whiter than white. Some webmasters have found that sending Google an apologetic email or standard letter has helped their cause, but even those who have been relisted don't get their status back overnight. Your punishment can be months long.
If you have honestly gone through every single page on your site and you cannot find any reason why you should have been banned, try visiting some online webmaster or SEO forums to see whether anyone can shed any light on the matter. You will often find other people on these forums who have been through a similar experience or know someone else who have, and can give you some useful advice.
Failing all else it might be time to consider starting afresh with a new site. If you have tried everything you can to get relisted, nothing is working and Google are not forthcoming, then this might be the only option left to you. If you end up travelling down this route be sure to read up on how to design and promote your site in ways that the search engines will approve of.
The biggest lesson here is clear. Regardless of whether you end up being able to get relisted with Google or not, you should treat the situation as a learning experience to ensure that you don't fall foul of this giant again.
Regardless of where you have been ranking in Google's search results, discovering that your website has been banned altogether is devastating. Depending on where you were ranked before disaster struck, it could result in you losing anywhere from a few dozen visitors to several thousand.
So what can you do to put things right?
Firstly it should be noted that there is nothing which says you have any right to be relisted at any point. Google determines whether or not a banned site ever gets to appear in their results again.
You have two main courses of action. The only thing you can do as far as Google is concerned is to figure out why your site may have been banished. Were you linking to or from any dodgy sites, such as link farms? Did you indulge in black hat SEO techniques like hiding text on your pages or cramming as many keywords as you could into the content?
Anything like this - which you will no doubt realize you were doing - provides grounds for being banned from Google (or any other search engine for that matter). If you want to stand any kind of chance of being relisted you will have to remove the offending material and make sure that the only search engine optimization techniques you are using are white hat ones.
With that said, there is still no guarantee that you will be readmitted into the search results - even if your website is now squeaky clean and whiter than white. Some webmasters have found that sending Google an apologetic email or standard letter has helped their cause, but even those who have been relisted don't get their status back overnight. Your punishment can be months long.
If you have honestly gone through every single page on your site and you cannot find any reason why you should have been banned, try visiting some online webmaster or SEO forums to see whether anyone can shed any light on the matter. You will often find other people on these forums who have been through a similar experience or know someone else who have, and can give you some useful advice.
Failing all else it might be time to consider starting afresh with a new site. If you have tried everything you can to get relisted, nothing is working and Google are not forthcoming, then this might be the only option left to you. If you end up travelling down this route be sure to read up on how to design and promote your site in ways that the search engines will approve of.
The biggest lesson here is clear. Regardless of whether you end up being able to get relisted with Google or not, you should treat the situation as a learning experience to ensure that you don't fall foul of this giant again.
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