Although you can be quickly dropped, sometimes in less than a week after doing something not on the approved list, it normally takes a while longer to get back. The fastest reinstatements we see occur in three or four days, for a partial reinstatement, though only simple errors are involved and there is probably an element of luck here. Normally, a return to good grace will take a minimum of one month and quite often three to four months. At that time, full PageRank is not achieved straightaway and takes a while to be reinstated.
A request for reinclusion (or reconsideration) should be submitted in the correct form, in the right way according to the search engine involved. For basic algo-controlled penalties, this should not be necessary, since once the problem or problems have been removed then the reaction is, generally, that natural rank gradually returns.
We help clients to fix it and get out from under, using a list of around thirty main factors that we have found to be responsible (each with several sub-factors). In some cases this work can be carried out on-site by ourselves, or the site builders or client; in other cases it must be implemented by the site hosts.
These errors can be classified under various headings, such as network problems, hosting faults, site content errors, and so on. In other cases the client is well aware they had some culpability, and our task is to unban the website by fixing the problems, clearing their name and getting them back to square one. Some offsite factors are also relevant, among those being paid links of one form or another, which are best avoided.
We usually quote a fixed time for this work as the problems are often either reasonably clear or likely to be in areas not too difficult to locate (if you are doing this on a regular basis, as we do). Big sites with big problems may need a more open-ended agreement, but we're flexible.
Site owner mistakes
Something like 9 out of 10 website owners we see who are actively trying to get their websites reinstated in a search engine's index, and who have submitted a reinclusion request, still have serious errors on their site.
Because of this you can understand why search engine staff might feel a little weary about reinstatement requests in general. However, many site owners submit these requests in the hope of some dialogue with SE staff - some sort of indication where they might be going wrong.
If website owners hope for some sort of meaningful communication they are likely to be sadly disappointed. Search staff as a rule never communicate with site owners; do not offer any help to resolve issues; and have no procedures in place to assist with penalty resolution.
Like many other commercial concerns who are cash-strapped and short of staff, they have in some cases turned to forums as a support option. They hope that other users will do the job for them. The results vary: in some cases the forums are well-supported by search staff, in others they aren't.
It may be thought that since search engine operators are unlikely to be short of cash, they could help more. However it needs to be remembered that search engines are in fact an advertising channel, since that is where the income comes from. Advertising and its continued success will always come first in the list of priorities, as organic search is simply the means to provide a channel. As long as nothing threatens the advertising revenue, then organic search issues will always take second place.
Correct website operation
Our policy with websites that need to be unbanned is simple: we cannot judge owners on what they did in the past because we have no evidence of it; if they appear to have an honest site then we can probably help. Whatever management style was employed before, the results were not optimal, so we advise on how to do things the right way in the future.
The best way to get good traffic in the first place is to be absolutely straightforward, honest and open - and 100% ethical. You just need to present your site in the right way to get the search engines on your side. We have a straightforward technical system to do this, and once you know the right way to do it, the results simply come from work input over time.
Think you can't get good results that way? On the contrary, the straighter you keep it, and the better you know your job, the better the results you can get. There is any amount of proof of this. If you do not have the skills or desire to make your site a useful and honest resource, that is a different matter.
All websites, in whatever market area they operate, can potentially rank highly. It just depends on the skill of your advisors and your budget. That last statement needs clarifying - we should state clearly that although it may be possible to buy your way to a high position, this isn't the best policy in our view. Better would be to allocate a good part of your budget to hiring the best people to improve your site, and especially its content. An authoritative site with high credibility that is a renowned online resource is very hard to beat, even by all the spammers and big-budget advert buyers.
Look to the long term: keep your network, code and content clean; maintain a decent set of metrics from all angles; keep adding unique content; don't try to game the system - and you will do just fine.
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Banned Websites - 3
