Obviously, the intention of any website owner is to bring as many people as possible to the site, and to increase traffic through any means necessary, usually SEO. However, things don’t always go that way and sites pulling in great numbers can easily go down. That’s because websites can be confronted with what is known as Google Penalties. These will dramatically reduce your traffic stream so it’s important to know where the problem is coming from.
These are some of the tools you can count on but there are also others which can provide very important support for figuring out why you’ve been struck with the Google Penalty. If you’re looking for more SEO-centric material, make sure to check out Matthew Woodward’s SEO blog.
Knowing what’s wrong
There are multiple penalties that Google can slap on you, so you have to first figure out which Google Penalty your websites have actually been affected by. SearchEngineLand’s this post will help you to learn about Violations & search engine spam penalties. The most important thing here is to remain calm and not just replace everything in the hopes of also removing the faulty component of the website. Many people start a large-scale renovation of their website because they believe that’s how they can get rid of the problem but frankly that’s just another problem in itself.
Instead of doing that, put some thought into what has transpired in the last period and what could logically be the problem for which your website has received a Google Penalty. Eventually, you’ll figure it out and be able to move on from there.
Using the proper tools for the job
There are great tools out there that can help you get rid of Google Penalties. Knowing which ones to trust and use is a big deal, as it can help you not only save a lot of time but also to avert a more unpleasant situation. Here are some of the best tools you should keep your eye on.
Moz Change History
This is a helpful tool that keeps track of all the changes and updates that affect Google’s algorithm. By keeping up to date with the lists provided by Moz, you should be able to more efficiently determine what the cause of your penalty is.
Penguin Google Penalty Check
This is an oldie but goldie as far as analytic tools go. You can use it to get a complete tracking of your website’s traffic based on a specific period of time, such as, since the last update went live. This sort of information can be invaluable and can help you understand what is happening and why.
Rank Ranger
This is your go-to tool for learning more about individual updates. Whenever a new update is released, you can find all the info you need on it and its changes with Rank Ranger. This can be of tremendous help since it lets you view the big picture of any update, present or past.
