What is a manual action for "pure spam"?
When Google identifies or is informed of aggressive spam techniques that violate its policies, it can penalise your site, affecting its visibility in search results.
Why do manual
actions exist?
Manual actions aim to guarantee high-quality, relevant search results. By fighting spam and attempts at manipulation, it helps legitimate sites get the visibility they deserve.
How do I identify penalties?
How to fix it?
Follow our step-by-step instructions for resolving a manual action for “pure spam”:
1. Understand the violation.
2. Carry out a full audit of your site.
3. Make the necessary changes..
4. Request a Review, detailing the changes as fully as possible.
Important considerations
After requesting a review, the process can take days, weeks or even months to be reviewed.
Removing the manual action does not guarantee immediate restoration of the site’s previous rankings.
Focus and strategy
Prioritise compliance with Google’s guidelines and the overall quality of your site.
Concentrate on bringing your site into line with Google’s policies and improving the quality and authority of your content as part of a healthier, more sustainable strategy.
It’s true, all good things take time and effort!
FAQ
If I correct spam on just a few pages, will the penalty be lifted?
No, you need to fix the problems on the whole site.
Partial corrections will not remove the manual action.
Should I remove the rel=canonical tag to avoid contradicting the canonical chosen by Google for spammy pages?
It is recommended that you keep the appropriate canonical tags according to the structure of your site. In the case of “pure spam” actions, focus on removing or correcting the spam content itself.
What if I’ve fixed the problems but my site still doesn’t rank well?
Restoring a site’s ranking after a manual action can take some time.
Continue to focus on creating high-quality content and following best practices.
Is my domain lost? Do I have to throw away my site and start again?
No. The domain is not irreversibly damaged. By resolving violations of Google’s guidelines, you can request a review and work towards having the penalty lifted.
Why has my site been de-ranked, but there are other spam sites ranked?
Google uses complex algorithms and manual analysis to identify and penalise spammy behaviour, but it is possible that some sites may slip through the cracks temporarily.
This doesn’t mean that these sites won’t be penalised in the future.
My site has lost a lot of traffic but hasn’t received a manual penalty. What should I do?
Traffic drops can result from a number of factors.
You should carry out an in-depth audit and identify areas for improvement, and expert support is essential in this process.
Practical examples of what NEVER to do
What is a PBN?
PBN = Private Blog Network.
A tactic that consists of acquiring/developing a series of independent sites or blogs to generate backlinks to a main site.
What is EMD?
EMD = Exact Match Domain.
A tactic that consists of acquiring website domains that match an exact search target.
Example:
Search: “Plumber Porto”, with domain plumberporto.pt.
Why doesn’t it work?
PBN = it’s link spam, which is identified as a prohibited practice by Google in the guidelines published at: https://developers.google.com/search.
EMD = in late 2012 Google released an update that corrected this exploit.
What is keyword stuffing?
Filling content with irrelevant keywords just to increase search engine rankings.
What is cloaking?
Showing different content to search engines and users in an attempt to fool the algorithms.
Buying backlinks
Acquiring links in an unnatural way to manipulate the site’s ranking.
Duplicate Content
Copying content from other sites without authorisation damages the credibility and ranking of your site.
Deceptive redirection
Sending users to pages other than those they expected when clicking on a search result.
Real SEO goes far beyond keyword choices. Organic traffic comes from relevant and valuable content that can be shared on social media platforms. As well as boosting visibility, this also makes it possible to build quality backlinks.
SEO done right?
Talk to SmartLinks!
