Blocking a site on Google - 50 possible reasons

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Website blocking in Google and blocking in Adsense is primarily an event aimed at improving the quality of search. Google wants to give its users access to accurate information, unique content, and the best authors.

He constantly tweaks and improves his algorithms to ensure that the best documents from the web get the fame they deserve.
Unfortunately, there is also a downside: penalty. This is a consequence of the fact that Google does not agree with something on your site. Sometimes the punishment is well deserved, but even if you know you made a mistake, you probably want to fix the problem somehow.

The content of the article:

• Blocking a site on Google “Google Penalty” - what is it?
• Penalties manual and automatic
• Blocking a site on Google - why are sites blocked?
• Blocking a site on Google - how to solve this problem?

Blocking a site on Google or Google Penalty - what is it?

Google has been changing its ranking algorithms since December 2000. That's when he released the toolbar extension. Back then, the toolbar update represented a sea change that created the SEO industry as we know it. In fact, this was the first time PageRank was published in a meaningful or usable form.

Over the next decade, Google continued to improve the quality of its search results. Over time, he begins to eliminate low-quality content and raise good materials to the top of the search results. This is where blocking comes to the rescue.

Penguin Update was released in 2012. Overnight, it affected more than 1 in 10 search results, completely wiped out some sites in search, pushed low-quality content off the map, and forced SEOs to think much more carefully about their content strategy. Since then, SEOs have been keeping a close eye on Google's plans for fear of the next update, which could result in a fine for the site they're working on.

Penalties manual and automatic

Punishments can be automatic or manual. You will probably be told about the manual punishment, but you may not always know that you have been targeted if the reason is algorithmic in nature. These penalties can take even the most experienced SEOs by surprise.
When it comes to algorithmic penalties, here are some surefire tips:

• Your website is no longer at the top of your brand rankings. This is a dead sale. Even if your site doesn't rank on many other dimensions, it should at least thrive on one keyword.
• Any positions on the first page that you had slide to the second or third page without any action on your part.
• Your site's PageRank has inexplicably dropped from a respectable two or three to a big fat zero (or a paltry PR of one).
• The entire website was removed from cached Google search results overnight.
• Performing a search on the site - the keyword site:your_domain.ru - does not return results.
• Your page list - when you eventually find it on Google - refers to a page on your site other than the home page.

If you see one or more of these factors, you can be sure that your site has been affected by the penalty.

Blocking in Google - why are sites blocked?

Google is constantly tweaking and revising the way it indexes content. Although he publishes hints about updates to his algorithm, he rarely reveals to the general public, all the reasons for the changes. Fixing something already can be difficult.

Here's the part you've been waiting for: Blocking a site on Google - 50 common reasons. I can't claim to know the specific reasons for blocking your site, but I do know that all of these factors contribute greatly to it.

1. Buying links

Some swear it doesn't happen, but the actual evidence is mixed. Buying links can certainly be seen as an attempt to manipulate PageRank, and this is where the argument lies. If you bought bad links (and there were a lot of them), your actions could cause a ban.

2. Excessive reciprocal links

Link exchanges were once an innocent marketing tactic until they began to be abused. If you have been exchanging a lot of links with clients, this may be perceived as an attempt at manipulation.

3. Duplicate content

I hope this is obvious: any duplicate content on your site makes it less useful from Google's point of view, and this can lead to blocking the site. Make sure your content is unique and well written - use tools like Copyscape, text.ru, advego.com.

4. Frequent use of H1 tags

Proper structuring of content helps in SEO. The H1 tag helps Google understand what the page is about. An overabundance of H1 tags can be seen as an attempt to pump up a Google listing with keywords.

5. Internal 404 errors

Google wants to know that you are monitoring your content and weeding out any errors or issues. If you're giving away 404 pages on your own website, that's a sure sign that your users aren't getting the information they're asking for.

6. Links from sites in another language

It seems unfair, right? You have a legitimate link from a client in another country, but it technically counts against you. Well, Google's reasoning is correct: Users tend to prefer one language, so linking to sites in another language isn't that helpful to them.

7. Content filled with keywords

There are all sorts of weird and wonderful "rules" about keyword density in document content. The truth is that none of these rules are proven, and very high keyword density is a sign of poorly written content. If Google finds an unusually high number of keywords on a page, it may block you - right or wrong.

8. Footer Links

Some web designers use footer links as a means of navigation; some try to manipulate PageRank by using the footer as a place to transfer link juice in an unnatural way. There is a short discussion on Moz about this.

9. Site map not up to date

Google uses an XML sitemap to analyze the structure of your site and see how it works. Make sure your XML sitemap is available and up to date, then submit it in your Webmaster Tools account.

10. Hidden Links

All links on your site should be visible and useful to users. Anything hidden is considered suspicious. Never make a link the same color as the background of a page or button, even if you have a reason to.

11. Broken external links

If you don't update your links, Google will assume that you don't care about user experience and will gladly send visitors to various 404 error pages. Check links periodically and remove unnecessary ones.

12. Reduced Content

Sometimes website managers pull content from other sites to populate their own pages. Often this is done with good intentions, and this can be an innocent mistake. But Google considers this a pointless duplication. Instead, replace it with your own original content.

13. Hidden Content

Less ethical optimization tactics include masking text on a page to control theme or keyword weighting. It goes without saying that this big doesn't work.

14. Frequent use of anchor text

Once upon a time, SEOs worked on linking certain keywords to build their authority. As of the 2012 Penguin Update, excessive use of anchor text links is strongly discouraged. Replace your forced, unnatural keywords with honest links written in real Russian.

15. Neglecting the hreflang attribute

Neglect what? "Hreflang" is intended to notify Google that you have intentionally posted duplicate content for different languages or regions. People don't know if it really helps, but in the meantime, using it can't hurt.

16. Site Timing Expired or Disabled

When a site goes down, everyone gets upset: the visitor, the webmaster, and the search engine. If Google can't find your site, it will remove it from the index rather than keep sending users to a dead end.

17. Keyword Domains

While domain names are not that dangerous in and of themselves, keyworded domain names can be dangerous. Think about the problem with anchor text links: if we repeatedly link to this domain, Google might see this as anchor text manipulation. If you're using an exact match domain, make sure it has a lot of great content, otherwise Google will think you're trying to trick people into clicking on the link.

18. Rented Links

Some experts still consider leased links to be really useful for SEO. They pay for them monthly and change them from time to time. However, these are paid links, as most experts believe.

19. Using blog networks

As far as Google is concerned, any network is a sign of potential SERP manipulation. Most blog networks are currently closed or have given users the option to remove all banned links. You should too.

20. Affiliate links are everywhere

Google doesn't necessarily oppose affiliate websites, but a high number of affiliate links is a red flag that the content may not be up to par. While it's possible to disguise affiliate links with redirects, Google is good at this tactic, so don't rely on it.

21. Links to the whole site

We all need to link pages together, but Google constantly scans those links for unnatural patterns. A classic example is the mention of a web developer in the footer of a page. Not just nofollow: remove them completely.

22. Frequent use of meta keywords

Meta keywords have been the subject of controversy for some time now. They are too easy to manipulate. Make sure you use no more than five per page.

23. Slow speed

If your site loads slowly, your users will leave. Hosting speed is affected by many factors, so this is quite a difficult issue to evaluate and troubleshoot. Use a caching plugin or CDN right away. You can also move your site to a data center closer to your most frequent visitors: it's a bit more complicated.

24. Expanded Content

. This can put you in a difficult position if the Google ban doesn't get you first. Bought some super cheap articles? Sometimes the content is created by the "writer", so you may not even be aware of it. If the price was too good to be true, it's a sign that you may have bought junk.

25. Spam comments

Most commenting systems have an automated spam detection system, but some comments do get through. Pay close attention to the comments you receive. Also, don't let spam pile up; if you don't have time to moderate, turn off commenting entirely.

26. SEO black tip

If you post information about SERP manipulation using black hat methods, expect punishment. Matt Cutts hinted at this in a vlog.

27. Hacked Content

If your site is hacked, Google will quickly remove it from the search results. Act quickly to stop hacking attempts and restore the site from a backup if the worst happens.

28. Fast Link Building

It's only natural to want your new site to rank quickly. Do not overdo it. Lots of similar links pointing to the same place is a sign of automation. Don't artificially inflate link speeds: make incremental changes over time.

29. Spam reports

Google has published an online form to report spam sites. Your site may have been presented as a potential source of spam, either sincerely or maliciously.

30. Forum Link

We've all used forums full of links. Sometimes there are so many that it can be hard to find the real messages. If you're linking to a forum, use good, natural linking techniques and consider making it nofollow as well.

31. Hiding your sponsors

Having a sponsor is not so bad. Without them, many sites would not exist. Don't try to hide your sponsors, but follow the rules: Use nofollow for sponsored links and make sure the Google Newsbot doesn't crawl pages where these links can be found.

32. Bad robots.txt

The robots.txt file should be used to tell search engines how to treat your site. While there are legitimate reasons to exclude pages from your robots.txt file, do so with caution: excessive blocking can result in your site being banned by Google.

33. Links to suspicious sites

Never associate yourself with a website that does something that is ethically or legally questionable. Avoid hacks, pornography, and malware. Also, try to remove links to other sites that were previously banned if you know about it.

34. Landing pages

Companies sometimes try to use multiple landing pages to improve their position in the SERPs. Some companies are also trying to improve their rankings by building many one-page websites optimized for one keyword and then redirecting users to another site. Google considers such things to be bad practice.

35. Over-optimization is over-optimization

Google doesn't like to see too much of a good thing. The penalty for over-optimization usually means you've gone too far in your quest to obsessively outdo everyone else in your field at SEO. Cool it down and post some natural content before your rankings suffer.

36. Promotional materials

The ad content controversy was perhaps the most famous of the pre-Penguin 2 debates. An advertorial is essentially a content page riddled with paid links, and often these pages have been used to aggressively manipulate search results. The most famous example was Interflora.

37. Too many outbound links

When linking to other websites, keep them natural. A high number of links is a sign that you are exchanging links with people for mutual SEO benefit.

38. Redirect

If you receive a ban on your site, using a 301 redirect can move the ban to a new location. Moreover, the block may remain if you remove the redirect later. To be safe, don't do this.

39. Error codes

Besides the obvious 404 error, there are a number of others that Google really hates to see. 302 (temporarily relocated) is not ideal; if you really need to redirect something, use a 301. Also, if you see any 500 errors, fix the root cause as soon as possible. Find invisible errors with this WebConfs HTTP header inspection tool.

40. Duplicate metadata

Some blogging tools and CMS platforms make it easy to accidentally create duplicate metadata. While metadata by itself is not the cause of a penalty, it can be a sign of a duplicate content problem on your site. In any case, this is undesirable; try to deal with it.

41. Malicious Backlinks

Your site never deserves such a block, but you should know about it. If you're really unlucky, an unethical competitor might try to push your site down the SERPs by punishing them. The most common cause is a malicious backlink campaign.

42. Target keywords

Google is waging war against some of the keywords most commonly found on spam sites. “Payday loans” is a good example of a keyword that has already been targeted, although some people think it could do more. If you're legitimately in an industry rife with spam, be prepared to get caught in the crossfire.

43. Smuggled Links

Don't cheat and don't put links in script files. Google is much better at parsing scripts and picking out weird links that shouldn't be there.

44. Bad Mobile Sites

Google is usually able to detect a valid link between your mobile site and your website. If it's poorly designed, it might not be. Make sure the mobile site is sent to the device where the user agent is set to mobile. Matt Cutts also suggests using a separate subdomain.

45. Few outbound links

Google wants to see content that links to other content of a similar standard. If you don't share love, it may look like you're trying to drive traffic in an unnatural way.

46. A domain has a bad reputation

You may have innocently acquired a domain with a bad history, and this can cause problems when you try to create a new site from it. Unfortunately, this is often a dead end; you might be better off cutting your losses and buying a different domain than spending more money fixing this problem.

47. Content theft

Even if you don't steal content, someone else can steal yours. This is problematic because content removal may require filing multiple DMCA takedown notices or suing sites. If you've been fined for this, try asking Google to remove the stolen content.

48. Noticeable Ads

Advertising is normal when it is treated as a secondary task. Ads should never dominate the content of a page or play a secondary role in an article or blog.

49. Use the content farm

In the two years since Panda's launch, it has been considered bad form to buy content from "farms" (defined as "sites with shallow or low-quality content"). If your content is poorly researched, lacks detail, or exists primarily to fill the page, hire a professional to rewrite it.

50. Beware of ready-made articles

Don't hire anyone who claims to have the magic, reliable technique to get your site to the top of the SERPs. The only way to get a good place in the rankings is to lay TOP 1 over time.

Site blocking - how to solve this problem?

Did you find out the reason for blocking? You are halfway to a fix—if it can be fixed at all.
Each problem requires a slightly different solution, but here are some solutions you can try:

• Do not panic. Even large websites suffer from blocking by Google.
• Avoid bad links. Ask Google to ignore problematic links that harm your site.
• Remove frequently used links on the site. Deviation is good, but not perfect.
• Submit a request to Google if your ban was assigned manually.
• Wait. Sometimes it takes a while for Google to respond to your changes and reject requests, and then it will start re-crawling your site, which can take a while.

In some cases, it's better to abandon a site than fight a block from Google: if your domain has been tarnished, there's not much you can do. But most fines can be fixed with a little effort, hard work, and an ethical approach to restoring your site.

Reading this article:

• Blocking in Google Adsense - how to check your site?
• Google Panda - what is it? Algorithm from Google

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