Step-by-Step Guide to Submitting a Reconsideration Request

This guide presents clearly-outlined steps to discover if you have been hit by a Google manual action and how to resolve it. There are different methods people go about resolving these issues but not all of these methods have proven effective.

If it's not done right, you may experience delays in getting the manual action penalty resolved by Google. Worst-case scenario; your Reconsideration Request may be rejected outrightly.

That's why you will need to follow these 5 simple steps in order to get the penalty resolved as soon as possible.

Step 1 - Investigate

The first action to take is finding out if the traffic drop was truly caused by a Google manual action penalty. And to get this done, you will need to login to your Google Search Console and check for any notifications.

You want to discover the manual action email that contains a clear description of the issues and other details! Once you have this information, you can decide on what next actions you can undertake to get it resolved fast.

You can either approach an SEO professional or agency that handles manual action penalties for clients. Or you decide to follow the next steps that are outlined in this guide to get the issue resolved by yourself.

Step 2 - Resolve

This is the next logical action to take after you have found out the cause of the manual action penalty. Let's say you got axed by Google because you had a high number of spammy backlinks on your domain.

So you need to weed out those entire toxic domains one after the other to free your site from the assault. You either write a mail to the originating sites asking them to remove the links pointing to your website. Or you could send a mail to Google asking that these spammy backlinks be disavowed from your website.

By disavowing, you are stripping the spammy backlinks of any ability it has to harm your search engine ranking. And once you have taken both actions, you would have solved the spammy backlink issue.

Step 3 - Give Reasons

You will have to state reasons (not excuses) your website violated the webmaster rules.

Clearly state reasons that you are responsible for whatever led to the manual action penalty meted to you, while excuses will end up shifting the blame to someone, which isn't a good way of resolving any problems.

Let's say the problem was the spammy backlinks and you have to give reasons those toxic backlinks lingered on your site.

You can clearly explain that though the source of the spammy backlinks was foreign, frequent audits by you would have spotted them long ago.

Also, state the steps you will be taking in order to prevent such situations from happening in the future. From the tone of your mail, the Google team would know if your mail is a genuine one or just an excuse to get the penalty resolved.

Step 4 - Provide Proof

You may need to attach documents that show proof of the cause of the manual penalty and steps you have taken. The documents could be Word, Spreadsheet, text, or even images that give more substance to your reasons.

If they are convincing enough, you should be able to get an early resolution of the manual action penalty.