In the world of digital marketing and SEO, getting your website blacklisted by Google (the world’s biggest search engine) is the equivalent of taking a bullet to the head of your online presence. With the world becoming more and more digitised and more people using search engines to discover products and services the prospect of a Google ban becomes even more disastrous and could mean failure for many business.
If you are unlucky (or silly) enough to get a ban from Google, don’t panic as not all hope is lost. Google has a mechanism by which website can petition to be reindexed.
However this is not simply a matter of soliciting Google to reindex you, it is a careful and involve process that needs to be done with patience. Let’s take a look at what you should do when you get a Google ban.
Make an application to be reindexed
As Google is the one that served the ban, they are the only ones you can lift it. You will need to go through their official channels in order to lodge a request to have your case re-examined.
Demonstrate your sincere regret and reformation
A Google ban is kind of like a prison sentence for your website, it’s designed to remove it from the ‘good’ internet until it has demonstrated it has reformed and can renter the digital world. Unlike regular prison however there is no set sentence time, your website will remain blacklisted until you successfully lodge a re-indexation request and it is approved.
In order to demonstrate your website is worthy to be re-indexed you must show that you:
- Acknowledge what you did wrong and why it warranted a ban
- Show that you have remedied all instances of the offence
- Show how you have prepared so that you won’t make the same mistake again
The important thing is to be as sincere as possible in your writing, even if you don’t feel sorry about getting the ban. The re-indexation request is received and appraised by a human being, not an algorithm, so you will need to be as courteous as possible.
Politeness is incredibly important in having your site re-indexed as you are effectively at the whim of a Google employee who won’t react kindly to impatience or entitled attitudes. It’s important to remember that you are at the mercy of Google’s policy and that you should never act entitled to being indexed in their search engine.