What is a Google Reconsideration Request?
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David
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November 20th, 2012
In certain cases, you may need to contact Google about low or nonexistent traffic from their search engine. This process requires a bit more knowledge and understanding regarding how Google really works. Below, you'll learn how the reconsideration process works, and how to get your website back on track!
Get back into Google's good graces with a Reconsideration Request. (Photo credit: Aray Chen)
What is a Google Reconsideration Request?
A Reconsideration Request is the official way of contacting Google to adjust their settings for a specific URL you maintain. You do so through your verified Webmaster Tools account and this nifty form.
Really, this is how you prove you know what happened, and that you took all of the necessary steps to resolve the issues. This is, by far, the most difficult part of the process. Many website owners are not technically-inclined and struggle to figure out what they might have done or what happened to their website to cause these issues.
But, without that knowledge and a clear plan of how you handled the situation, Google will not approve your Reconsideration Request. Below, we've included a few crucial resources and allies to use when figuring out just what happened to cause your problems!
When is a Reconsideration Request appropriate?
Usually, you'll know if you need to request some assistance from Google. These instances often include:
- anytime your web traffic drops dramatically,
- your page ranking lowers,
- or you've purchased a domain that may have violated the Google Webmaster Guidelines in the past.
It can be somewhat difficult to tell whether or not you're having the sorts of issues that would benefit from a Google Reconsideration Request. You could experience an immediate, sudden decrease in traffic, or you could notice a slow trickling effect. It is easiest to know if you have a problem when traffic stops or slows quickly, or if you've dropped from a certain page rank to another. Those are both great indicators that you're having major issues with Google!
How do I write a Google Reconsideration Request?
I think the best way to learn the right way to approach your Reconsideration Request is by learning how the people behind the scenes expect. This video on the Reconsideration Request process comes from Google Webmaster Help, and is incredibly helpful!
The most important thing you can remember when completing your Reconsideration Request is to be specific! Google wants to see that you have resolved the issue on your end.
What if I don't know what I did wrong?
This is the most complicated part of the entire process. There are over 200 elements that could be causing the problem, and now you've got to figure it out!
Fortunately, there are countless articles and blog posts about this subject across the web. For a good start, check out these common Google problems.
We also recommend spending some time at the Official Google Webmasters Blog to learn exactly how to identify and solve specific problems.
Have you been through the Google Reconsideration process? We'd love to know how it went!