Submitting a Site for Reconsideration

[bhuff85]

So, I had to submit one of my sites for reconsideration today. And, it wasn't because I actually did something wrong myself, but I have reason to believe that the domain must have been abused in the past.

Over the last 3 to 4 weeks, I have done about anything you can think of to get this site indexed, as I can usually get most new sites indexed in less than a couple days once I get them built out and ready for the search engines. I have never had issues with getting a site indexed up until this point.

Anyway, I went ahead and took the plunge, submitting my site for reconsideration and letting "the Big G" know that I think the site must have some bad history attached to it.

Here's the thing - this is essentially an Adsense site. I went ahead and removed the Adsense ads from the website until it gets approved (although my ad placement and layout is clean and doesn't appear like the more obvious MFA sites you see plastered all over the net).

My question is, do you think that taking out the Adsense ads until it gets approved is the best idea, or should I go ahead and keep them on there? I really want to get this one indexed, as the keyword gets 40,500 EXACT searches per month in the U.S. and the competition is incredibly weak, allowing me to obtain a first page ranking with EASE. The only problem that's stopping this, obviously, is that it is not indexed. It is, however, indexed in Yahoo and Bing.

Hope this was a smart move, but in my eyes, I'm willing to put it to the test to get things rolling so I can get on that first page to take a piece of that traffic, as this site is an easy $15 to $30 per day earner.

Let me know what you think...

[dburk]

Hi bhuff85,

I don't think pulling the AdSense units will make any difference on your request for reconsideration. However, I do think you should pull the ad units until you resolve the issue that is preventing your pages from being indexed.

[bhuff85]

Originally Posted by dburk

Hi bhuff85,

I don't think pulling the AdSense units will make any difference on your request for reconsideration. However, I do think you should pull the ad units until you resolve the issue that is preventing your pages from being indexed.

Yeah - I went ahead and removed them. I'm just leaning more towards that Google may have previously banned the domain in the past, as I have went about my site and link building as I have done with all other sites that currently are indexed and ranking high. Nothing different in that regard, which is why I was wondering why indexing it was so tough. I use white-hat, manual linkbuilding methods as well, so I know it wasn't anything I did that would've prevented it from getting indexed.

Oh well - I guess we will wait and see what happens from here. Anyone know how long it takes before they get to your request and review it?

[dburk]

Originally Posted by bhuff85

Yeah - I went ahead and removed them. I'm just leaning more towards that Google may have previously banned the domain in the past, as I have went about my site and link building as I have done with all other sites that currently are indexed and ranking high. Nothing different in that regard, which is why I was wondering why indexing it was so tough. I use white-hat, manual linkbuilding methods as well, so I know it wasn't anything I did that would've prevented it from getting indexed.

Oh well - I guess we will wait and see what happens from here. Anyone know how long it takes before they get to your request and review it?

Hi bhuff85,

If you haven't already done so, I would recommend submitting a sitemap to Google Webmaster Tools. They will often report specific issues in the diagnostics area.

[bhuff85]

Originally Posted by dburk

Hi bhuff85,

If you haven't already done so, I would recommend submitting a sitemap to Google Webmaster Tools. They will often report specific issues in the diagnostics area.

Yeah - that was already done a few weeks back. I have the site listed in Analytics and Webmaster Tools. Usually when I get a site ready to rock for search engine traffic (and have it properly optimized with on-page SEO methods), I do the following:

- Add/Verify the site on Webmaster Tools
- Add to Analytics and add code to my website
- Submit a sitemap to Webmaster Tools
- Start working on my off-page SEO, slowly generating consistent backlinks

Usually, many of my websites have been indexed after I've submitted a sitemap on Webmaster Tools and gave it a quick ping. Some of them have needed an extra push here and there, so once I hire out some manual social bookmarking submissions, they get indexed and are ready for some consistent backlinks to be thrown their way to help it on its way up the SERP's.

Anyway, like I said, I've pretty much exhausted all of my normal and typical options to get this thing indexed, so something tells me that the history plays a part in this. Hopefully it goes through the submission process seamlessly and I'll be ready to go here in a few weeks time.

Appreciate your feedback on this though!

[Michael D Forbes]

Good luck with this... I have a domain that I bought after it expired and it has never been indexed. I've requested reconsideration five times now and done everything that has been suggested to "fix" it, including completely stripping the domain and starting from scratch twice, and all I ever get from Google is their stupid form letter saying I violate some unspeakable quality guideline, when in fact, I have read they're guidelines over and over and can't find one area where I am short of what they want.

I'm baffled, irritated and I'm bullheaded enough to not quit until I figure it out.

[bhuff85]

Well, Michael was right - my site got denied without Google giving me any indication why. I went along and ensured everything followed Google's quality guidelines. In fact, this site had not only unique content, but content that completely PUNKED the content that was on the front page (we're talking some seriously low-quality, spun gibberish and nonsense).

Anyway, if I scrapped this site and bought a new similar domain and started from scratch again, would I be able to take this content and place it on the new site (since Google never indexed anything, anyway)? Or, should I bite the bullet and rewrite it all. This keyword gets WAY too many exact searches to pass up, especially when you consider the weak competition on the first page.

What are your thoughts on this?

[dburk]

Hi bhuff85,

I would suggest that you have someone else, with a lot of experience, take a look at your website. There must be something about your website that is preventing it from being indexed.

There are 2 different types of de-listing. One is algorithmic, the other is manual de-listing. A reconsideration request only works if it was a manual de-listing. If it algorithmic, it will recheck automatically after a specified period of time and re-index if the violation has been corrected.

There must be something you are missing if you are still being denied for a manual de-listing. Sometimes a fresh set of eyes can see what you are missing.

[RevSEO]

I NEVER recommend submitting for reconsideration requests if you've manually built links to a site. Especially if its a new site, like yours. More often than not Google will take a look at those variables and then place a manual penalty on the site if they come across this sort of behavior. Typically a site needs some time to index, you gotta have patience in this area. By drawing attention to Google like you did, you probably burned any opportunity with that domain.

I'd have this be a lesson to you and fellow WarriorForum members that are having any problems with their sites. Unless your site has been deindexed AFTER it was indexed, never file for a reconsideration.

If you want, shoot me a PM and I can help you out and let you know what I think. I've seen it all and can probably give a few pointers for your next go around.

[bhuff85]

Originally Posted by RevSEO

I NEVER recommend submitting for reconsideration requests if you've manually built links to a site. Especially if its a new site, like yours. More often than not Google will take a look at those variables and then place a manual penalty on the site if they come across this sort of behavior. Typically a site needs some time to index, you gotta have patience in this area. By drawing attention to Google like you did, you probably burned any opportunity with that domain.

I'd have this be a lesson to you and fellow WarriorForum members that are having any problems with their sites. Unless your site has been deindexed AFTER it was indexed, never file for a reconsideration.

If you want, shoot me a PM and I can help you out and let you know what I think. I've seen it all and can probably give a few pointers for your next go around.

As I mentioned above, every site I've ever built has usually been indexed within days once I've been ready to launch it to the public.

This particular domain, on the other hand, has been available for indexing well over the last month (at least 5+ weeks now). As you can see from my previous posts, I've done all of the normal things to get this site indexed, yet it would never happen. With this much time passed, I don't think it would've mattered how much time I would've given it.

I truly think this still has something to do with the domain's past. I may consider buying the report to see if anything had caused it to get blacklisted with Google.

Anyway, how do you guys feel about repurposing that content on another domain and give it all a fresh start? That's the direction I'm leaning towards at the moment.

[RevSEO]

Originally Posted by bhuff85

As I mentioned above, every site I've ever built has usually been indexed within days once I've been ready to launch it to the public.

This particular domain, on the other hand, has been available for indexing well over the last month (at least 5+ weeks now). As you can see from my previous posts, I've done all of the normal things to get this site indexed, yet it would never happen. With this much time passed, I don't think it would've mattered how much time I would've given it.

I truly think this still has something to do with the domain's past. I may consider buying the report to see if anything had caused it to get blacklisted with Google.

Anyway, how do you guys feel about repurposing that content on another domain and give it all a fresh start? That's the direction I'm leaning towards at the moment.

If you've totally given up on the domain then there really isn't much problem with re-purposing the content.

How'd you acquire the domain to begin with?

[bhuff85]

Originally Posted by RevSEO

If you've totally given up on the domain then there really isn't much problem with re-purposing the content.

How'd you acquire the domain to begin with?

That's sort of what I figured, but being that I've never run into this scenario before, I figured I'd seek some advice before moving forward.

I purchased it via GoDaddy about 3 months back, but when I did a quick lookup on the domain via DomainTools, it had been owned several times in the past. Of course, the full report on its history is around $30, but at this point in time, it isn't really worth the cost, as I'll most likely purchase a new domain and start from scratch again. It would be interesting though to see what may have happened to this domain as it changed hands over the years.

UPDATE:

Well, looks like it defintely was the domain. Bought a new domain last night and repurposed the content on that new domain and whaddaya know - I woke up to it indexed in Google this morning with no problems.

So, I think this sort of confirms the fact that the previous domain had some shaky history going on.