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Is there a definite way to tell whether the website has been penalized?

by TLondon
10 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Or is it just a guessing game, like a lot of articles suggest to speculate?

Yes, I can research and see my backlinks, and MAYBE it was penalized because it's possible and maybe it wasn't.

Is there a way to know for sure whether that's the case or not? And if there isn't, how do you guys go about it?

I recently bought a new domain that was dropped, and I didn't realize that until I started building a website on it. Now I'm thinking that it might be possible that it was penalized, but I can't say for sure.
#definite #penalized #website
  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    First see If your site is indexed (site:domain.com).
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    • Profile picture of the author TLondon
      Originally Posted by yukon View Post

      First see If your site is indexed (site:domain.com).
      It is, but it's SO far behind in searches that sites that are completely irrelevant to my search query show up before my site, even if I type the exact keyword I'm ranking for. There are no signs of anything in Webmaster Tools > Manual Actions.

      The only "bad" backlink that's still linking to my domain is notspecial.org. I disavowed this link but am still waiting on the results. However, I don't think that just this one backlink from ages ago can hinder the reputation of the domain that has just been re-registered. Can it?
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      • Profile picture of the author yukon
        Banned
        Originally Posted by TLondon View Post

        It is, but it's SO far behind in searches that sites that are completely irrelevant to my search query show up before my site, even if I type the exact keyword I'm ranking for. There are no signs of anything in Webmaster Tools > Manual Actions.

        The only "bad" backlink that's still linking to my domain is notspecial.org. I disavowed this link but am still waiting on the results. However, I don't think that just this one backlink from ages ago can hinder the reputation of the domain that has just been re-registered. Can it?
        I doubt there's a problem If your not seeing a WMT warning & your pages are indexed.
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        • Profile picture of the author TLondon
          Originally Posted by yukon View Post

          I doubt there's a problem If your not seeing a WMT warning & your pages are indexed.
          Okay, thanks for your input.
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        • Profile picture of the author netanel23
          Originally Posted by yukon View Post

          I doubt there's a problem If your not seeing a WMT warning & your pages are indexed.
          There can be algorithm issues, but given this is an older domain I doubt thats the cause.

          My assumption is lack of quality links rather than algo problems.
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          • Profile picture of the author yukon
            Banned
            Originally Posted by netanel23 View Post

            There can be algorithm issues, but given this is an older domain I doubt thats the cause.

            My assumption is lack of quality links rather than algo problems.
            From what I've read there's no proof of a penalty.

            The easy way to find out If everything is ok is to simply rank for a keyword that has zero competition, once that ranks then go after the money keywords that have real competition.
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            • Profile picture of the author TLondon
              Originally Posted by yukon View Post

              From what I've read there's no proof of a penalty.

              The easy way to find out If everything is ok is to simply rank for a keyword that has zero competition, once that ranks then go after the money keywords that have real competition.
              Thanks, good tip, I'll try that.
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  • Profile picture of the author DiggitySEO
    It could be the regular Google dance that sometimes graces even the healthiest of sites. Are you bouncing around page 3-6 for your keywords?

    If so, how I usually break the dance:
    1) Make sure I have a good enough social presence (Do you have YT, FB, and Twitter setup and linked).
    2) Don't stop building backlinks (most important). Slowing down link velocity after a ranking drop is a clean indication that you're behind your own off-site backlinking.

    Usually takes about a month to get back on track.
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    ..:: High PR Backlinks for Sale | 100% Safe | Over 2000 Orders ::..
    Email orders@diggitymarketing.com for more information.
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  • Profile picture of the author promo87
    Banned
    Well, what i can think of is there is Google Webmaster Tool available for determining if your site is penalised by Google or not. Just take a look at the manual action page under the search traffic if you have been penalised then you will see a message stating the you are hit by ...blah...blah... there is just no need to search for any trick in determining that wether my site is penalised or not !!
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  • Profile picture of the author SarmistaAun
    If your site get penalized you will receive a notification in Webmaster tool. Keep an eye on Google Analytics you can see a traffic drop if your site is penalized. This is the way we usually follow to check whether our site has been affected by any algorithm updates or not.
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