Google’s Search Advocate, John Mueller, responds to a question about making honest mistakes in SEO and whether websites are penalized for inadvertently breaking Google’s rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is covered in the most recent episode of the Ask Googlebot Series on YouTube. Mueller specifically addresses the following question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow Google Reacts to Honest Mistakes\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
On the Internet, there is a wealth of SEO knowledge. It is not always up to date or accurate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People who are new to SEO are prone to making mistakes that could result in the ever-watchful eye of Google swooping down with a manual action and a rank drop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mueller begins by stating that he can only speak about Google’s webmaster guidelines and webspam policies. It’s easy for people to fall into bad habits unintentionally as a result of well-meaning advice from a friend or incorrect information found online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Google recognizes that mistakes do occur<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Mueller stated that no one is perfect when it comes to SEO, and the algorithm attempts to understand this. If Googlebot encounters a problem while crawling your site, it will isolate and ignore it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, Google will focus on the parts of your site where the SEO adheres to the guidelines and policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is a good thing for inexperienced SEOs who want to rank their site but don’t understand the complexities. SEO is an art as well as a science, and Google understands that not everyone is a cross between Van Gogh and Einstein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What If a Manual Penalty Is Imposed?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
While Google makes every effort to ignore minor violations of the guidelines and policies, it cannot give everyone a pass. If the problem is severe or worsens over time, Google takes manual action against the site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every website should be linked to Google Search Console for a variety of reasons, including learning about manual actions. A manual action is a significant rank drop or de-listing that occurs as a result of serious violations of Google’s guidelines and policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mueller claims that the manual action is only temporary. If the site resolves the issues caused by the manual action, they can request a reconsideration request from Google. Google rechecks the site to ensure that all issues have been resolved and removes the manual action, resulting in your rank being restored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mueller concludes the video by saying that the company tries to handle mistakes thoughtfully and that they don’t have to affect your Google search rankings indefinitely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Power comes from knowledge<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Understanding what Google wants from the start is the best way to avoid mistakes. Before making changes to your website, review the Google webmaster guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n