GPWA Times - Issue 21 - May 2012

to help in their reconsideration request decisions. When making a reinclusion request along the lines of “Sorry, Google, we’ve been buying links but we promise we won’t do it again” you are giving Google the confirmation they require to accurately crack down on link sellers. I have never once made a reconsideration request as I’ve always felt that the approach was weighted in favor of the search engine. If I were to get caught speeding I sure as hell wouldn’t admit to it unless evidence was provided of my speeding. The same principle applies here. What better way to identify and confirm a site having sold links than from the written admission of a webmaster who’s been burned and is desperate to get back into Google? My advice: Plead not guilty! If you are served a “Notice of Detected Unnatural Links,” e-mail Google through webmaster tools and contest their “claim.” Put together a well-crafted e-mail explaining that you only engage in ethical white-hat SEO and follow Webmaster Guidelines to the letter. Protest how there must have been a mistake and ask, “What could possibly have caused such a problem?” As I mentioned, I don’t condone reconsideration requests. Reconsideration requests can take months with no guarantees, whereas 301 redirects take just two to four days to shake a penalty, guaranteed. Remember, whenever you confess to link buying you’re giving Google precisely what they need to torch entire link networks. And don’t EVER give them the Gmail account details of the broker or webmaster who sold you the links. I guess this should be common sense, but when one is up against it and one’s site is torched, one does make these common mistakes. Remember . . . if you have any questions, catch me on a local communication technology near you . . . you know the drill! If you have any specific questions e-mail me directly at paul@mediaskunkworks.com or follow me on http://twitter.com/paulreilly or stalk me on http://foursquare.com/user/paulreilly Paul Reilly has worked in search marketing for over 13 years and has earned multiple awards and honors. Today Paul is regarded by many as one of the U.K.’s most influential SEOs. He is the founder of mediaskunkworks.com. 39