The Dreaded Google Search Engine Ban: Don't Wait, Take Action

Has your website disappeared from Google's index. Have your page ranks suddenly vanished or fallen? Your site may have been hit by the much feared Google ban.

As most web publishers who rely on natural search engine traffic for much or all of their traffic, sales and popularity, being removed from Google's search index can be a death blow for any website's visibility and overall vitality. Millions of website owners rely on their listings in Google as a central pillar of their web success.

So how do you know if you have been banned by Google? This is a complicated question that only a seasoned web consultant and search engine optimization specialist can help you answer.

Stay away from SEOs and others who promise #1 ranking in a short period of time (or at all), companies like engage in black hat SEO and any so-called SEO expert requiring an extraordinary amount of money up front but who has little to no evidence of their expertise or success in the business.

Sure, there are steps you can take to verify if a website has been removed from Google, but to really understand what prompted a ban, a concerted, serious effort to research and analyze the cause(s) needs to be carried out.

The first step to determine if your site has been banned, or blacklisted, by GoogleBot is to simply type 'site:yourdomainname.com' into Google search. If no results are found, that's one indication a ban has occurred.

Next, use the same method to run a second test; this time, replace 'site' with 'info'. Again, no result in Google indicates a delisting, or ban at worse, especially if you are sure that your site was previously listed in Google.

If by running the two tests outlined above, you find there are no results for your web site in Google, chances are you did something - possibly inadvertently - that made GoogleBot mad.

Next installment: Deciphering The Google Ban and taking action.

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