Google Penalty World

Here is a detailed report by founder Lewis Sellers, of how his web agency in the UK, Pinpoint Designs, got hit by a Google penalty without having consciously done anything tricky, and how it gradually found a way to get this penalization revoked.

Key takeaways:

1. Start by building up a list of all the links pointing to your website - This is extremely easy. Login to Open Site Explorer, Google Webmaster Tools and use other websites such as Ahrefs or Majestic SEO. ...
   
   
2. Work to remove those links hard - Removing links isn't easy, there are numerous sites out there that will help remove links from you, but it's a fairly slow process. ...
   
   
3. If you can't remove links - If you can't remove links, use the Google Disavow tool. That being said, don't use it unless absolutely necessary. ...
   
   
4. Write good quality content - Show Google that you can write good content. Make sure that all the content on your website is unique, up to date and interesting...
   
   
5. Spend time on your reconsideration request - Google must receive hundreds, if not thousands, of reconsideration requests each and every week. Rather than sending in a paragraph, spend some time telling them what you've done wrong and most importantly, be honest. Tell them why you think you've been targeted, what you've done to rectify it and how it won't happen again.
   
   

But there is a lot more useful stuff in the article, including all the steps taken, tools used and what to do if Google says no to your Reconsideration Request.

Interesting. Useful. Informative. Resourceful. 8/10

Full article: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/lifting-a-manual-penalty-given-by-google-personal-experience