Updated 18 September 2026. Originally published in 2013; revised to replace outdated advice and links.
A fall in traffic does not automatically mean a Google penalty. Start with evidence before paying for a supposed quick recovery.
Five practices to avoid
- Buying ranking credit. Do not build a campaign around paid links or excessive exchanges intended to manipulate results.
- Repeating keywords unnaturally. Make the page useful rather than hiding text or filling it with repeated phrases.
- Publishing pages with no distinct value. Large numbers of interchangeable town or topic pages can leave visitors with little useful information.
- Misleading visitors and crawlers. Avoid deceptive redirects or showing search engines a different subject from the page people receive.
- Scaling content just to gain rankings. Automation does not remove the need for accurate, useful material and editorial judgement.
These are practical examples, not a complete policy list. See Google’s spam policies.
Check whether there is a manual action
Open Search Console’s Manual actions report. If Google reports an action, read its scope, resolve the identified issue and follow the review process. A reconsideration request is not the normal response to every algorithm change or traffic decline.
Investigate other causes too
Check indexing, redirects, recent website changes, seasonality and which pages or searches lost visits. Compare enquiries as well as clicks. Our guide to diagnosing an organic traffic drop walks through those checks.
Keep a record of what changed and when. Our SEO team can help separate technical faults, content gaps and policy issues before agreeing a plan. No agency can guarantee a particular position or recovery date.
