It appears that Google is actually making the reconsideration request process more helpful for webmasters by giving them more clues on what the problems are with their sites.
At the Search Marketing Expo last week, Google’s Matt Cutts said the company was working on improvements to the requests. Now, one webmaster has shared an example of a response he got from the company, which includes a section for “a note from your reviewer”. This is where a Google can mention some specific advice related to the initial problem.
John Edward Doyle, the webmaster, shared a screenshot of Google’s response in a tweet aimed at Barry Schwartz.
@rustybrick Sure – I've blacked out personal data. pic.twitter.com/nSPr0zG7yt
— John Edward Doyle (@johnedwarddoyle) June 13, 2014
As you can see, Google explicitly suggests Doyle check the canonical version of his site to see more link data when auditing links. As Schwartz notes in an article, this is something that many would not think to do, and could therefore be some very helpful, actionable advice for the webmaster.
It will be interesting to see if a lot of webmasters find Google’s advice to be more helpful, or if this is just an obscure example.
Image via Twitter