Google penalties can literally mean the death of your business. In a business climate where such high percentages of consumers use Google for search (Google's share of total searches hovers around 65 percent), a Google penalty can reduce your website traffic to a trickle. There are three paths to clearing a Google penalty. First, automated penalties and filters correct themselves when the error is corrected. Diagnose the problem, fix it, and you are back in business. Sometimes webmasters miss this point. They assume they have been penalized and request reconsideration from Google and wait for a response, only to realize later that the answer to their penalty was simply to correct the error that led to it.

Whenever you suspect a penalty, you must review Google's guidelines thoroughly. To correct an automated or manual penalty, you must make your site 100 percent compliant with Google Webmaster Guidelines.

The second path to correction is for more serious penalties...