We can help
The last decade has seen search engine optimisation grow from a niche industry to a standard marketing function. Where it was once considered the art of ‘beating Google’, it has now become simply a way of optimising your site to give it the best chance of ranking on search engines. The tactics from the wild west days of SEO no longer work, and are more likely to result in a penalty that will seriously impact your site’s visibility and likelihood of being found.
If you’ve been hit with a Google penalty and your site is sinking, don’t despair. We can help.
At SIXGUN, we’ve seen it all. Our team has been in the industry for many years—we’ve witnessed the growth and evolution of SEO, the attempts of unscrupulous agencies to make as much money as they can for as little effort as possible.
This experience means we understand that a Google penalty isn’t something that’s simply shrugged off. Your business name and brand image depend on people being able to find your site. You could always change your domain name and start again, but make sure you talk to us before taking such drastic action.
If your site has been hit with a Google penalty, all is not lost. Our skilled technicians can help get your domain’s reputation back on track, bringing the experience and technical expertise to help you liaise with Google to reverse the penalty and begin the process of undoing the damage.
A Google penalty doesn’t mean that all is lost—get help from Melbourne’s #1 Google penalty recovery agency
A Google penalty is often the result of dated SEO tactics. As Google’s search system has evolved, these techniques have lost almost all their currency and power. Google sees these as attempts to get around their checks and balances that ensure only the most relevant sites are shown in response to user queries. People forget that Google is a business; it’s not a democratic ranking system. The best way to make sure your site is ranking well is to make your website the best it can be—we can help with this.
Once we’ve reversed a penalty, we then implement a solid SEO campaign, helping get your business’s site back on the map.
142% increase in organic revenue.
426% increase in Google Ads revenue.
95% increase in Meta Ads revenue.
133% increase in organic sessions.
63% increase in organic website conversions.
3,478 increase in ranking performance for tracked keywords.
71% increase in organic conversions.
48% increase in organic website sessions.
1,396 keyword position increases for tracked keywords.
36% increase in organic sessions.
86% increase in organic goal completions.
187% increase in Google Ads goal completions.
Significant UX improvement over the old website.
Decrease in homepage load time from 3.08 seconds to 1.37 seconds.
224% increase in organic users.
183% increase in booking form submissions.
1,465 increase in ranking performance for tracked keywords.
Increased Google Ads conversions by 61%.
Reduced the Google Ads cost per conversion by 60%.
2,675 keyword position increases for tracked keywords.
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Meet our
SEO team
Harris Panayi
Client Services Director
About
Harris has been part of the SIXGUN fabric nearly since its inception, running the Client Services department and specialising in client, staff, and escalation management, along with recruitment, retention, and business growth. A strong leader at SIXGUN whose all-rounder approach ensures maximum client and staff satisfaction, Harris also takes the lead on company events and culture.
Experience
After almost a decade in the digital marketing landscape, Harris has worked in almost every facet of the industry, including SEO, SEM, social media, site design and development, lead generation and affiliate marketing, account and partnership management, and general staff management positions.
Harris’ primary goal is to foster harmonious relationships between agency and client, ensuring business success from a technical performance perspective is at the forefront, while ensuring relationships with clients operate so effectively that clients are able to see us as a part of their business. Harris strives to create a family-style partnership environment within his department, where partnerships organically grow over time and clients stick with us for the long term.
Fun Fact
Harris is a true foodie, soccer and music enthusiast at heart. You’re most likely to find him in the kitchen, watching his beloved Arsenal, or strumming his Fender Stratocaster.
Matthew Cullen
Strategy Director
About
Matthew leads the strategy and sales direction of SIXGUN, helping to develop a true client-centric mentality that puts our clients’ needs at the heart of our digital marketing solutions.
Experience
With more than ten years of experience in the digital marketing industry, Matthew uses his wealth of experience to guide campaigns from the outset, helping set realistic expectations that don’t promise the world. When talking strategy, Matthew understands no question is too small—choosing a digital marketing partner can be a difficult task and half the battle is finding a team you genuinely want to work with over the long term.
Fun Fact
A foodie at heart, Matt enjoys cooking (hopefully) delicious food, wining and dining with friends and family, and the occasional round of golf.
Cameron Milner
SEO & Data Director
About
Leading the SEO, content and data teams at SIXGUN, Cameron brings a wide breadth of knowledge in technical implementation, holistic and integrated marketing approaches, and creating strong resources for the SIXGUN team and clients alike.
Experience
With more than a decade of experience in SEO across all verticals, including more sensitive and highly regulated industries, Cameron has done SEO for outfits of all sizes, ranging from one-person businesses all the way up to large multinational and publicly traded companies. He’s also collected experience in CRO, data analytics, web design and development.
Fun Fact
Cameron loves spending time with his family and has a passion for serving his community. He’s currently the Deputy Controller for Training at his local State Emergency Services (SES) unit and holds a number of specialist skillsets, some of which he’s also a trainer and assessor in.
Nando Iorio
Lead Account Manager
About
Nando is an integral part of the Account Management team at SIXGUN, helping to develop a true and transparent business-client relationship while aiding and managing the day-to-day needs of our clients’ digital marketing solutions.
Experience
With over a decade of industry experience in both traditional and digital marketing as well as experience in the creative field, Nando takes a warm and holistic approach to client services.
Fun Fact
When Nando isn’t focused on all things SIXGUN he enjoys playing guitar and trying to set a new high score in classic video games. Nando also enjoys photography and making short videos in his spare time.
Christopher Zerafa
Lead SEO Specialist
About
Christopher began his SEO journey by curating a variety of music websites and then soon learned about the magic of SEO. Since then he has acquired almost 10 years of experience in the SEO landscape.
Experience
Chris has worked in a variety of niches from fashion to pet supplies. His passion lies in all things visual and content related, as he also studied graphic art and design. He has strong management experience within the SEO field and the wider community sector.
Fun Fact
Christopher (Chris Z or Lord Zedd in some circles) runs a mobile DJ hire business on the weekends and is known to drop bangers for the general public on a regular basis.
Evan Pavlidis
Senior Digital Marketing Strategist
About
As SIXGUN’s Senior Digital Marketing Strategist, Evan focuses on creating bespoke solutions, tailored to each individual business’s unique needs and challenges.
Experience
Working in client-facing roles for more than five years, Evan has a wealth of experience across the various marketing solutions that SIXGUN offers their clients. Outside of this, his knowledge of website development, UX and AI integration help shape a holistic understanding of the digital landscape, bringing unparalleled insight into every strategy session.
Fun Fact
Outside of work, you’ll find Evan spending quality time with his Labrador Zorro (please ask to see a photo! it will make him really happy) or 30 metres in the air, climbing a boulder in the wilderness. Evan also enjoys a range of sports (supporting Greece of course!).
Nelson Pak
Senior Account Manager
About
With more than five years of industry experience, Nelson brings a professional yet approachable attitude to the client services team. From strategic planning through to implementation and all day-to-day tasks, Nelson takes a holistic approach to digital marketing, aware that transparency and understanding between clientele and agency is key.
Experience
With ten years of combined experience in industries like banking, finance, sales, and marketing, Nelson brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the team, having worked with many small, medium and enterprise-level businesses, leading campaigns and creating meaningful, long-lasting partnerships.
Fun Fact
Outside of work, Nelson can be found on walks to the dog park/beach with his best bud, partaking in rounds of MMA to keep fit, or sitting around a campfire in the outback.
Miles Rodriquez
Senior Account Manager
About
As a Senior Account Manager, Miles brings a professional and calm demeanour to client services, leading marketing campaigns from strategy phase to implementation.
Experience
Miles has more than a decade of client service and digital marketing experience across a broad array of industries. From telecommunications to disability services, there are few sectors he hasn’t worked with.
Fun Fact
Outside of work, Miles can be usually found with a soccer ball at his feet or a guitar in his hands.
Ben Engel
Senior SEO Specialist
About
Ben is an essential part of the SEO team at SIXGUN, helping develop sound SEO strategies for clients in order to enhance their organic presence online.
Experience
With half a decade of experience in SEO across a wide range of industries and businesses, Ben’s approach to campaigns focuses on technical implementation and content strategy, with the goal of achieving a positive return on investment for all of his clients.
Fun Fact
Ben loves spending time with his golden retrievers, playing video games and hitting the occasional shank at the driving range.
Buddhini Mendis
Senior SEO Specialist
About
As a senior SEO specialist, Buddhini brings broad digital marketing experience from an array of industries and has strong love for SEO.
Experience
Since starting her career in digital marketing more than seven years ago, Buddhini has grown her skills—from building strategies to strengthening client relationships—and brings a powerful focus to achieving client goals. She believes in working as a team and sharing knowledge about the ever-changing digital world, helping others grow personally and professionally.
Fun Fact
When not spending time with family and her toddler, Buddhini is either busy in the kitchen baking a delicious treat or playing board games with friends and family.
Sam Paterson
Senior Content Writer
About
Bringing deep writing and editing knowledge to the varied demands of digital marketing and SEO, Sam ensures that all client copy is engaging, focused, and ready to organically improve site rankings and drive conversions.
Experience
Sam's word-nerd experience includes web and app copywriting, book reviewing, blogging, academic editing and proofreading, and technical writing in the education space.
Fun Fact
Sam is an avid collector of the worst puns anyone has ever heard. If you find a typo on this website, email him to collect a reward.
Speak to our team today to reverse a Google penalty
Industry insights
and tips
You might be wondering...
01. What types of Google penalties exist?
There are several types of penalties that Google can impose, usually as a consequence of violating its Webmaster Guidelines. Here are the most common ones:
Manual action penalties: These are manually applied by a member of Google's webspam team. If your site receives a manual action, you’ll be notified through Google Search Console. The most common manual actions are:
- Pure spam: This is issued when Google determines that your website is using aggressive spam techniques, such as automatically generated content, cloaking, or scraped content.
- User-generated spam: This action is taken when the user-generated content on your site, such as blog comments, forum posts, or guestbook signatures, is deemed as spam.
- Unnatural links to your site: If your site appears to be part of a link scheme or if it seems like you've generated low quality links pointing to your site, you could receive this penalty.
- Unnatural links from your site: If you're linking out to other websites in a way that looks like a link scheme, this penalty can be imposed.
- Thin content with little or no added value: If your site contains a lot of content that doesn't provide much value to users (like auto-generated content or doorway pages), you could receive this penalty.
Algorithmic penalties: These are automated penalties that happen when Google updates its algorithms. Unlike manual actions, you don't receive a notification when an algorithmic penalty is imposed. The best defence against penalties is a solid SEO strategy. This includes producing high-quality, valuable content for users, maintaining a natural link profile, ensuring a good user experience, and staying updated with Google's latest algorithm changes.
As a leading Google penalty recovery assistance agency in Melbourne, we continuously monitor our clients' websites for any signals of a potential penalty and take immediate action if anything seems amiss.
02. How can you tell whether you’ve been penalised by Google?
It's important to understand that Google's algorithms are complex, and the reasons why a website might experience a drop in rankings or traffic can be multifarious. However, there are certain telltale signs of a Google penalty. Here's how we could help you figure out if you've been penalised by Google:
- Sudden drop in organic traffic: We'll review your Google Analytics data. A significant and sudden drop in organic traffic can be a sign of a penalty, especially if it coincides with a known update to Google's algorithms.
- Manual action report in Google Search Console: Google sends messages to site owners about penalties via the Search Console. If your site has been manually penalised, a manual action report will be available in the Search Console.
- Drop in keyword rankings: We use various SEO tools to monitor your keyword rankings. A sudden drop in rankings for a broad range of keywords may indicate a penalty.
- De-indexing: In extreme cases, Google might remove a site or specific pages entirely from its index. If your website does not show up at all in Google's search results, this might be the case.
- Monitor algorithm updates: Google regularly updates its algorithms to provide the most relevant search results. We constantly monitor these updates and cross-check them with any noticeable drop in your site performance. If a performance drop aligns with an update, it might suggest that your website was penalised due to the algorithm change.
Once we identify whether a penalty has occurred, we can determine the best path for recovery. This could involve cleaning up low-quality content, fixing technical SEO issues, or improving the overall user experience on your site. Rest assured, our team has a wealth of experience in successfully resolving Google penalties, and we'll leverage that expertise to bring your website back to optimal performance.
03. What is SIXGUN’s experience with Google penalty recovery?
Over the years, we've had significant experience with Google penalty recovery. Our team’s experience extends across many different penalty types, from those related to unnatural links to pure spam. We've dealt with a broad range of issues such as thin content, keyword stuffing, cloaking, and schema violations (to name a few).
Once we've identified the root cause of the penalty, we put together a detailed action plan. For link-related penalties, we carry out an exhaustive link audit and then proceed with a removal and disavow process. If the penalty is related to content or on-site issues, we ensure those areas are a focus.
Post-recovery, we monitor the website closely to ensure that the issues do not reoccur, and work continuously on the site's SEO to enhance its organic search performance.
To ensure transparency, we maintain clear communication with our clients throughout the process, keeping them updated about what steps we're taking, why we're taking them, and how these steps are helping.
Over the years, we've not only helped our clients recover from Google penalties but also educated them about the best practices to prevent such penalties in the future. SIXGUN’s approach is not just about recovery, but about building a strong, sustainable SEO strategy to deliver long term results.
04. How long does the Google penalty recovery process usually take?
The timeline for recovering from a Google penalty is not one-size-fits-all, and it depends greatly on the nature and severity of the penalty, your site's historical performance, the steps we take to correct the issues, and Google's response times. However, once we've identified the problem and implemented the necessary changes, it typically takes anywhere from a few weeks to several months for Google to recognise those changes and lift the penalty.
In cases of manual penalties where Google has identified and communicated the issue, the recovery process can be faster, as we have a clear understanding of what needs to be rectified. Once the corrections are made and a reconsideration request is filed, Google usually responds within a few weeks. For algorithmic penalties, the timeline can be longer and less predictable as these are dependent on Google's algorithm updates, which could occur infrequently.
While we aim for the most expedient resolution possible, our primary focus is on thoroughness and quality, to ensure that your site not only recovers from the penalty but is also set up for long-term, sustainable success.
05. How can I avoid Google penalties in the future?
Here's how we'll ensure that your website doesn't face any Google penalties in the future:
- Ethical SEO practices: This includes making pages primarily for users, not for search engines, avoiding tricks designed to create short-term improvements in search engine rankings, and ensuring that your website is a valuable web resource.
- High-quality content: Content is king. We produce valuable, unique, and engaging content that will keep users on the site and reduce bounce rates. We avoid thin or duplicated content, which can attract Google penalties.
- Responsive web design: A poor mobile experience can lead to a penalty. We prioritise mobile-friendly design to ensure a quality experience across all devices.
- Regular audits: We carry out regular SEO audits to identify any potential issues before they attract penalties.
- Staying updated: Google’s algorithm updates frequently. We ensure that we are updated with all the changes and adjust our strategies accordingly to prevent penalties.
- Page speed optimisation: We prioritise page speed and website performance to ensure a smooth user experience.
- Secure website: We'll make sure your website is safe and secure (HTTPS) to protect user data.
- Schema implementation: We follow proper schema markup practices to avoid any structured data penalties.
- Transparency: Google appreciates transparency, so we will ensure to not hide or manipulate information that is presented to users.
06. Can SIXGUN guarantee recovery from a Google penalty?
Google penalties can be disruptive, but they're not insurmountable.
While no agency can guarantee Google penalty recovery assistance, recovery times or results due to the complex nature of Google's algorithms and policies, our team has a strong track record of helping businesses recover from Google penalties. We've developed a thorough process which involves identifying the cause of the penalty, taking necessary corrective action, and then submitting a comprehensive reconsideration request to Google.
Our expertise in technical SEO, content management, and link building also means we're able to address the most common reasons for these penalties. We also provide clear, regular updates to keep you informed about our progress.
What sets SIXGUN apart is our commitment to not only resolving the immediate issue but also ensuring long-term resilience. We'll work with you to build a solid SEO strategy that minimises the risk of future penalties. However, it’s important to understand that this process requires time and cooperation, as SEO practices are a long-term commitment, not a one-time fix.
In the end, our goal is not just to get you out of a penalty but also to set you up for sustainable, organic growth. We'd love to discuss your specific situation in more detail to outline a potential recovery strategy.