Google have an option for reconsideration when we, someone or a third part broke one of the Google's  Webmaster guidelines and got caught. When you get caught this will affect your rankings or more worst is plummeting conversions, angry executives and sometimes brutal media coverage. If it is really an intentional you can always request to Google for reconsideration but you need first to explain everything.

You must need to first understand how to use the reconsideration request if you’re going file one. You should only submit a this request to Google’s Web Spam team when you recognize that they have MANUALLY (not algorithmically) penalized or banned your site in the search results. Before you file the form you  should have first located the problem then done everything possible to fix it and promise not to do the same in the future. But you should not file a reconsideration request if your site drops in the rankings due to an algorithmic update (for example maybe your site was penalized) or perhaps something technical went wrong with the site.

If you're not sure whether if it is a technical problem, an algorithmic update or a manual edit? See tips below for you to help you diagnose if it is necessary to file a reconsideration request.

It’s probably a technical glitch or algorithmic problem if you recently:

• Changed the server architecture of your site.
• Moved to a new CMS or maybe your CMS released an update.
• Changed web hosts.
• Had a server time out.
• Launched a redesign.
• Edited your robots.txt file. Tip – use “Fetch as Googlebot” in Webmaster Tools to make sure Google can crawl all of your content. Also, do a site: search on Google to make sure Google has fully indexed your content.
• Rewrote your URLs.
• Released a LOT of new content or products on the site. Tip – I call this the seesaw effect, when you overload a site with poorly linked and potentially off-topic content and it tips the authority of your domain until you build up deep links and relevance. Consider releasing this content more slowly and building internal and external links to it as you go.
• Added a lot of poorly written or duplicate content to the site.
• Added a canonical tag(s) and possibly did so incorrectly.

It’s probably a manual penalty or ban on the site if you have the following:

• A malware warning appearing in the Google search results next to your listing.
• An alert from Google in your Webmaster Tools account (specifically for suspicious activity or malware).
• Unusual or shady backlinks appearing in your link portfolio. Tip – use a tool like Open Site Explorer or Majestic SEO to see a report of your domain’s backlinks and identify areas for concern.
• Incorrectly setup redirects (which could look like cloaking).
• One or many thin site(s) that appear to be doorway pages.
• Hidden content. Tip – not sure? Watch this:

If you’re still not sure, just read more about how to diagnose a rankings drop by visiting Google’s resource on what to do when “site not doing well in search.” 

Since this is a reconsideration request it’s better and important that you understand and to admit that what you did is wrong then pay penance by correcting the problem and stress how you have learned from the experience and promise to never, ever (no really) never do it again.

The following reconsideration/reinclusion process (tips compiled from personal experience of R.D. and others):

• Admit what went wrong.
• Explain how the problem was fixed and provide a timeline of events.
• If you can’t clean up everything, explain that you did everything possible to try to fix the problem.
• Really show them that you mean it and will never do it again.
• Be detailed, but concise (remember these are real people reading your request).
• Don’t overload them with multiple requests for the same domain.
• Rather than filing one request for multiple domains, just file one request per domain (Pierre Far has openly stated they ignore multiple requests for the same domain).
• Don’t threaten or demand results just because you have an ad budget.
• Follow-up if you have new information and haven’t heard back, yet.

Before the biggest concern is how long it takes to see results. But recently in 2011 it is just getting better with their new messaging system the seeks to be way more transparent.

Now the Web Spam team now provides responses to reconsideration requests that address the state of your submission. Google should notify you of the following:

1. If manual action was revoked.
2. If you are still violating guidelines (and the penalty was not revoked).
3. If you are not actually affected by a spam action at all (in which case they can’t help).

More detailed information here:

By now we should know what to do when something went wrong, then we should fixed the problem the best we can then determine whether or not the reconsideration request is necessary to reclaiming the rankings.

Thanks to Rhea Drysdale is the Chief Executive Officer of Outspoken Media for her article.