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Plan Blog Recovery, After Bogus Spam Classification

Abuse / Malware / Spam classification of Blogger blogs - and the inevitable bogus fuzzy classification - has been a part of Blogger life, for several years.

Recently, we explored known effects of bogus classification, upon reader and search engine reputation. It's not a pretty picture - but it's also not likely to go away, as long as abusive persons, such as spammers, operate in the Internet world.

Owners of blogs spuriously classified are not likely to be very objective - but we cannot avoid reality.

Owners of blogs, spuriously classified as abusive, frequently report decreased blog activity, following a blog, recently restored.

We know of the inevitable effects of spurious classification. Recovering from the effects of spurious classification is similar to the process of changing the blog URL - either from BlogSpot to BlogSpot, or from BlogSpot to custom domain.

Consider the entities who access your blog - and the ways they access it.
  • Followers - People who find your blog because of recommendations by other people.
  • Search Engines - Robotic processes which methodically surf your blog, and provide dynamic indexing to people who search for information.
  • Subscribers - People who read your content from their newsfeed reader, such as the dashboard Reading List.
  • Viewers - People who read your content from their browser.

When the blog comes back online, you will need to address each, differently.

Planning the recovery, now - while the blog is offline - will help your blog recover faster, from traffic loss caused by the unplanned outage.
  • You'll start with a known URL, which should be periodically indexed by the search engines.
  • The search engines are getting "404"s as they try to re index the blog, right now - just remember that is a temporary problem, if you're able to get the blog recovered.
  • You'll end up with the known blog, re indexed.
While the blog is down, look at ways to improve it. Maybe give it a fresh look, with a new design. And write content.

Setup a test blog, with a similar or different template. Experiment with different new features. Find different ways to engage your readers.

Write new posts, regularly, while your blog is down. Your readers won't get to see your posts, immediately - but writing new posts will help keep you in shape.

Plan how to add your additions and changes to your blog, once it comes back. Posts and template can be easily exported from the test blog, and imported to your permanent blog. Accessories and gadgets will take some effort. Decide what you will do, immediately - and what you will do, later - once the blog comes back.

Consider the sources of blog traffic - and the effects of temporary blog suspension.
  • Blog Feeds - Automated processes, that help your readers track changes to your blog, using a newsfeed reader.
  • Following - The two way community process, that lets you see who your readers are.
  • Google Webmaster Tools / Search Console - Key diagnostic and management utilities, that - among other things - enable indexing of the blog by the search engines.
  • Search Engines - Robotic processes which methodically surf your blog, and provide dynamic indexing to people who search for information.
  • Viewers - People who read your content from their browser.

Each of these traffic sources will have to be updated, when the blog comes back. Think about how each can be used, in the best ways possible, to get your reputation back to previous levels.

You won't have a fun time, with the blog down - but you don't have to waste your time, either.

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