How can I tell if a site I've never worked on before is "black-listed" by Google?

[Guest]

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[Getz.pro]

Try searching the URL in Google. If it returns nothing, then there is a problem. site:YourDomain.com to get pages Google has listed.

Also, do they have Google webmaster installed on their site? This will show issues as well.

[Guest]

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[Getz.pro]

Thanks Roger for puking when I tried to post this....

2nd Try.

If you are an SEOmoz pro member, set up a campaign and let it run a week. Also do a keyword difficulty test http://www.seomoz.org/keyword-difficulty and see if you are strong enough to rank for that term.

Grade your pages http://pro.seomoz.org/tools/on-page-keyword-optimization/new to verify keyword usage.

Look at your anchor text and see if they are relevant.

Check citations to see if you have accurate information across all sites. Google may not be blocking you, but may be penalizing your for what may look like spammy information.

[Getz.pro]

Look at your backlinks and make sure they are not spammy links. If so, request that they be removed.

Then check all citations and make sure information is accurate across the internet.

Check reviews. Perhaps there is a reputation problem needing management?

[goodnewscowboy]

Hi Jeff: The following is half at, half science, but try pulling two separate but contiguous phrasesfrom the site which don't include the company name (even if Google smacks a site,  the site will almost always still rank for it's own name/brand unless it's JC Penney :). If it doesn't come in at the top of the SERP's (top 10) then it's a good bet it's been smacked.

How is it doing in Bing?

PS - Richard's got some great suggestions.