If you are running a blog without an SSL certificate then there is a huge chance of your website getting infected by a virus. This shall lead to your website being blacklisted by Google. This is called the URL blacklist virus. This causes a lot of problems for the site owners sometimes. The ranking of your site will be affected negatively. You will see the ranking of your site go very low suddenly. In some cases, your URL might vanish from Google search result altogether.
In this article, we shall see all the possible things you can do when you are facing the problem of the URL blacklist virus. I shall also discuss some other important information that shall be useful for the reader. We shall also see how you can prevent this from happening to your site. In case you have run into the same problem, then you are at the right place. You shall get all the information required to get yourself out of this problem.
Contents
Probable Reasons for Url Blacklist Virus
There are several reasons why your site might be blacklisted by Google. In this subsection, we shall look at the most prominent reasons:
- If the site uses unsafe or malicious plugins or libraries, then your site is bound to be blacklisted.
- Your site is infected by Trojan Horse. This happens to sites that do not have an SSL certificate.
- Any site containing malicious content can be blacklisted.
- If the server hosting the site is not proper, it can cause problems.
- Sometimes, the site becomes a victim of phishing.
- If your site, contains any malicious links, then your SEO can be affected.
How To Check If My Site is Blacklisted?
If the ranking of your site has decreased suddenly, then there is a huge chance that something wrong has happened. Most probably, Google has blacklisted your site. To know if your site is blacklisted or not, you can go to Google safe searching Browser.
Next, you have to put your link in that URL box in a safe searching browser. It is the tool of Google that scans through millions of sites and then blacklists the malicious sites. This will let you know if your site is blacklisted or not.
How to Remove URL Blacklist?
If you know that your URL is being blacklisted because perhaps it was infected by the URL Blacklist virus or it ran into any other problem, you can do a set of things. In this subsection, we shall exclusively look at the troubleshooting aspect of this problem. There are several things one can do after he finds that his site is blacklisted.
1. Virus Scanning
Once you are confirmed that your site is blacklisted, you should go ahead and scan your site for any malware. This is the most frequent thing which happens to a site. Whenever you face a problem like this, you should do a virus scanning of your site. Google decreases the ranking of your site so that users do not click o your URL. In some cases, it completely removes it. You can scan your site using tools like Malware, Sitelock, Wordfence.
2. Clean Website
After this, the thing which is very much recommended is to clean your site periodically. Now when you see that your link is blacklisted, it is recommended to clean your site using a tool. This tool will remove any malware if present on your site and ultimately solve the problem. You can clean your site using Malware.
3. Submit URL for Review
After that, you have to again submit your URL for review. Do this only after properly scanning and cleaning your site. The tool will again scan your site and then return your SEO ranking if it finds it to be very proper.
How to Prevent My Site from Getting a URL Blacklist Virus?
As we all know that prevention is better than cure, it is much better to prevent your site before it gets blacklisted. Here, we shall look at some of the precautions you can take to prevent your site from landing into such trouble.
1. Keep your site up to date
Always keep your site updated. Update to the latest version of WordPress, get the latest plugins. Update all plugins and also remove all the malicious plugins. If they showing any notification for updating any software you have installed, do that even if it takes some extra bucks to prevent any problems.
2. Avoid Unreliable or Suspicious Software
Before installing any software or plugin, do see if the software is reliable or not. You need to see the review of that software before installing it. If you are doubtful looking at the site of the software, do not install it at all. Apart from that, do not install any software which is not looking good and there is not much public information about it.
3. Use a Reliable Hosting Platform
You must always use a reliable hosting platform. Using a cheap, the free hosting platform can land you in trouble. You might simply find your website disappear from Google search results someday. Never use hostings that are not so friendly. Always use SSL-protected hosting. Below, I am going to discuss the most reliable hosting platforms.
1. Godaddy
It is one of the most reliable hosting platforms, you can get hosting at a very reasonable cost.
2. Vapour Host
Vapour Host is a new hosting service provider but it has a very robust protection system. You can also get support which will be answered within 24 hours.
3. Site Ground
Site Ground is one of the best hosting platforms. It gives multiple services at a reasonable cost in its hosting package.
4. Use Security software
To prevent your site from malware, you should use some reliable software. This software scans your sites periodically and lets you know if there is any problem with your site. It will also help you remove those malware elements. Below I am listing some of the most reliable security software you must use.
- Sucuri
- Astra
- Sitelock
- Malcare
Conclusion
Hope this article helped you understand how you can deal with the problem of the URL blacklist virus. You can follow the method described and l think you will get over this problem. Do not forget to submit your URL again. Apart from this, do implement the preventive steps mentioned after that. Hope that the problem is solved.
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