On rare occasions, you may find your website being flagged by Google as a parked domain.
Two main factors cause a website to be flagged. 1) Google can not assess your website 2) Website content does not meet Google’s requirements.
Below is a list of possible reasons for getting flagged for parked domain:
Failed Website Crawls
- Disallowed URL is returned (check your robots.txt file)
- URL with connection error (check user agent or IP address blocking)
- Incorrect base domain (check https vs http, and check www vs non-www)
New Domain Names
- Your domain name had a previous owner and was disapproved (check using https://archive.org/web/ or use a whois tool)
- Your domain name had payment issues with Google (new or previous owner)
Content
- If the content on your website is copied from another website (add original content)
- Not enough unique and or valuable content
- Cookie-cutter content (websites that are created to hold multiple spots on the first page)
- Low-quality content
- Violation of editorial guidelines (you can check the list here: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/2877578?hl=en)
- Unprofessional content (such as poor grammar, non-clear content)
IP Modification
- If you are showing different content to Google and or users based on IP detection and modification
- If you are showing different content based on browsers or devices
Google Cache
- If the cached version of your website is different from the live website (check by using cache:www.feedarmy.com in your browser address bar)
- Low-quality content that is still visible in the cache
Slow Response
- Having a website with a slow response time (make sure its 3seconds or faster)
Redirection
- Redirecting URLs (check you are not redirecting www to non-www or HTTP to HTTPS), (Always submit the final URL)
Trust
- Domain name details don’t match website or business details (all must match)
Server Issues
- Any server issues (check your server logs for non 200 response codes)
Advertising
- If you are using AdSense or other advertisements on your website
- Content that looks like its an ad
Pricing
- Having pricing issues, such as missing currency
- Using automatic currency conversion
Availability
- Not enough products in stock (make sure more than 50% of items are in stock)
Products
- Not having enough physical products
- Not having any products stocked (POD, Print on Demand is not allowed)
- Only offer software downloads
Layout
- Website layout that looks like a one-pager
- Content that looks like its template content
- Using template images or text