We all work really hard to get good ranking on Google search engine. Nevertheless, things might go wrong — your website could still get hacked.
More often than not, we see Google label these hacked site with a “malware warning” on its search results.
So what can you do when you see the dreaded “This site may harm your computer” label for your website?
*Please note that this error message only appear from Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome, and will not appear on other web browsers.
But there is still ‘good’ news – these website are still within the Google index and haven’t been completely removed.
How To Know When Your Website is Hacked
This is what Google does when it thinks a site has been infected by malware or hacked:
- Put a hacked flag on the suspected site in their ranking database
- Remove the site from ranking competitively by suppressing it in keyword searches
- Contacts the site owner
- Sends out a malware warning through the website’s (verified) Google Webmaster Tools account
However, many website owners find out that Google doesn’t perform all these tasks all the time, and site owners often don’t realize what is happening until their website has been labeled with a malware warning, or has gone missing from the Google index.
What To Do When Malware Warning Happened
Try these steps to fix your website:
- Register and verify your site in Google’s Search Console.
- Sign in to Search Console and check the “Security Issues” section to see details of sample URLs that might be hacked. Fix the security issue that allowed your website to be infected. Otherwise, your site is likely to be reinfected.
- Read Google resources for hacked sites for detailed information on how to fix your website.
- Request a review in the Security Issues section in Search Console when your entire website is clean and secure. After Google check that your site is fixed, they’ll remove the “This site may be hacked” message.
Next, it’s time for a Google Review. Please note that it may take up to three weeks. You’ll be notified once Google receives your request.
So there you go. Take action to check from time to time and ensure your website is malware-free and still searchable.
Cheers! Read more about WordPress Website Security Tips in 2021 to avoid from hacked
