Whenever a website gets a manual action, this issue will always be visible under Security and Manual actions in Google Search Console. It looks something like this.
Manual actions page showing the issue detected and some details about it
With such a message, you know the problem and can address it directly.
Manual actions imposed on a website will result in pages being ranked lower or omitted from the search results completely.
But diagnosing the effect of an algorithmic adjustment is much more challenging, as you will get zero notifications from Google.
The best way to identify an algorithmic action is to look at your Google organic traffic and see if you have a drop that coincides with a known or suspected algorithm update.
You can search through webmaster forums or Twitter to see if other webmasters are facing similar issues. Google Search Central Help Community, for example, is an excellent place to start.
With Ahrefs, you can check if other websites in your industry are losing their rankings too.
Let’s use our blog as an example:
Line graph showing organic traffic of Ahrefs' blog dip after core update was implemented
On Dec. 3, 2020, a new core algorithm update was rolled out. Notably, Ahrefs’ blog has the strongest focus on content quality; we have never bought a single backlink. So this update was a slap in the face for us.
You should also note that algorithm updates don’t only demote low-quality or spammy websites; they also promote high-quality sites. So even if there’s nothing “wrong” with your website, you can find other sites outranking you after the next core update.
If you’re ‘hit’ by a core update, you shouldn’t think of it as a penalty. You might not be doing anything wrong at all, it might just be that someone is doing something better.
Gary Illyes
Gary Illyes, Webmaster Trends Analyst Google
What manual actions can a website get?
There are two types of actions that can be displayed on the “Manual actions” page. These are:
Manual actions that affect the entire site.
Manual actions that only affect a specific URL or section of a site.
Manual actions can be anything from quite broad to quite specific, and very fluid in between. The goal is always to neutralize the issue, and sometimes that’s easy to isolate & do, other times it’s much harder, so we end up taking broader action.
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John Mueller
John Mueller, Search Advocate Google
Every “manual action” notification is accompanied by “Reason” and “Effects” information.
Today, the list of manual actions includes the following:
Site abused with third-party spam
User-generated spam
Spammy free host
Structured data issue
Unnatural links to your site
Unnatural links from your site
Thin content with little or no added value
Cloaking and/or sneaky redirects
Pure spam
Cloaked images
Hidden text and/or keyword stuffing
AMP content mismatch
Sneaky mobile redirects
News and Discover policy violations
Whenever Google rolls out a new spam update, it’s basically targeting the same issues.
The core updates address the relevance and quality of content.
Also, you should note that manual actions can cover different Google products. But if you somehow get a manual action related to Google Discover, your regular rankings should not be affected.