Recently our site got hit hard by google, main keywords are all gone, doesn't even show up in search. Only few keywords in sub level page show up in search. I guess they really changed something and penalized our site/keywords. And I was checking both google webmaster tool and analytics and found "Request Reconsideration" in webmaster tool. My question was will this help? We fixed lot things based on google seo guideline, such as, fixing broken links, deleting unrelated link partners, adding alt tag, etc. But I don't think those are major reasons for this big penalty. Our keywords were showing up in page 1 or 2 for long time. But anyhow, any advice on how to appropriately request reconsideration? like when to request, and what to type when requesting?
Before you do anything like "reconsideration", you have to find out what happened. I mean REALLY HAPPENED. The staff will not tell the truth on this or they would get fired. The marketing team could have implemented a black hat linking scheme. Or the programmer implemented some type of cloking scheme. It is the results of what someone did that will tell you what to do next. PM me on this with the web site's link Jim Catanich
Do some reading on the "-950 penalty" and the "-30 penalty" and see if your site fits one of these profiles. If it does then you'll get a list of thing you need to clean up before you request reconsideration.
Last night i also experience same thing with you, don't know what to do now. Can somebody please help me?