about 2 weeks ago I disappeared from all search results.. turns out my site was hacked and spam links inserted throughout. Problem now resolved, but still no traffic from search engines.

Any idea how long I will be in the penalty box?

Greg

You may not be in the penalty box for the spam links. I have had sites that were hacked and spam links inserted just like yours and Google did not drop the positions in the serps. They put up a notice warning that if anyone clicked on the link they risked going to a site that contained malware. When I cleaned up the hacked pages the notice would disappear in a couple of days.

Right now many real estate sites have disappeared from Google's serps. They are undergoing some major changes right now and sites have disappeared for no reason - yours is probably one of them.

Suggest you try a reinclusion request with Google - you need to have an account with Google at Google Webmaster Central
http://www.google.co.uk/webmasters/

Be patient...

it usually takes about 4 months in my experience with a penalty. Some penalties my be shorter though. Mine was too the day 4 months and i even submitted a reinclusion request. Don't know if it did any good though.

Thats the only problem I have with marketing using seo to rank high on google. Google has the ability to destroy someones business. Thats why you shouldn't only pursue one avenue of lead generation.

[quote=JLNorthOC]Thats the only problem I have with marketing using seo to rank high on google. Google has the ability to destroy someones business. Thats why you shouldn't only pursue one avenue of lead generation. [/quote]

Google is just a tool for users to better find your site right. Branding and authority would still come in handy at some products if you are selling. More like viral marketing if you provide good services to customers expect them to say it to their friends or colleague.

After you're sure you're clean, submit an appeal to Google - they give you pretty clear instructions in Google webmaster tools. Give it time, and continue to add content and build backlinks. It does take time.

This happened to one of my (non real estate) sites. One thing our security person told us - NEVER have a password less than 11 characters long. Thank goodness for Roboform.

Every time a major overhaul of algorithms happen, many sites that are relevant drop in position. Still, after minor adjustments of algorithms, it seems in couple of weeks, Google is relevant again.