Why will Google not remove a manual penalty against us?
-
Our site was placed under a manual penalty last year in June 2012 after penguin rolled out. We were advised by Google that we had unnatural links pointing to our site. We fought for months, running backlink checks and contacting webmasters where Google's WMT was showing the sites which had links. We have submitted numerous reconsideration requests with proof of our efforts in the form of huge well labeled spreadsheets, emails, and screen shots of online forms requesting link removal.When the disavow tool came out we thought it was a godsend and added all the sites who had either ignored us or refused to take down the links to the disavow.txt with the domain: tag. Then we submitted another reconsideration request, but to no avail.We have since had email correspondence with a member of the Google Quality Search Team who after reviewing the evidence of all our previous reconsideration requests and disavow.txt still advised us to make a genuine effort and listed sites which had inorganic links pointing to our site which were already included in the disavow.txt.Google has stated "In order for your site to have a successful reconsideration request, we will need to see a substantial, good-faith effort to remove the links, and this effort should result in a significant decrease in the number of bad links that we see."We have truly done everything we can and proven it too! Especially with all the sites in the disavow.txt there must be a decrease in links pointing to our site. What more can we do? Please help!
-
It is something we have considered, but it is a very good source of income.
Obviously this only when it is ranking. It has a whole lot of history (granted this is why it is not ranking) and the domain is our brand as well. Basically we would rather keep it if we can.
Kindly thanking you for your advice Matt.
-
Hmmm, I understand. It can be frustrating.
The problem is that even if you are trying (and trying hard) to sort the issue out, if they still see bad links they wont lift any manual penalty.
I'm not saying that it is worthwhile in your case but sometimes it can make sense to throw away a domain and start again. Does it take many sales?
Just remember that if you start again with a new domain, do it properly and don't outsource to people who can't be trusted
-
Yes the penalty is referring to rankings, and while we are being indexed we are still under a manual penalty.
We know we have a good site, and have seen natural links since we dropped last year, but it is the old spammed backlinks which obviously spurned Google on to hitting us with this penalty.
-
Yes, you are right!
About a year ago we outsourced our SEO work to a company in india and they were extremely aggressive with these industry specific keywords.
Needless to say when penguin rolled out we pretty much disappeared.
I cannot say we have disavowed all of them but we have been working on removing these unnatural links for the past 9-10 months or so. So everything we found which we couldn't get taken down or no-followed we disavowed. As you can imagine the disavow.txt was longer than my arm!
The point is we have done everything we can and shown evidence of this but Google fails to recognize this.
-
Looks like your site is getting indexed. Is the penalty referring to rankings?
If so, some sites pre-penguin experienced high rankings because of their backlinks. If some of those backlinks' "value" were pulled (spammy links) your rankings fell.
Even if some of those spammy links were successfully taken down, doesn't necessary mean you get the organic position you lost after penguin.
This may or may not apply to your case--but generally speaking.
-
I see a problem already, although it could be that these links have been disavowed (there is no way something like Open Site Explorer can tell this).
Check out the image attached. You have used some very aggressive link building tactics which target exact match anchor text links - and lots of them! Very unnatural indeed.
Can you confirm that these have been disavowed?
Matt
-
No problem, thanks for your time. www.accidentsdirect.com
-
Do you have a link to your site please? In order to help, I think we would need to have a good look around your link profile.
Matt
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
"Unnatural links to your site" manual action by Google
Hi, My site has been hit by a "Unnatural links to your site" manual action penalty and I've just received a decline on my 2nd reconsideration request, after disavowing even more links than I did in the first request. I went over all the links in WMT to my site with an SEO specialist and we both thought things have been resolved but apparently they weren't. I'd appreciate any help on this so as to lift the penalty and get my site back to its former rankings, it has ranked well before and the timing couldn't have been worse. Thanks,
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | ishais
Yael0 -
Organic Listings showing Google Tag Manager + Google Page Title...?
I'm a bit stumped with this. I optimise all my titles etc for Australia - and now the organic liatings are showing something strange. For example ( we sell health supplements ) Meta title = "My Product , Buy Online Australia" If I type "My Product" - the title in the organic listings says "My Product - My Company Limited" - and the only place I can see it getting that from is a combination of Meta Data used in Google Tag Manager + the Name on my Google places page. This is much more obvious for categories.. but it's a pain in the butt. If I type "My Product Australia" Then the original "My Product , Buy Online Australia" comes up. Any ideas on policy etc? I have taken the "Limited" off the Google business page - so hopefully this will change over time - but I can't find any information on why google would do something like this. If you had shed any light on this - would be much appreciated.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | s_EOgi_Bear0 -
No Google Ranking..yet
I have een working on my site for soem time. Trying to take the right steps to achieve good ranking in the long run and present the information we need to showcase to prospective clients. After several months I still see no ranking at all and I'm wondering if its becasue the front page is using a design similar to a one page website design? If anyone can provide some insight I would appreciate it. Even the smallest nudge i nthe right direction. We are also developing some new content for a blog and expanded written content for our services page. http://thatworksdesign.com
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Bvrettski0 -
Does Google throttle back the search performance of a penalised website/page after the penalty has been removed?
Hi Mozzers. Back in 2013 my website www.octopus-hr.co.uk was hit by a Penguin 2.0 penalty owing to a harmful backlink profile built by a dodgy SEO consultant (now fired). The penalty seemed to apply to the homepage of the site but other pages were unaffected. We got what links we could removed, disavowed the rest and were informed in September 2013 that the penalty had been removed and our re-inclusion request had been successful. However our website homepage still ranks poorly for the search terms we're targeting in the UK: "HR Software" "HR Systems" On page factors are in my opinion pretty well optimised for these search terms. In terms of link building post penalty we've focused on high authority and relevant sites. I believe that compared to most of our search competitors the back link profile to our homepage is in pretty good shape, however it still ranks badly. Has anyone had any experience of a penalty hangover from Google in the past? Are there other things I should consider? Thanks David
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | OctopusHR0 -
Is it possible to add Kuwait Google ? if yes , when it will be ready?
I'm working on improving ecommerce website at Kuwait, and I want to buy PRO tool for Google of Kuwait, but I did not find it in the list? Is it possible to add Kuwait Google ? if yes , when it will be ready? Regards Ayman Hanna aymanragheb@hotmail.com
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | aymanragheb0 -
Why does this page not show in google at all?
www.lavenderblue-flowers.co.uk Sorry for formatting, below is the source. There are alot of blocks from robots.txt but is there anything easily rectified to get this site SOME visibility? Duplicate content maybe PANDA had it? No backlink profile too which isnt helping but even still, surprising to see a domain auth of 1. Thanks in advance for any responses. DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html><head><meta content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"><meta http-equiv="expires" content="Fri, 17 Jun 2011 12:06:27 GMT"><title>Bridport Interflora Florist, Lavender Blue, Dorset, DT16 3XDtitle><meta name="description" content="Lavender Blue in Bridport, Dorset, DT16 3XD delivers to Interflora florist based in Bridport is a well established family run business with a dedicated team of florists. We specialise in beautiful wedding flowers and take great pride in our funeral tributes, floral arrangements designed for any occasion for local, national and worldwide delivery."><meta name="keywords" content="Bridport,Interflora Florist,Lavender Blue,Dorset,DT16 3XD"><meta name="abstract" content="Interflora florist based in Bridport is a well established family run business with a dedicated team of florists. We specialise in beautiful wedding flowers and take great pride in our funeral tributes, floral arrangements designed for any occasion for local, national and worldwide delivery."><meta name="robots" content="index,nofollow"><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/kernel/styles/print.css?new=new" media="print"><link rel="stylesheet" href="/kernel/styles/d4.css?designtype=d4;theme=blue;" type="text/css"><style type="text/css">style><script language="JavaScript1.2" src="/kernel/utils.js?new" type="text/javascript">script><script language="JavaScript1.2" type="text/javascript" src="/kernel/interflora.js?head=1;si=1000343;">script><script language="JavaScript1.2" type="text/javascript">script><script language="javascript"> var b_site_url = getcookie('b_site_url');if (b_site_url != "" && !getcookie('referral_id') && location.protocol == 'http:' && b_site_url != location.host && location.pathname.indexOf('catalog2') == -1) location.href = location.protocol + "//" + b_site_url + location.pathname + location.search;script>head><body><img border="0" src="/kernel/images/speck.gif" width="1" height="1" alt class="nospace"><div id="page-body"><table class="page-topbanner" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td background="/kernel/images/d4/border-blue_03.gif" align="left" valign="top"><img src="/kernel/images/d4/border-blue_01.gif" alt>td><td colspan="2" style="background-image: url(/kernel/images/d4/border-blue_03.gif); background-position: top; background-repeat: repeat-x;"><img src="/kernel/images/speck.gif" width="300" height="50" alt>td><td align="right" valign="top" background="/kernel/images/d4/border-blue_03.gif"><img src="/kernel/images/d4/border-blue_04.gif" alt>td>tr><tr><td style="background-image: url(/kernel/images/d4/border-blue_05.gif); background-repeat: repeat-y;" align="left" valign="top"><img src="/kernel/images/d4/border-blue_01b.gif" alt>td><td valign="top" class="sd-image_only" id="sd-logo_store" colspan="1" rowspan="1"><img src="/kernel/imageload?ttl2=15;table=content_images;key1=fd_img_2606422_1" alt="" title="">td><td class="logo-if" align="right"><img src="/kernel/images/logo-if.png" alt="interflora.co.uk the flower experts™">td><td style="background-image: url(/kernel/images/d4/border-blue_07.gif); background-position: right; background-repeat: repeat-y;"> td>tr><tr><td style="background-image: url(/kernel/images/d4/border-blue_05.gif); background-position: left; background-repeat: repeat-y;" colspan="3" align="center"><table id="website" cellspacing="0" border="0" align="center"><tr><td colspan="3" id="fol_address">1 Lilliput Lane, Bridport, Dorset, DT16 3XDtd>tr><tr><td id="email" colspan="3"><b>Email:b> lavenderblueflowers@hotmail.co.uktd>tr><tr><td style="padding-right:10px;"><b>Phone:b> 01308 459145td><td style="padding-right:10px;"><b>Fax:b> 01308 458417td>tr>table>td><td style="background-image: url(/kernel/images/d4/border-blue_07.gif); background-position: right; background-repeat: repeat-y;"> td>tr><tr><td style="background-image: url(/kernel/images/d4/border-blue_05.gif); background-position: left; background-repeat: repeat-y;" colspan="3" align="center"><div class="page-topmenu"><table class="page-topmenu" cellspacing="0"><tr><td id="account"><a href="/myaccount/"><img src="/kernel/images/d4/icon-account.gif" style="margin: 3px 3px 4px 3px; vertical-align: middle;" width="15" height="13" alt="My Account">My Accounta>td><td id="menu"><a href="/">Homea><img class="bullet" src="/kernel/images/speck.gif" width="2" height="2" alt style="margin: 10px 4px 10px 4px;"><a href="/page.xml?page_name=about">About Usa><img class="bullet" src="/kernel/images/speck.gif" width="2" height="2" alt style="margin: 10px 4px 10px 4px;"><a href="/page.xml?page_name=delivery">Delivery Infoa><img class="bullet" src="/kernel/images/speck.gif" width="2" height="2" alt style="margin: 10px 4px 10px 4px;"><a href="/page.xml?page_name=contactus">Contact Usa>td><td id="cart"><a href="/shopcart/"><img src="/kernel/images/d4/icon-shopcart.gif" style="margin: 3px; vertical-align: middle;" width="14" hieght="14" alt="Shopping Basket">Shopping Basketa>td>tr>table>div>td><td style="background-image: url(/kernel/images/d4/border-blue_07.gif); background-position: right; background-repeat: repeat-y;"> td>tr>table><p id="browser-warning" style="display: block; padding: 2px; border: 2px solid #FC9F85; margin: 0px; background-color: #FDFFC4;"><b>For your information:b> This message has appeared because we've noticed your browser doesn't fully support all functions of this site. For further information please <a href="/page.xml?page_name=faq">click herea>.p><script language="JavaScript1.2" type="text/javascript">var theBrowser = navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase();if(is_nav7up || (parseInt(is_moz_ver) >= 1) || is_ie5_5up || theBrowser.indexOf("safari") != -1) {hideElement('browser-warning',0);}script><table class="body" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td align="left" valign="bottom" style="background-image: url(/kernel/images/d4/border-blue_05.gif); background-position: left; background-repeat: repeat-y;"><img src="/kernel/images/d4/border-blue_05.gif" alt>td><td class="menu" valign="top"><img src="/kernel/images/speck.gif" width="150" height="1" border="0" alt><br><form method="get" action="/search/index.xml" id="leftnav_search"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" class="global-search"><tr><th colspan="2">SEARCHth>tr><tr><td width="50%"><input class="text" type="text" name="keywords1" id="search" value maxlength="50" size="15">td><td align="left"><input type="submit" class="button" name="search" id="search" value="GO">td>tr><tr><td colspan="2" align="left"><a href="/search/advanced_search.xml">Advanced Searcha>td>tr>table>form><div class="menusection"><a class="menuParent_off" id="parentcat_2003443" href="/catalog/category.xml?category_id=2003443"><div class="spacer">div><span class="menu-bullet"><img src="/kernel/images/arrow.gif" class="menu-bullet">Anniversaryspan><div class="spacer">div>a><div class="menuChildren" id="menuChildrencat_2003443">div><a class="menuParent_off" id="parentcat_2003453" href="/catalog/category.xml?category_id=2003453"><div class="spacer">div><span class="menu-bullet"><img src="/kernel/images/arrow.gif" class="menu-bullet">Congratulationsspan><div class="spacer">div>a><div class="menuChildren" id="menuChildrencat_2003453">div><a class="menuParent_off" id="parentcat_4" href="/category/flower-arrangements/"><div class="spacer">div><span class="menu-bullet"><img src="/kernel/images/arrow.gif" class="menu-bullet">All Flower Bouquetsspan><div class="spacer">div>a><div class="menuChildren" id="menuChildrencat_4">div><a class="menuParent_off" id="parentcat_2003493" href="/catalog/category.xml?category_id=2003493"><div class="spacer">div><span class="menu-bullet"><img src="/kernel/images/arrow.gif" class="menu-bullet">Sympathy & Funeralspan><div class="spacer">div>a><div class="menuChildren" id="menuChildrencat_2003493">div><a class="menuParent_off" id="parentcat_2003463" href="/catalog/category.xml?category_id=2003463"><div class="spacer">div><span class="menu-bullet"><img src="/kernel/images/arrow.gif" class="menu-bullet">Thank Youspan><div class="spacer">div>a><div class="menuChildren" id="menuChildrencat_2003463">div><a class="menuParent_off" id="parentcat_2001478" href="/category/same-day-flowers/"><div class="spacer">div><span class="menu-bullet"><img src="/kernel/images/arrow.gif" class="menu-bullet">Same Day Flower Deliveryspan><div class="spacer">div>a><div class="menuChildren" id="menuChildrencat_2001478">div><a class="menuParent_off" id="parentcat_2124203" href="/category/summer_flowers/"><div class="spacer">div><span class="menu-bullet"><img src="/kernel/images/arrow.gif" class="menu-bullet">Summer Flowersspan><div class="spacer">div>a><div class="menuChildren" id="menuChildrencat_2124203">div><a class="menuParent_off" id="parentcat_2003403" href="/category/luxury-flowers/"><div class="spacer">div><span class="menu-bullet"><img src="/kernel/images/arrow.gif" class="menu-bullet">Luxury Flowersspan><div class="spacer">div>a><div class="menuChildren" id="menuChildrencat_2003403">div><a class="menuParent_off" id="parentcat_1000343" href="/catalo
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | ewanstevenson0 -
What will happen after I 301 this domain?
A while back I created a new website. Somehow my "scratch" copies of the site got indexed even though I didn't have links built to them. (In the future I will use noindex tags when I am playing around with designing). Now, I have three versions of the site online...let's call them TheRealSite.com and Practice1.com and Practice2.com. Practice1.com and Practice2.com now rank #1 for their main keyword. (It's a relatively uncompetitive niche). TheRealSite.com is somewhere lower than page 20 despite having an exact keyword match domain name. I'm assuming that Google considered it duplicate content as it is the exact same thing as Practice1 and 2. I had considered simply removing Practice1 and 2 from the server, but I was worried that if I did that, I would lose my #1 rankings if TheRealSite didn't recover. So, what I've done is 301 redirect Practice1 and Practice2 to TheRealSite. I'm guessing that over time TheRealSite will come back to #1 and then I can just remove the files from Practice1 and Practice2. Is this the best way to handle this situation?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | MarieHaynes1