Penguin 2.0 has hit business

[MarzVentures]

Howdy,
I represent a UK based workwear company called myworkwear.co.uk and our rankings have fallen following Penguin 2.0. We are a relatively small company compared to many competitors and have noticed the arrival of large companies in the serps. Many are not even in the workwear sector and pretty irrelevant which is annoying. We have not received any correspondence from Google, but our fall from grace particularly for the word workwear has been big.

Do you think our link profile is an issue?

Click here: Link Profile

Is it worth emailing Google? We have attempted to remove bad links, is it worth using disavow? My feelings are we should:

1. Email Google via Disavow tool about the links we have already tried to remove with proof of attempt.Go through link profile with fine tooth comb and contact an even wider range of webmasters for link removal.Then email Google via disavow tool (best to try removal via email to websites first).2. Begin to build new content and links, even guest blogging is now coming under scrutiny from Google – There really is no bluffing Google anymore.3. Build site conversion.4. Develop a competition theme (10 years old anniversary) combined with say MyWorkHero, etc. Use this for social networking.5. Increase social networking, but is this experts are predicting this is the next kick up for seo.6. Having improved conversion, trial adwords.7. Continue to develop the site in a structured, non manipulative manner. – Look at it as a good site is a successful site in the eyes of Google and the rewards will follow.

Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

[MarzVentures]

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the reply your time is much appreciated. I am aware of the edu.cn domains with drug products and emailed the relevant webmasters 6 months ago with no look as the site was hacked about 5 years ago. So I will now disavow them. Is it worth using disavow on other bad links before I attempt to get them removed? or does Google frown on this?

I agree about the term 'workwear' as over the years this built the rankings, but now the seo worm has turned. I have started to use prlog.org for press releases.Do you feel this is okay?

Once again, thanks for your help, it is important to provide independent opinions to clients.

[TomRayner]

Hi there

First of all, I'm really sorry to hear you've been affected by the update.

As Penguin was an algorithmic penalty, there will be no benefit in emailing Google directly or filing a reconsideration request, as the penalty was not manual.  However, filing a disavow file would be worthwhile if you believe that your site's link profile is littered with spam.

Now, I don't mean to alarm you but I can see some very worrying links in your profile.  You have a number of links from .edu.cn domains that look to be targeting pills and health items.  In all honesty, at first glance it looks as though the site has been hacked - are you aware of this?

Having checked the site in the safe browsing tool, it doesn't look as though Google has detected this as hacked.  Nevertheless, those links will be doing some pretty serious harm to your site and should be disavowed straight away.  In addition, there does look to be a number of links with the keyword "workwear" that look quite artificial - as in, they only look to pass SEO value rather than user value.  Those kind of links (which it looks like you've already identified) could be contributing to your penguin penalty.

It's worth noting that disavowing these links will likely have no effect until the algorithm refreshes, which may take a month or two.  In the mean time, you should focus on replacing those links with quality links and looking to drive traffic to your site by other means.  Also, in case you have been hacked, Google has released a great guide on what you should do next.

And I have to say, it looks as though you've got a great plan to do this.  Steps 2 through 7 all look like great inbound marketing tactics (I particularly like 4) which in turn should help you earn high authority links.

I'd have a deep look at your link profile and also check your site security, but your recovery plan looks really solid and I hope it's not long until you get back on your feet.