How long does it take to turn around a 10/17 SPAM score domain?

[Gavin.Atkinson]

Hi - Looking at acquiring a domain name that has a great product fit. The problem is it is currently getting a 10/17 Open Site Explorer SPAM score.

The existing site for the domain is running Google sponsored link ads and is full of internal pages that link off to these ads.

That explains the existing SPAM score.

If I acquire the domain I'll throw out the Google ad pages and build instead a site with real valuable content that behaves like a normal site and look at building backlinks etc.

My question is, following this approach, how long is it likely to take Google to not see the domain as some Spam factory so it starts getting well positioned SERPs?

[Gavin.Atkinson]

Hi Lisa

I read those before posting.

I guess my question was more around once you take proactive measures so the site is less spammy, how long does it generally take Google to stop looking at it so negatively.

Interested in both MOZ's views on this and the community here based on their experience.

[moz_support]

Hi there! Sorry for any confusion you're experiencing.

Spam Score is just our internal measurement of possible traits that correlate with Google penalization. Since this is just based on correlation with penalization, rather than causation, the solution isn't necessarily to change these factors on your site.

I would recommend checking out some of these resources about Spam Score:

Spam Score: Moz's New Metric to Measure Penalization Risk

Understanding and Applying Moz's Spam Score Metric - Whiteboard Friday

I hope that helps!