Got sites penalized by Google - Now creating new links the hard way

[Fernando Veloso]

Hi guys,

A quick statement to what happened: Since 2004 I had some sites ranking very high, #1 spots for major keywords.

In late 2008 (October 28th) the sites went straight to page 5 for all keywords.

Until now i kept working as usual: new content every 3 days and some links every week.

But the sites don't go up, they don't break the 5th page mark. None of them, for no keyword, even the new keywords i work now.

The sites are full of unique content, no keyword spam, nothing idiot. Yet, they are "grounded" in 5th page.

So, I decided to hit hard on new links. I don't care if i get 100 per day or 50 per day. I will hit them with everything i can get.

Will post updates on this next days/weeks.

Wish me luck

[4morereferrals]

Very keenly interested in this ... I'll be watching.

Let me know if I can help.

[Intrepreneur]

What is Google Webmatser tools saying about your rankings?

Does it show that you are gaining front page for your main keywords at all?

[Fernando Veloso]

Update:

One week went by. Delivered new links to the sites using social media sites and articles, but the rankings are the same, no news yet.

One funny thing: the sites keep 5th page rankings but one blog used to drive traffic to my major sites, ranks #12 right now for a big keyword.

[ChrisBa]

let us know how it comes in the upcoming weeks

[Smokey_Joe]

How about your competitors - what do their link profiles look like?

[Fernando Veloso]

Originally Posted by Smokey_Joe

How about your competitors - what do their link profiles look like?

Some of the top 10 sites have 46 incoming links, other ones are diretories, other ones are big players with 5K incoming links and 8 year old domains. This on one of the sites.

On another one the top 10 is full of crap: spam blogs, non-relevant results, more directories.

[Fernando Veloso]

Hey Franco, thanks for feedback.

Originally Posted by Franco Mocke

From my experience you are wasting your time, Google is devaluing most of your links. Rather spend your time looking for links that look REAL. Don't go for the amount of links, go for quality links where you can leave the link inside the content or article.

Been there, done that. Actually for 3 years

Like you said the first page sites have 40+ links, so of course what you are doing now is not working.

Well, i have so many links, from different sites and blogs, all content related that it gets funny how my links are not showing up - yet my competitors show links that are non-existent (old links that got dropped from directories) and/or links in non-related spam blogs, directories, etc

Analyze the other site's links and see where they are physically located, and try to do the same.

C'mon, some of those top ranking sites secure a top 5 spot for more then 8 months based on 2 links coming from a comment they made in a non-related blog.

Not natural and not fair.

I use Market Samurai to track rankings and it's insane how a ****ty blog, actually more than one, can secure top spots for so many time with ripped content, no incoming links and are just MFA's.

I feel this is a "handmade" result. I cannot prove it but i strongly feel this is handmade. When Google updates rankings these sites keep top results. It makes no sense and it's frustrating that a relevant website, updated 3-4 times a week gets stoned to 5th page for 8 months and those %#ckers keep their top rankings with ****ty spammy blogs, with no new content, no relevant links - nothing.

That's why i say it feels "handmade".

In fact, when the "penalization" happened in late October 2008 some real experienced SEO guys had a look in my sites, link building, etc and they were d'uh cause it made no sense to them.

Now another funny fact:

Since last year I started hiding my who is data. Guess what: those new sites rank high.

Go figure.

[bay37]

Originally Posted by Fernando Veloso

Since last year I started hiding my who is data. Guess what: those new sites rank high.

Go figure.

Yeah I've had similar experience with some of my websites. I just can't believe that this could influence serp rankings, so I don't talk about it. lol

[Jaspworld]

Once Google has dropped you in rankings suddenly (probably penalized), it's very tough to get back on track. Trust me.

Still, let us know what happens.

[Fernando Veloso]

Originally Posted by Jaspworld

Once Google has dropped you in rankings suddenly (probably penalized), it's very tough to get back on track. Trust me.

Why do you say that? Past experience?

[Spensorew]

good luck, I cannot wait to hear what happens when you get your links built back up. This would suck for any webmaster I take it that you have studied the competition quite well?

[prtt75]

Did you take down notes as how many competing pages your target keyword have when you first started optimizing ? Then, how many competing pages do they have now. That happens, if you try to monitor this crucial details, you will know why you dropped your rankings. These numbers are always changing and your rank will always be dependent on on how aggressive your competitors are on looking for new links everyday.

[terryd]

Originally Posted by Jaspworld

Once Google has dropped you in rankings suddenly (probably penalized), it's very tough to get back on track. Trust me.

Still, let us know what happens.

Rubbish, I've had sites drop out of the first page of google for no apparent reason and a slow steady dream of link building has brought it back to the top.

[AlbertF]

Trust me, if you are link building from quality sources, keep doing it, even though it isn't making a difference, it will. If not now, later. Just keep building around the same links periodically and you should start seeing progress for your keywords.

Remember to do on-page optimization as well.