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Questions on Google Unnatural Links Message

by adamcm
15 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hi all,

I know there have been a few threads on this but I can't seem to find what I am looking for. I received the message on March 21st for one of my main sites. The past few days I have seen rankings decrease but not a huge amount. Some details:
- Most of my main keywords for the main page and inner pages went from position #2 to #8. The most drastic was a nice #1 I had that dropped to #10.
- I have used ALN in the past but not BMR
- My anchor text is not as diversified as it should be
- I ordered some high PR blog posts a week before receiving the message. All of these blogs and posts are still indexed.

So right now I am trying to figure out what to do. I have no idea if it is ALN or the newest blog posts I purchased. Maybe it is the lack of anchor text diversification? I don't think it is the newest set of blog posts as wouldn't they be de-indexed?

Appreciate any advise.
#google #links #message #questions #unnatural
  • Profile picture of the author dmtaylor247
    Hi

    ALN is more than likely the probable cause here especially if the majority of the sites links are coming from this network? What ratio of links do you have coming from ALN compared to other networks? or sources? break down your link profile and then post here.

    It's apparent that Google have identified this network and trigger off messages when your link profile matches their signals to a certain degree.

    It looks as though diversifing anchor text is a must now, more so than 6 months ago, but it is unlikely this caused it unless you pumped out a 1000+ links.

    Google have also cracked down on other networks not just ALN and BMR, there are a few services having de-indexing issues ATM.

    Where did you order the blog posts from? can you be certain that the provider wasn't using ALN? They could have just submitted to ALN and not to a private network, I would get on it and ask them, you've got every right to know exactly what they've done to your website.

    TBH the drops you have mentioned don't look too serious, rather a loss of links due to deindexing or some sort of infraction to spook you up a little. Does the message say you need to re-submit your site for reconsideration?

    If I were you I would go through all of your links and pick out the ones you believe are affecting your rankings, you can run them through the scrapebox index check to weed out the bad ones which Google have identified or deindexed.

    If there are not many then you can manually check them or use content footprints to track them down in Google using copyscape or scrapebox, just make sure you get all of them.

    Then wait for 14 days and see what happens, your site might drop drastically by 400 spots or it might stay the same, without waiting to find out you'll never know. If your site tanks then I would hand over the list.

    The issue for you here is, even if you choose to ignore it, someone else might not and decide to hand over the list, when they do, if the sites are still indexed and Google pumps them, then kiss your site or your rankings goodbye.
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    • Profile picture of the author adamcm
      Originally Posted by dmtaylor247 View Post

      Hi

      ALN is more than likely the probably cause here especially if the majority of the sites links are coming from this network? What ratio of links do you have coming from ALN compared to other networks? or sources? break down your link profile and then post here.

      It's apparent that Google have identified this network and trigger off messages when your link profile matches their signals to a certain degree.

      It looks as though diversifing anchor text is a must now, more so than 6 months ago, but it is unlikely this caused it unless you pumped out a 1000+ links.

      Google have also cracked down on other networks not just ALN and BMR, there are a few services having de-indexing issues ATM.

      Where did you order the blog posts from? can you be certain that the provider wasn't using ALN? They could have just submitted to ALN and not to a private network, I would get on it and ask them, you've got every right to know exactly what they've done to your website.

      TBH the drops you have mentioned don't look too serious, rather a loss of links due to deindexing or some sort of infraction to spook you up a little. Does the message say you need to re-submit your site for reconsideration?

      If I were you I would go through all of your links and pick out the ones you believe are affecting your rankings, you can run them through the scrapebox index check to weed out the bad ones which Google have identified or deindexed.

      If there are not many then you can manually check them or use content footprints to track them down in Google using copyscape or scrapebox.

      Then wait for 14 days and see what happens, your site might drop drastically by 400 spots or it might stay the same, without waiting to find out you'll never know. If your site tanks then I would hand over the list.

      The issue for you here is, even if you choose to ignore it, someone else might not and decide to hand over the list, when they do, if the sites are still there and Google pumps them, then kiss your site goodbye or your rankings.
      My first thought was ALN as well but it had me worried as I received the unnatural links notice about a week after I put about 10 posts on another network. It was not ALN I did check that. So now i'm trying to figure out if I should remove my newest blog posts from the other network or not.

      One thing I am wondering though is if there is any chance it can be the newest blog posts. Do you only receive the message based on links that have become de-indexed? In other words if all of my posts are still indexed are they ok (at least for now)?

      I have been going through my "tier 1 links" spreadsheet today. I have my Web 2.0's, articles, and high PR ALN posts included. Numerous of the ALN posts no longer exist due to de-indexation or people removing all of the links.
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      • Profile picture of the author dmtaylor247
        Originally Posted by adamcm View Post

        Do you only receive the message based on links that have become de-indexed?
        Personally I don't think so, if they have identified websites they feel are suspect, you will be removing the false positives when you had over that report, then they will get deindexed, but you could already have sites that backlink to you that Google have identified and deindexed, it's just like wildfire, you've got to give them credit for it, they executed their plan perfectly and it's working.

        The only trouble is there is alot of innocent and nieve people taking a pounding, like business' who don't have a clue and just hand over 99 quid for a better future, that's who I feel sorry for but it looks as though Google are trying to prevent too much collateral and just get who they want out of the picture.
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        • Profile picture of the author adamcm
          Originally Posted by dmtaylor247 View Post

          Personally I don't think so, if they have identified websites they feel are suspect, you will be removing the false positives when you had over that report, then they will get deindexed, but you could already have sites that backlink to you that Google have identified and deindexed, it's just like wire fire, you've got to give them credit for it, they executed their plan perfectly and it's working.

          The only trouble is there is alot of innocent and nieve people taking a pounding, like business' who don't have a clue and just hand over 99 quid for a better future, that's who I feel sorry for but it looks as though Google are trying too prevent to much collateral and just get who they want out of the picture.
          Ya, that's the problem for me now. I don't plan on handing everything over, but i'm still seeing my posts indexed for the newer ones I purchased. But I do worry that it is them that caused the message to appear and am curious if they will be de-indexed in the near future. Just not sure whether or not to ask them to all be removed or hope that it is just the previous ALN posts.
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          • Profile picture of the author dmtaylor247
            Originally Posted by adamcm View Post

            But I do worry that it is them that caused the message to appear
            It could be someone else has reported them along with a load of ALN links, then they just sit and wait to see how many people spill the beans.

            Originally Posted by adamcm View Post

            Im curious if they will be de-indexed in the near future.
            It's likely considering the scare they have put on everyone.

            Originally Posted by adamcm View Post

            Just not sure whether or not to ask them to all be removed or hope that it is just the previous ALN posts.
            It would seem the right thing to do getting them removed, it can't help leaving them there. Maybe Google's algo will see you are not behaving badly anymore, either way your site's going to take a hit from all the lost links.

            Whether or not you have any involvement in reporting sites or not is entirely your choice, like I said Google will eventually get them, it's just a matter of time, even smaller networks that are harder for them to spot.

            You could just sit it out while and let Google do their reverse engineering and your backlinks slowly drop off, but one things for sure your rankings are going to be affected, so adding new content and fresh legit backlinks is a good option ATM.
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            • Profile picture of the author adamcm
              Originally Posted by dmtaylor247 View Post

              ...so adding new content and fresh legit backlinks is a good option ATM.
              Just to clarify...what I think you mean is update all of my affected pages with new content and then build some more high PR backlinks to the same affected pages? What types of backlinks should I use right now? Web 2.0's, high PR blog comments?
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              • Profile picture of the author dmtaylor247
                Originally Posted by adamcm View Post

                Just to clarify...what I think you mean is update all of my affected pages with new content and then build some more high PR backlinks to the same affected pages? What types of backlinks should I use right now? Web 2.0's, high PR blog comments?
                Yeah I guess so, it seems they want content and not spammy links, so updating your site with new pages at least every week is a good idea, in fact it might even help improve your ranking.

                In terms of link building, yes what you mentioned but just go easy with little or no more than 10 links per day, vary your anchors, vary your sources and sit it out for a few weeks and see what happens. If things don't improve then you can make your decision. You can't really make a long term decision after a bad day if we all did that then our websites would be all over the place. Check your site trends after 14+ days then you'll know what to do.
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  • Profile picture of the author mosthost
    Your rankings are dropping because the blogs posts have been removed. It will continue like this for a while IMHO.
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    • Profile picture of the author dmtaylor247
      Originally Posted by mosthost View Post

      Your rankings are dropping because the blogs posts have been removed. It will continue like this for a while IMHO.
      I agree, there has been alot of deindexing recently. Now what Google wants is for you to hand over that list of fresh juicy backlinks you've just paid for.

      Like I said, whether you do or not the odds are still stacked against you, as there will be someone out there handing over intel as we speak, it's a win win for Google. They will be able to uncover load of splogs with this recent chaos, including some networks not related to ALN.

      Maybe in this case you can just prepare yourself for the worst, identify the links, build fresh content and new backlinks and stick it out a little, it's all a psychological game.
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  • Profile picture of the author linkbuildr
    Pretty much any links you build by hand are considered a link scheme and against their TOS.
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    @Linkbuildr
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    • Profile picture of the author dmtaylor247
      Originally Posted by linkbuildr View Post

      Pretty much any links you build by hand are considered a link scheme and against their TOS.
      Yeah I guess that's why it's a good idea just to focus on content ATM, that's what Google want, why don't you just give it to them...
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      • Profile picture of the author Architex
        Originally Posted by dmtaylor247 View Post

        Yeah I guess that's why it's a good idea just to focus on content ATM, that's what Google want, why don't you just give it to them...
        Sure if you want to stay on page 4 for any KW that has any amount of competition. Just be smart in how you build your back links.
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        Architex
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        • Profile picture of the author Dellco
          With these Unnatural Link Messages, what normally happens is you'll get dropped only for those keywords that you had a lot of unnatural links built for; you will not be deindexed unless your site is really crap. It can take a while for the keywords to drop, but drop they will....

          Based on all I am reading, the best thing you can do is to remove your bad links as far as possible and submit Reconsideration Request. Since you used ALN, it is going to be tough to remove them, because ALN is a co-op network filled with junk splogs and the blogs have different owners who cannot be bothered with them in the first place.

          The only silver lining I've read is that these penalties eventually expire after some time; can take many months it seems. If your site is worthy of fighting for, you will continue to do the necessary, such as adding content.

          But I'd advise to go slow on the link building, or even stop it altogether in the meantime. Don't go near blog networks or Fiverr gigs....you might not get caught, but when you do get caught, it's over....I expect many more surprises from Google coming down this year.
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  • Profile picture of the author GoBlog
    Relying on a links from one source is too risky, you should get links from various sources
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  • Profile picture of the author crete
    I'm done with google webmaster tools after this is fixed.
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