26 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
26 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

What would you do

by wAvision
23 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Say you had a site that was bringing in 1500-2000 a month and growing that was ranking #1-5 for many keywords for a year or so.

It was getting about 600-900 visitors a day.

Then poof its gone, and you have been hit with a sitewide manual penalty for "pure spam". Which I have no idea how, because all of the content is original, 1500-2500 words, and helpful. According to my stat tracker, the average time on site was over 3 min, and the bounce rate was 22%. But when you look at google analytics, those stats are different, so who knows.


I honestly believe that in some niches, google does not want certain sites at the top, therefore they slap a penalty on them... does anyone else feel this way at all?

Anyway, would you try to get the action removed, or start over? The site has about 15 pages fyi...

If I were to try to get the penalty removed, where would I even start?

Thanks
  • Profile picture of the author mdminhazuddin35
    Banned
    [DELETED]
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10347352].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author DABK
    I'd start by contacting Google and try to understand why the penalized you. Then, decide which way to go.

    Originally Posted by wAvision View Post

    Say you had a site that was bringing in 1500-2000 a month and growing that was ranking #1-5 for many keywords for a year or so.

    It was getting about 600-900 visitors a day.

    Then poof its gone, and you have been hit with a sitewide manual penalty for "pure spam". Which I have no idea how, because all of the content is original, 1500-2500 words, and helpful. According to my stat tracker, the average time on site was over 3 min, and the bounce rate was 22%. But when you look at google analytics, those stats are different, so who knows.


    I honestly believe that in some niches, google does not want certain sites at the top, therefore they slap a penalty on them... does anyone else feel this way at all?

    Anyway, would you try to get the action removed, or start over? The site has about 15 pages fyi...

    If I were to try to get the penalty removed, where would I even start?

    Thanks
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10347441].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author tdadkins
      Originally Posted by DABK View Post

      I'd start by contacting Google and try to understand why the penalized you. Then, decide which way to go.
      This is the best way to go. it sounds like they sent you a generic message, further contact is the only way to go at this point. That sucks though man. Good luck getting your site back.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10353024].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author wAvision
        Originally Posted by tdadkins View Post

        This is the best way to go. it sounds like they sent you a generic message, further contact is the only way to go at this point. That sucks though man. Good luck getting your site back.
        what is the best way to contact them to find this out? Do it through the reconsideration request and just ask for specifics so that I can clear it up?
        Signature
        They Say You Can't...Show Them How
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10355673].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author wAvision
      Originally Posted by DABK View Post

      I'd start by contacting Google and try to understand why the penalized you. Then, decide which way to go.
      Does anyone have any clue how to contact google and see exactly what I was penalized for?

      I tried doing it through the reconsideration request and asked for specifics, but the reply I got back was just a generic one stating "major spam issues" still persist....
      Signature
      They Say You Can't...Show Them How
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10357726].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author DABK
        https://gethuman.com/phone-number/Google

        Originally Posted by wAvision View Post

        Does anyone have any clue how to contact google and see exactly what I was penalized for?

        I tried doing it through the reconsideration request and asked for specifics, but the reply I got back was just a generic one stating "major spam issues" still persist....
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10358075].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author wAvision
          Originally Posted by DABK View Post

          i can call that number and they will really tell me exactly what is wrong?
          Signature
          They Say You Can't...Show Them How
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10358499].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author DABK
            Most likely they'll transfer you to another number where someone who can will answer.



            Originally Posted by wAvision View Post

            i can call that number and they will really tell me exactly what is wrong?
            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10359188].message }}
            • Profile picture of the author wAvision
              Originally Posted by DABK View Post

              Most likely they'll transfer you to another number where someone who can will answer.
              Unfortunately this did not work. All webmaster issues are web based. All they did was send me to two different places online which explain the pure spam penalty.
              Signature
              They Say You Can't...Show Them How
              {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10359805].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
    That "pure spam" message they send out is a generic one that has been reportedly used for a wide variety of issues. For example, it is commonly sent out for backlink issues like using a public blog network.

    It is a bit misleading and lazy on their part. Most likely your issues are offsite.
    Signature

    For SEO news, discussions, tactics, and more.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10347476].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Originally Posted by wAvision View Post

    Say you had a site that was bringing in 1500-2000 a month and growing that was ranking #1-5 for many keywords for a year or so.

    It was getting about 600-900 visitors a day.

    Then poof its gone, and you have been hit with a sitewide manual penalty for "pure spam". Which I have no idea how, because all of the content is original, 1500-2500 words, and helpful. According to my stat tracker, the average time on site was over 3 min, and the bounce rate was 22%. But when you look at google analytics, those stats are different, so who knows.


    I honestly believe that in some niches, google does not want certain sites at the top, therefore they slap a penalty on them... does anyone else feel this way at all?

    Anyway, would you try to get the action removed, or start over? The site has about 15 pages fyi...

    If I were to try to get the penalty removed, where would I even start?

    Thanks


    If it's a niche that's historically spammy (pharma, payday, etc...), sure, it's an uphill battle. Why wouldn't it be?

    Look at your backlink profile (spam?).

    Look at the text version of your domain/pages, have you been hit/hacked with spam links?

    Example.





    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10352977].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author wAvision
      Originally Posted by yukon View Post

      If it's a niche that's historically spammy (pharma, payday, etc...), sure, it's an uphill battle. Why wouldn't it be?

      Look at your backlink profile (spam?).

      Look at the text version of your domain/pages, have you been hit/hacked with spam links?

      Example.
      It is not in a spammy niche.

      My backlink profile is mostly high quality links, although I did have around 17 links that were from a crappy PBN.

      How can I view the text version of my site as you have shown here?

      Thanks
      Signature
      They Say You Can't...Show Them How
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10355669].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author yukon
        Banned
        Originally Posted by wAvision View Post

        How can I view the text version of my site as you have shown here?

        Thanks
        Paste the search string below in Google search & change the domain name.

        • cache:domain.com


        Click the Text-Only Version link at the top of the cache page (example text only cache).
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10355812].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author wAvision
          Originally Posted by yukon View Post

          Paste the search string below in Google search & change the domain name.

          • cache:domain.com


          Click the Text-Only Version link at the top of the cache page (example text only cache).
          when I do this, nothing happens... screen stays white, no search results
          Signature
          They Say You Can't...Show Them How
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10355825].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author yukon
            Banned
            Originally Posted by wAvision View Post

            when I do this, nothing happens... screen stays white, no search results

            Post a screenshot & black out the URLs If needed.

            Do you see the Google cache header bar at the top of the page?

            I'm guessing your site is coded with flash or javascript which is not good for SEO, well, not good for the text or links you want Google to find.
            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10355855].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author TotalWebsiteControl
    Originally Posted by wAvision View Post

    Say you had a site that was bringing in 1500-2000 a month and growing that was ranking #1-5 for many keywords for a year or so.

    It was getting about 600-900 visitors a day.

    Then poof its gone, and you have been hit with a sitewide manual penalty for "pure spam". Which I have no idea how, because all of the content is original, 1500-2500 words, and helpful. According to my stat tracker, the average time on site was over 3 min, and the bounce rate was 22%. But when you look at google analytics, those stats are different, so who knows.


    I honestly believe that in some niches, google does not want certain sites at the top, therefore they slap a penalty on them... does anyone else feel this way at all?

    Anyway, would you try to get the action removed, or start over? The site has about 15 pages fyi...

    If I were to try to get the penalty removed, where would I even start?

    Thanks
    Disavow all the spam links and try to start over with good links. This is what i would do if i was you. You could start over but you would be doing the exact same thing.
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10353020].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author footfoot
    wonder how old your site was
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10353032].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author wAvision
    I put cache:mydomain.com into the search field, hit enter, and this is what is there....

    my site uses the wordpress twentytwelve theme.

    This happens if I try this for all of my sites... which are not penalized.

    Signature
    They Say You Can't...Show Them How
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10355871].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author yukon
      Banned
      Originally Posted by wAvision View Post

      I put cache:mydomain.com into the search field, hit enter, and this is what is there....

      my site uses the wordpress twentytwelve theme.

      This happens if I try this for all of my sites... which are not penalized.


      Lol, HUGE image.

      The cache search should work.

      Try this, copy/paste the URL below into your browser search (not Google) & change the Warrior Forum domain name to your own domain name. Make sure to use www If that's what you use on your own site.

      Code:
      http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3Awww.warriorforum.com&strip=1
      ...or just PM me the URL & I'll show you your text version cache.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10355908].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    I looked at the URL, OPs site is deindexed. That's also why he isn't seeing any cache pages.

    It's a product review site, which is common so I doubt content is the problem. I haven't looked but I get the feeling it's a backlink problem.

    If the site made $2K per month I would start over with a new domain & use all the analytic data from the slapped site to bring in traffic for a new site.

    Build 2 or 3 new domains targeting the same niche/keywords (safety net), keep all the domains isolated from each other.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10355929].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author wAvision
      Originally Posted by yukon View Post

      I looked at the URL, OPs site is deindexed. That's also why he isn't seeing any cache pages.

      It's a product review site, which is common so I doubt content is the problem. I haven't looked but I get the feeling it's a backlink problem.

      If the site made $2K per month I would start over with a new domain & use all the analytic data from the slapped site to bring in traffic for a new site.

      Build 2 or 3 new domains targeting the same niche/keywords (safety net), keep all the domains isolated from each other.
      Is it safe to use any content from the old site no that it is deindexed? or will I need to use all new content?
      Signature
      They Say You Can't...Show Them How
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10355952].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author yukon
        Banned
        Originally Posted by wAvision View Post

        Is it safe to use any content from the old site no that it is deindexed? or will I need to use all new content?
        I wouldn't use the old content.

        I'm sure even though your site is deindexed on public SERPs, the entire site is still on a Google server & I'm sure their algo cross checks the old data/content looking for footprints. Obviously there's no way for me to prove this but Google only exist because of how well they harvest data, that's their whole business model (data).

        You said in OP the old site was only 15 pages, not exactly a big deal to start over with fresh content. Really that's impressive If you were consistently generating $1.5 - 2k per month from a 15 page micro niche site.

        The niche is defiantly a keeper.

        Next time do like I said earlier & build a safety net of multiple sites all targeting same/similar keywords/traffic that the old site was targeting. Use the old site analytics to get a jump start with the new site/s.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10356058].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author floydarthur
    Yeah, it's better to ask them. Check also your backlinks, maybe there's something wrong with it like negative SEO.

    Floyd Arthur
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10359897].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author RS3RS
    Stories like this have pushed me to branch out and diversify my income across a number of different sites.

    Hope you get it all sorted out. Either way, I would try to spread your income across a few different sites in the future. Eggs in one basket and all.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10359900].message }}

Trending Topics