To recover from Penguin update, shall i remove the links or disavow links?

[Rubix]

Hi,

One of our websites hit by Penguin update and I now know where the links are coming from. I have chance to remove the links from those incoming links but I am a little confused whether i should just remove the links from incoming links or disavow the links?

Thanks

[TomRayner]

Hi there

Removing the links outright will always be the more preferential option.  It shows that you have taken definitive action and it is likely to be acknowledged faster by Google and the other search engines.

Having said that, the disavow file, once processed, will theoretically ignore the link just as effectively as removing the link itself.  We just have no sure way of knowing.

With that in mind, if I can get the link removed at any time, I'll always go for that option.  But the disavow should suffice if you make the effort to remove the link prior, as Google suggests.

[KevinBudzynski]

Great answer Tom.

Whenever I disavow a link, I also will ask the webmaster of the incoming link to remove it and document the correspondence in a Google Doc. This documentation can be extremely valuable in a reconsider request if Google penalize your site in the future that you made an effort in following their guidelines before the penalization.

[Rubix]

Thank you clarification Tom! You've been very helpful.

Hi Kevin, How do you get in touch with Google to explain you've made an effort to follow to guidelines?

[KevinBudzynski]

If you send a reconsideration request, the Google doc will help you make a case.

[Rubix]

Thanks Kevin