Dodgy SEO company

[Hutch42]

You should disavow those links, if they are not effecting you now, they will eventually.

As for why you are not back to the top, you changed your site's focus so you lost all of the historic "mojo" that you had for those keywords.  Even now that you have put them back, what was lost is gone, you will need to slowly, overtime rebuild to get get back to what you had before.

If you cannot dedicate the time to SEO, bringing in a professional may be your best option.  They can help you get on the path to recovery and work with you to hopefully improve past where you started while fixing what this other company did.

[Toddfoster]

Definitely agree with Hutch,

Those links are poison and should be removed ASAP. Try to rebuild your link profile using relevant sites. I have found the best approach has been to find competitors in my client's industries and using sites/tools like:

ahrefs (https://ahrefs.com/)
SEO Spyglass
Link Prospector (linkprospector.citationlabs.com)

These sites will show you what your competitors are doing to rank high for keywords you select. Simply search your chosen keywords in Google and see who pops up 1st page in the SERPs. Put their url into these tools and watch their link profiles pop up - then you can determine which links are worth pursuing and which are better left behind. Remember to make your profile retain a "natural" look to avoid future flagging - stick to relevant sites to begin with, and add occasional connections with varied relevance.

If you take this approach, you should start to see improvement fairly quickly - link-building is a grinding process and you just have to stick with it.

[WallerD]

Hi hutch can you point me to a resource or tool so I can disavow the links?

Best wishes.

David.

[Hutch42]

Here is the tool and some instructions from Moz on using it:

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/disavow-links-main

http://moz.com/blog/guide-to-googles-disavow-tool

[WallerD]

I have analyzed the link profile of the company and they have lots of links back from all of their clients past and present including myself. Will this be how they are ranking quite well for "liverpool seo"?

I am that angry I am going to contact the past clients that I am aware of to let them know they are still linking back to the company even though they are not present clients.

Is there any way to check the toxicity of the other links in my link profile?

Best wishes.

David.

[WallerD]

Hi Hutch,

thank you for pointing me to the appropriate resources I have gone through the guide and disavowed 28 domains from my links.

Thanks again!

David.

[WallerD]

Hi Rob,

Just checking out the tools you have mentioned, I was wondering do you think the MOZ pro subscription is worth it? I have only really been using the open site explorer and the forum. The SEO spyglass looks a lot more powerful.

Best wishes.

David.

[Toddfoster]

David,

I have personally found the Moz subscription very useful because it opens up a wide array of learning opportunities from like-minded individuals. There are questions that have been answered for me on these forums that I haven't been able to find elsewhere.

I think there is a balance to be struck between services like Moz and other industry tools. As with any other industry, tools such as Spyglass are very powerful if used correctly. I wouldn't say there is a "better" or "best" approach because everyone tackles this business differently. I just think you have to identify what you plan to use the service for, and then decide whether it is worth the cost to do so. For me, it is definitely worthwhile to keep the subscription if for no other reason than to have access to people who are smarter than me.

Hope this helps!

Rob

[WallerD]

Hi Rob,

Thank you for getting back to me. Your's and Hutch's advice regarding the spammy links was fantastic, I used the link to the guide Hutch sent and managed to disavow the spammy links in an afternoon. I rose 28 positions (back to top of page 2) the following day after using the google fetch command! I think the subscription has paid for itself there. So I take it you don't have access to the forums without the subscription?

David.

[Toddfoster]

David,

Great to hear that your rankings are improving - I was looking at the above comments with Hutch and I noticed you mentioning that your competitors are creating backlinks on their clients' sites even after services have been rendered. It's a tactic I have come across before and while it technically isn't "illegal" I do believe there is something "unethical" about it. That being said, with new algorithm updates coming from Google I expect this will backfire on them within a year or so - having multiple links from a single domain is not as powerful as a diverse link profile.

In regards to future link-building endeavors, definitely try out Link Prospector - with some dedication and focus I can create about 10-15 links to relevant websites within an hour. Remember not to over do it, as forming too many links (I put the number as higher than 15/month although some would argue higher or lower). It is a paid tool, but if you are only handling a few websites there aren't many better in-depth link search tools I have used for the cost.

In terms of forum access, I believe you have access to the forums regardless of if you have a subscription. However, you are only allowed to read which I find isn't as powerful as being able to address specific questions directly to knowledgeable individuals. I treat it a bit like a consultation firm for SEO services - if there is something I need a specific answer to, this forums beats simple Google searches any day of the week.

Hope your SEO endeavors continue to bear fruit!

Best,

Rob