The Moz Q&A Forum

    • Forum
    • Questions
    • My Q&A
    • Users
    • Ask the Community

    Welcome to the Q&A Forum

    Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

    1. SEO and Digital Marketing Q&A Forum
    2. Categories
    3. Technical SEO Issues
    4. Question re: spammy internal links on site

    Question re: spammy internal links on site

    Technical SEO Issues
    2 2 74
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as question
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • hdeg
      hdeg last edited by

      Hi all,

      I have a blog (managed via WordPress) that seems to have built spammy internal links that were not created by us on our end. See "site:blog.execu-search.com" in Google search results.

      It seems to be a pharma-hack that's creating spammy links on our blog to random offers re: viagra, paxil, xenical, etc.  When viewing "Security Issues", GSC doesn't state that the site has been infected and it seems like the site is in good health according to Google.

      Will anyone be able to provide any insight on the best necessary steps to take to remove these links and to run a check on my blog to see if it is in fact infected?  Should all spammy internal links by disavowed?

      Here are a couple of my findings:

      • When looking at "internal links" in GSC, I see a few mentions of these spammy links.
      • When running a site crawl in Moz, I don't see any mention of these spammy links.
      • The spammy links are leading to a 404 page.  However, it appears some of the cached version in Google are still displaying the page.

      Please lmk.  Any insight would be much appreciated.  Thanks all!

      Best,
      Sung

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • Roman-Delcarmen
        Roman-Delcarmen last edited by

        Firts your need to delete/remove those links

        To delete those links from search engines
        Go to your Search Console > Google Index > Remove URLs

        The main reason for that, is probably your site has been hacked and it is used as zombie website. Im pretty sure that problem is the theme or some nulled plugin this kind of problem is very usual when some get a theme of a untrusted website. So make a backup of your site, then delete everything, add a fresh version of your theme and plugins.

        Once your site is clean follow these tips

        To secure your website
        https://wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-wp-security-and-firewall/

        Another security tips
        https://yoast.com/wordpress-security/

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
        • 1 / 1
        • First post
          Last post
        • Linking to my Site so I should Link Back?
          Singularitie
          Singularitie
          0
          2
          86

        • Question about spammy links to 404 Pages we never created ...
          Vijay-Gaur
          Vijay-Gaur
          1
          4
          88

        • Internal linking question
          Everett
          Everett
          0
          7
          220

        • Any need to worry about spammy links in Webmaster Tools from sites that no longer exist?
          CobraJones95
          CobraJones95
          0
          3
          95

        • International Site Links In Footer
          EwanFisher
          EwanFisher
          0
          6
          466

        • Internal Links on eCommerce sites
          seanmccauley
          seanmccauley
          0
          7
          2.0k

        • Internal Links not Crawled by Open Site Explorer
          socrateskirtsios
          socrateskirtsios
          0
          3
          669

        • Internal Linking: Site-wide VS Content Links
          Dan-Petrovic
          Dan-Petrovic
          0
          6
          943

        Get started with Moz Pro!

        Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

        Start my free trial
        Products
        • Moz Pro
        • Moz Local
        • Moz API
        • Moz Data
        • STAT
        • Product Updates
        Moz Solutions
        • SMB Solutions
        • Agency Solutions
        • Enterprise Solutions
        • Digital Marketers
        Free SEO Tools
        • Domain Authority Checker
        • Link Explorer
        • Keyword Explorer
        • Competitive Research
        • Brand Authority Checker
        • Local Citation Checker
        • MozBar Extension
        • MozCast
        Resources
        • Blog
        • SEO Learning Center
        • Help Hub
        • Beginner's Guide to SEO
        • How-to Guides
        • Moz Academy
        • API Docs
        About Moz
        • About
        • Team
        • Careers
        • Contact
        Why Moz
        • Case Studies
        • Testimonials
        Get Involved
        • Become an Affiliate
        • MozCon
        • Webinars
        • Practical Marketer Series
        • MozPod
        Connect with us

        Contact the Help team

        Join our newsletter
        Moz logo
        © 2021 - 2026 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
        • Accessibility
        • Terms of Use
        • Privacy