After penguin 2.0, 20-25% drop sitewide, no google unatural links message, What could be causing it?

[Mulith]

Hi,Since Penguin 2.0 we've taken a 20-25% knock but not recieved an unatural link message from Google. After sending a bunch of removal requests, I decided to submit a disavow file anyway two weeks ago and tried to make sure I rooted out some links that were built way back when our site started and link building best practice was a bit shadier.

Analysis of our backlink profile points to about 40-50% links coming from general directories, wondering if perhaps their weight has been adjusted and this is why the drop occured? Having said that we have some high quality links from government sources and highly trusted sites so not too spammy.

Can anyone shed some light or offer suggestions?

Thanx

[TomRayner]

Hey there

It's worth clarifying here how the Penguin penalty works.

As it's an algorithmic penalty, you won't receive any message in Google Webmaster Tools.  Those messages are reserved for manual penalties only.

Submitting a disavow file, which has now likely been processed, is one way to recover from the penalty.  However, because the penalty is algorithmic, you will not see an immediate recovery by doing so.  You will have to wait until the Penguin algorithm refreshes for the effects to take place.

This can be frustrating as, before the recent update, the last publicised Penguin refresh came six months ago.  By contrast, Panda is known to refresh every 2-3 weeks.

I think it will be unlikely that we'll see such a big gap between Penguin refreshes this time round, now that the algorithm has been updated.  Nevertheless, it may take a while.  In the mean time, I would concentrate on earning more of the high quality links to your site that you have already, as these will also put you on the good side of the algorithm.  Also embrace other traffic resources, such as social media, PPC and display networks if you have the budget.

Hopefully, when the refresh comes around, your site will be in much better standing now that you've submitted the disavow.  Until then, I'm afraid you'll have to sit tight.

Hope this helps.

[Cyrus-Shepard]

I gave Tom a "good answer"

As for other suggestions, none except the obvious.

1. Keep building content that earns links/mentions/buzz

2. Make sure you have a diverse link profile

3. Diversify your inbound traffic sources.

I'm starting to sound like Dr. Pete, so I'll just link to this post and save us both time: http://moz.com/blog/top-1-seo-tips-for-2013

Cheers!