Algorithmically penalized site

[PatrickDelehanty]

Hi there

Do you have any access to Analytics or Webmaster Tools? Reason being, you can line up traffic / ranking drops to algorithm history and go from there.

I would definitely go through a backlink audit and remove & disavow bad backlinks.

As far as redirecting a site, there are differing opinions. Google says it likely won't be negatively affected but then say it might, so there's really no straight answer. I always assume it will.

The best option in my opinion is to assess what data you do have and ask what's the best course of action. I personally would start removing backlinks, make sure the on-site SEO is on point, do a content audit, and start benchmarking traffic / rankings - also, make sure you are annotating analytics.

Whether you attack the problem or start from scratch to build the brand, it's going to take time and money. I would just weigh the options with what data you have present.

Let me know if this helps - good luck!

[Andy.Drinkwater]

No problem at all Jeremy.

With the links, concentrate on those with spammy do-follow anchor text first and remember to disavow from a domain level if you think that there is a chance more will be added from that source in the future. Saves a lot of heartache further down the line.

-Andy

[jeremyskillings]

Thanks Patrick.  Appreciate it. Just kind of wanted to verify what I originally thought.  They are a mess.  Though I don't have the historical data to see the specific update that got them, from what I've seen just scratching the surface, they were a candidate for just about every update getting them.

[PatrickDelehanty]

Hi Jeremy

I understand - that can definitely be an issue. Have you looked into SEMRush? You can line up historical data to see where traffic and rankings began to fall and pinpoint it from there.

That will definitely help out a bit! Let me know!

[jeremyskillings]

Thanks.  Great tip.  They have tons of those spammy anchor text links from the same subnets, etc.  Definitely will start there, though that is the majority, and move on down from there.  Initial consult was just to tell them if they have been penalized.  That seems clear.  I think they knew that.

[jeremyskillings]

Thanks.  I may dig in to that.  Initial consult was to tell them if they had been penalized, which seems clear.  Will dig deeper with some of these tools if they decide to move forward and try to fix it.  Trying to give them a list of options.

Thanks again.

[TimHolmes]

You might be able to see some peaks and troughs in the graphs over at SEMRush. They may not be 100% accurate, but will hopefully demonstrate the timing for when things changed. This will then help you to correlate with which algo updates you were most likely affected.

However based on the info you originally gave and the practices that were originaly undertaken, it would not suprise me if you have been hit with pretty much everything.

Good luck with the recovery. Time and effort will in time see a reward.

[jeremyskillings]

Thank you!

[TheZenAgency]

If you have access to the analytics i would recommend checking out the Panguin Tool

You can line up your analytics with any updates in Google algorithms, very easy to spot any drop off points

[jeremyskillings]

Thanks.  unfortunately they don't have access to their analytics from that time period.

[TheZenAgency]

sorry my bad man, should have read the full question!

[jeremyskillings]

No problem. You were just trying to help.  Appreciate it.