Rank Fast with these Topical Authority Tactics Ep.589
In this podcast episode featuring SEO Specialist Matthew Bertram, the focus is on demystifying Topical Authority in SEO and providing actionable…
Link Building
How to Recover from 5 Common Google Penalties by Aaron Aglus #352
Google issues five main manual action penalties for unnatural links, user-generated spam, hacked sites, cloaking or sneaky redirects, and thin content, each requiring specific cleanup steps found in Search Console.
Key takeaways
- Check Google Search Console immediately if you suspect a manual action penalty, as all penalty details appear there.
- For unnatural links, contact site owners to request removal first, then submit a disavow file to Google if removal fails.
- User-generated spam in blog comments must be moderated or deleted, then the site resubmitted to Google to lift the penalty.
- Thin or duplicate content can trigger a manual penalty, so investing in original quality content is the safest long-term strategy.
Google, please disavow this link. Long, tedious, and time-consuming process. But if you've been hit with a manual action penalty for unnatural links, I'm going to suggest that you get started.
About this episode
Have you been torn apart by Panda? Smacked down by Penguin? If you have Google penalties, we have the cure. Check out this week's podcast where Chris and Chuck give you the secrets of recovering from all sorts of Pandas, Penguins, and Algo Cats. You'll learn about unnatural links, spam, and what to do if you've been hacked, all in Best SEO Podcast 352.Presented by BestSEOPodcast.com (The Best SEO Podcast)Having…
Questions this episode answers
How do you recover from an unnatural links penalty from Google?
You must first contact the owners of sites hosting the bad links and request removal. If they do not remove the links, you then send Google a disavow file documenting your attempts. The hosts describe this as a long, tedious, and time-consuming process.
How can I prevent or fix a hacked site Google penalty?
Keep WordPress plugins and the WordPress version updated. Use a server-level login barrier before the WordPress login to block brute force attacks. If hacked, clean the site and watch for spam hacks, malware hacks, and phishing hacks, then alert Google once resolved.
What should I do if my site gets a thin content manual penalty?
Stop publishing duplicate, spun, or scraped content. Invest in original content that is relevant to your industry, includes media like images and video, and provides real value. The hosts say they have never received this penalty because they prioritize content quality.
In their words
manual actions are the most common type of Google penalty you can get. If you have one, you should see a message in Search Console about it.
Host
if you've gotten a user-generated spam penalty, it doesn't mean you're a spammer, but your site users are. And as far as Google's concerned, it's up to you to clean up spammy content people post to your site.
Host
Google wants to deliver a variety of quality options in the search results. If your site is full of shallow duplicate content, you could get a manual action penalty to keep your pages in low rank.
Host
Terms defined in this episode
- Manual Action Penalty
- A penalty applied by a human Google reviewer, not an algorithm, when a site is found to have issues like unnatural links, spam, or cloaking. Details appear in Google Search Console.
- Disavow File
- A file submitted to Google listing links you want Google to ignore, used after you have already attempted to contact site owners to remove unnatural links pointing to your site.
- Cloaking
- Showing different content to Google than to regular site visitors, which is a violation of Google guidelines and can result in a manual action penalty.
- Search Console
- Google's tool, formerly called Webmaster Tools, where site owners can see manual action penalty messages, 404 errors, and other site health details.
Full transcript is being added.
This episode answers
Matthew Bertram
AI keynote speaker · Owner & CEO, EWR Digital · President, ModalPoint
Matthew Bertram is an AI keynote speaker, creator of DIG™ (Digital Information Governance), and owner and CEO of EWR Digital. He helps energy and industrial leaders win visibility in AI search (GEO and AEO), is President of ModalPoint and CMO of the Oil & Gas Global Network, hosts The Best SEO Podcast, and has authored eight books including LLM Visibility. More about Matthew Bertram.
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