2 replies to this topic

[kslnor]

According to my G. Analytics, my traffic took a big hit on/around April 24/25, 2012.  I believe this coinsides with the Penquin penalty. 

 

I should mention that I vaguely recall receiving an Un-Natural Links Warning memo back in March of last year.  Stupid me, I scoffed at it and deleted it, thinking "ha...I have no un-natural links".  That was the one and only one I received.

 

So, my site took the hit, I assumed it was Penquin because of the timing, I cleaned up what I could.  No improvements.  After the April 2012 hit, my site continued to fail, which I suspected was due to the frequent Panda updates.  however, my analytics do not coincide exactly with the Panda update dates.  So I think I was hit with both animals. 

 

November, 2012 I changed from a static HTML site to a Wordpress blog, and I add new posts at least once a week.  I added more content to what I though were "weak" pages, and I have changed my strategies as far as attempting to brand my blog/name and build my reputation. 

 

After I switched from a static site to a blog, and changed my rep. building techniques, I sent a reconsideration request to Google.  Within a few days, they responded with their generic "no manual spam actions found..."  So that led me to believe that I was not hit by Penquin - or if I was my blog straightened itself out.

 

As of today, I am still struggling to re-gain my former positions within Google (or even come close).  As I mentioned, any noticable drops in traffic do not fall on the dates of Panda updates (the drops are several days after the updates).  I am seeing gradual improvement in the amount of traffic, but it seems to be going up very, very slowly. 

 

My blog bounces all over the place as far as where it is located in search for specific key phrases - one day it may be #6, the next day it may be #45 for the same phrase.  This has been going on for several months.

 

I have noticed, via G. Analytics, that there are several domains that have hundreds of links to my blog.  Upon reviewing these domains, they appear to be low quality directories and otherwise spammy sites. 

 

My questions:  Would it do me any good to use the Disavow tool ?  Any insight as to why my blog is bouncing all over the place ?

 

Any help appreciated.  Thanks !

[qwerty]

A Penguin hit wouldn't be considered a "manual spam action." It's an algorithmic hit due to what Google considers unnatural links. I don't keep track of the dates of Penguin (or Panda) updates, but if it matches up, then it makes sense to believe that your troubles are related to the warning note.

 

If you've got issues with thin content or too many ads on your pages, that's one thing, but your post reads like you've concluded that because you got hit by Penguin, you're being hit by Panda. That's not how this works. The two algos are looking for different issues.

 

If you consider these links to your site to be junk, see if you can get them taken down. If you don't have any success doing that, I guess the disavowal tool is probably your next step.

Edited by qwerty, 22 March 2013 - 05:38 AM.

[chrishirst]

You should get your own back on those Penguins