Hello,My e-commerce site was experiencing consistent growth in organic traffic until April when it suddenly dropped significantly. I have noticed a suspicious increase in spam backlinks around the same time as this decline, which also coincides with a core update.
The majority of these new backlinks are from .top or .za.com domains, and the ahrefs backlink chart shows a sharp rise in referring domains corresponding to the sharp decrease in organic traffic. Is there a cause/effect relationship here?
I am considering disavowing these links and measuring the impact. Has anyone else encountered a similar situation? Thank you.
There is a strong possibility that the sudden drop in organic traffic is directly related to the influx of spam backlinks. The timing of the traffic decline and the backlink increase coincides with a Google core update, suggesting a correlation. The .top and .za.com domains are often associated with spam, which further supports this hypothesis.
Disavowing these links is a crucial step to mitigate potential harm to your website’s ranking. While Google’s helpful content update may also have contributed to the decline, it’s important to address the spam backlinks as they are likely negatively impacting your site’s performance.
In addition to disavowing, it’s recommended to focus on building high-quality, natural backlinks through techniques like HARO, digital PR, and roundup posts to improve your website’s overall backlink profile. This will help you recover from the traffic drop and enhance your organic visibility in the long run.