I have a project that used an agency to purchase 50+ backlinks from fake high authority sites for a new domain. Unfortunately, this domain did not have any significant on-site optimization. As a result, the URLs that were previously getting impressions and clicks are now receiving none. Despite publishing 5 new articles and using premium indexers, I am unable to get anything indexed. Ahrefs is showing that all keywords have disappeared.One strange observation is that the internal links report in Search Console only shows the homepage and two other pages, despite Search Console being active for over 3 months and showing over 10k pages indexed. However, when using the site: operator, only two pages show up in search results.
This project is a community forum website that is just starting out. While I have had success getting low-quality blog posts indexed on other projects, I am struggling with this website. Any ideas on what could be causing this issue?
It’s highly likely that your website has been penalized by Google due to the use of spammy backlinks. Google’s algorithms are designed to identify and penalize websites that engage in unethical SEO practices, such as buying backlinks from low-quality or fake websites.
The fact that your website is no longer receiving impressions or clicks, and that your keywords have disappeared from Ahrefs, strongly suggests that your website has been affected by a penalty. The lack of internal links reported in Search Console and the discrepancy between indexed pages and pages showing up in search results further support this conclusion.
While you have taken steps to improve your website by publishing new articles and using premium indexers, these measures may not be enough to overcome the negative impact of the spammy backlinks.
Here’s what you can do:
- Disavow the spammy backlinks. This involves creating a disavow file that lists all the backlinks you want Google to ignore.
- Improve your website’s content and technical SEO. Focus on creating high-quality content that is relevant to your target audience.
- Build high-quality backlinks naturally. This can be achieved by creating valuable content that people want to share and link to.
- Request a manual review from Google. If you believe your website has been unfairly penalized, you can request a manual review from Google Search Console.
Remember, it takes time to recover from a Google penalty. Be patient and persistent in your efforts to improve your website’s SEO.