Recovering from a Google Manual Penalty is a unique process tailored to the specific type of penalty.
In 2015, a local client experienced a pharma URL injection hack, resulting in a Google Manual Penalty notification. This created doorway pages, plus backlink spam as a black hat tactic which also affected their Google+ Business page (remember Google+?).
Here are the steps I took to resolve, beginning with taking the website offline temporarily to mitigate ongoing creation of new injected pharma URLs.
The infected site was migrated to an isolated staging environment with restricted access. This allowed for safe forensic analysis and code sanitization without exposing users or search engines to malicious content during remediation.
All compromised files were identified and sanitized, including removing injected scripts and backdoor files. Core WordPress CMS files were updated, and plugins/themes were audited for vulnerabilities. A Web Application Firewall (WAF) was implemented to block future exploitation attempts.
URL Management
Ghost URLs were systematically addressed using the Google Search Console URL Removal Tool, preventing further indexing of malicious pages. Where possible, 301 redirects were applied to contextually relevant pages; otherwise, 410 status codes were used for permanently removed content to send clear signals to search engines.
Backlink Detoxification
A detailed toxic link audit was performed using tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush. A comprehensive disavow file was created to neutralize harmful inbound links that contributed to the penalty.
Structured Reconsideration Request
A detailed reconsideration request was submitted to Google, outlining the steps taken: site sanitization, toxic link disavowal, updated security measures, and enhanced monitoring protocols. Supporting documentation was provided to demonstrate compliance with Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.
Post-Penalty Monitoring
After penalty removal, ongoing security audits, regular link profiling, and proactive monitoring via Google Search Console were implemented to prevent recurrence. A CDN with integrated DDoS protection was deployed to enhance site security and performance.
Recovering from a Google Manual Penalty is a unique process depending on the type of penalty. A local client suffered a pharma URL injection hack in 2015, along with a Google Manual Penalty notification. This black hat link spam also targeted their Google+ Business page (remember Google+?).
The strategy was phased: First, the site was isolated on a secure staging server to sanitize malicious code and prevent further exploitation. The developers isolated the compromised files, sanitized the codebase, and removed malicious injections. Once tested and resolved, my involvement was to use the URL Removal Tool in Google Search Console to address the hacked ghost URLs.
A ghost URL is a non-existent URL still indexed or linked externally, causing 404 errors. I uploaded a disavow file and requested reconsideration after these fixes, which helped lift the Google Manual Penalty once the site was cleaned and reindexed.
Recovering from a Google Manual Penalty is a unique process tailored to the specific type of penalty. In 2015, a local client experienced a pharma URL injection hack, resulting in a Google Manual Penalty notification. The black hat link spam also targeted their Google+ Business page (remember Google+?). Incidentally, this was the same year Google launched RankBrain.
The strategy was phased: First, the site was isolated on a secure staging server to sanitize malicious code and prevent further exploitation. The developers isolated the compromised files, sanitized the codebase, and removed malicious injections. Once tested and resolved, to address the hacked URLs, I used the URL Removal Tool in Google Search Console, which resulted in hundreds of ghost URLs.
A ghost URL is a non-existent URL still indexed or linked externally, often causing 404 errors. I manually submitted each to Google's URL Removal Tool, applied a noindex tag, and 301 redirected them to contextually relevant pages.
Now that the site was sanitized, scrubbed, and cleaned on the server, I uploaded a disavow file and submitted a reconsideration request. These steps ultimately helped lift the Google Manual Penalty once the site was cleaned and reindexed.
I've only experienced one Negative SEO penalty. The key indicator was a voluminous amount of spammy backlinks being detected over a 5-day period. This was resolved in under a week with tens of thousands of URLs compiled into a disavow file in 2019.
