Your rankings are climbing. Organic traffic is through the roof. Everything you’ve been working on is finally paying off.
Then, overnight, it all falls off a cliff.
I’ve seen this exact scenario play out with countless businesses that come to us for help.
The culprit, more often than not, is a Google unnatural links penalty. It’s the devastating consequence of trying to shortcut your way to the top or hiring a shady agency that disappears the moment their black hat SEO tactics backfire.
The good news is that you absolutely can recover from it. This guide will give you everything you need to protect your website.
You’re about to learn what unnatural links are, how to spot them, and the exact step-by-step process to recover. I even throw in a few templates to perform an outbound link audit like a pro using Google Sheets’ AI formula.
More importantly, you’ll learn how to build a resilient, penalty-proof backlink profile for the long term.
Highlights
- A manual action is a direct penalty from a human reviewer at Google, while algorithmic penalties (like the Penguin algorithm) are automated. You must know which one you have if you want to fix it.
- Your first and easiest recovery step is auditing the links on your own site.
- A full backlink audit is crucial. Most penalties come from unnatural links coming from shady sources.
- Manually contact webmasters to have your unnatural incoming links removed.
- Only use the disavow file as a last resort.
- Documentation is crucial throughout the recovery process. You’ll need this proof for your reconsideration request.
- The ultimate defense is a proactive strategy focused on earning high-quality, natural links and regularly monitoring your backlink profile.
What are unnatural links, and why do they trigger a Google penalty?
In simple terms, an unnatural link is any link that you didn’t earn organically.
In more technical terms, it’s any link intended to manipulate PageRank or a site’s ranking in search results. It’s a link that’s part of a link scheme and a violation of Google’s spam policies. This includes any behavior that manipulates links to your site or links from your site.
Google penalizes these policy-violating practices so heavily because they undermine the search system’s integrity and create a poor user experience.
Manual action vs. algorithmic penalties: Understanding the difference
When your traffic drops, you need to diagnose the cause. In the world of link penalties, there are two main culprits: the machine and the human.
Overview of Google Penguin updates
The Google Penguin algorithm was first launched in 2012 to combat link spam and manipulative link-building tactics. Initially, Penguin updates were periodic “refreshes,” meaning you had to wait for the next update to recover from the penalty.
Since 2016, the Penguin algorithm has been part of Google’s core algorithm. Consequently, it now works in real time.
It doesn’t penalize your site so much as it devalues or simply ignores the bad links pointing to it.
Manual actions explained
A manual action is different.
This is a direct penalty that a human reviewer on Google’s Webspam team applied to your site. They have manually reviewed your site and determined that it violates Google’s guidelines.
This is more severe.
A manual penalty will result in a significant drop in your search rankings or, in the worst cases, your site being completely de-indexed from Google Search.
Common types of unnatural links and link schemes to avoid
To stay safe, you need to know what link-building tactics to avoid. I’ll cover a few of the most important below, but your definitive resource should always be Google’s spam policies.
Topically irrelevant link
A significant mismatch between the topic of the linking website and the target website is a major red flag for an unnatural link. Because such a link offers no genuine editorial value to the reader, Google interprets the lack of topical relevance as strong evidence that the link was paid for.
Links with misleading or unrelated anchor texts
Using misleading or unrelated anchor text is a clear and deceptive form of link manipulation. By creating a false expectation of the link’s destination, it delivers a poor user experience, which directly violates Google’s core quality guidelines.
(Image provided by author)
Search engines view this tactic as a blatant attempt to unnaturally pass PageRank. It’s one of the easiest types of manipulative links for algorithms to identify and devalue.
Paid links that pass PageRank
This is one of the most classic violations.
If you buy a link on another website and it does not contain a rel=”nofollow” or rel=”sponsored” attribute, it’s considered a policy violation. You’re essentially buying a “vote” to manipulate your ranking, which goes directly against Google’s guidelines.
It’s important to note that, in this context, paying means giving any form of value in exchange for a link. As Ben Steele from Search Engine Journal explains, “buying and selling […] are not limited to an exchange of currency.”
Private blog networks (PBNs)
PBNs are networks of authoritative websites used solely to build links to a single “money” site and boost its search engine rankings. These sites often use expired domains that already have some authority (a.k.a. expired domain abuse).
Google actively de-indexes entire private blog networks, and any site associated with them is at extreme risk.
Other forms of unnatural links
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Other forms of unnatural links include:
- Abusive content scaling
- Keyword stuffing
- Hacked content
- Link farming
- Hidden text
- Cloaking
And in general, any other black-hat SEO linking scheme
How to know if you’ve been hit by an unnatural links penalty
That sudden, sinking feeling when your organic traffic chart looks like it fell off a cliff is the primary symptom. Your keyword rankings plummet, leads dry up, and panic sets in.
This is the moment you need to stop guessing and start diagnosing.
Think of it like going to the doctor. You have symptoms, but you need tests to confirm the illness and prescribe the appropriate treatment.
How to identify the type of penalty
Your first and most important diagnostic test is to check Google Search Console.
- Log in to your Google Search Console account.
- In the left-hand menu, navigate to “Security & Manual Actions.”
- Click on “Manual actions.”
If you see a message that says “No issues detected,” your traffic drop is likely due to an algorithmic adjustment (like Penguin) or a recent Google update.
If you see a message detailing a penalty, such as “Unnatural links to your site” or “Unnatural links from your site,” you have a manual action.
The step-by-step guide to recovering from a Google unnatural links penalty
Recovering from a penalty is possible but requires a systematic, meticulous, and transparent approach. You need to prove to Google—with proper documentation—that you’ve cleaned up the issues and are committed to following the rules.
Step 1: Identify all harmful outgoing links with a site audit
Before you even think about your backlink profile, clean your own house. Use an SEO tool like Ahrefs, Semrush, or Screaming Frog to crawl your site and export a complete list of all external, dofollow links.
Here’s a quick workflow using the Ahrefs tool:
- Run a Site Audit on your domain.
- Navigate to the Link Explorer tool within the audit and filter to show only external dofollow links.
- Export this list to a Google Sheet.
- Isolate the unique destination domains and use Ahrefs’ Batch Analysis tool to get the Domain Rating (DR) for every site you link to.
- Add the DR scores back into your spreadsheet and sort by DR from lowest to highest.
- Begin your manual review, paying close attention to any links pointing to sites with a very low DR.
Pro tip: Automate with AI
You can dramatically speed up this analysis using Google Sheets’ integrated AI function. The AI can analyze the relevance of the target URL, the quality of the anchor text, and the DR to give you a risk rating.
Here’s what that looks like:
(Image provided by author)
You can even get it to suggest what action to take!
Step 2: Remove or manage all problematic outgoing links
Once you’ve identified the toxic outgoing links, it’s time to act. For each unnatural link, you have four primary options:
- Remove the link entirely if the link adds no value and is clearly spammy.
- Add rel=”sponsored” if the link is part of an advertisement or paid placement.
- Add rel=”nofollow” if you want to keep the link for user reference but don’t want to pass any authority.
- Add rel=”ugc” in user-generated spam content, like blog comments or forum posts.
Step 3: Perform a backlink audit
Now it’s time to tackle your backlink profile. Use SEO tools like Ahrefs, Majestic SEO, or Semrush to download a complete list of all websites linking to you.
Import this data into your Google Drive spreadsheet.
Some tools assign a Toxic Score to make things easier.
Pro tip: Use Google Search Console to find problematic website links
GSC is your source of truth. In the “Links” report, you can download a list of your “Top linking sites.” Cross-reference this list with the data from your SEO tools.
Pay special attention to any highlighted domains that also have poor metrics in your other tools.
Step 4: Manually request link removals
Your first course of action for bad incoming links is to try to get them taken down.
Find the contact information for the webmaster of each harmful site and send a polite, concise email requesting the removal of the link. Explain that you are cleaning up your link profile to comply with Google’s guidelines.
Step 5: If all fails, create and submit a disavow file
If you made a good-faith effort to have the links manually removed but failed, Google recommends using the disavow tool for the remaining toxic backlinks.
Use this only as a last resort.
The disavow file is a simple text file (.txt) that you upload to Google Search Console. You list all the domains or specific URLs that you want Google to ignore when assessing your site.
By the time you read this, the disavow tool may no longer exist. As of writing, it’s still active, but according to Google’s John Muller, the company is likely to remove the disavow tool soon, following in Bing’s footsteps.
Step 6: File a detailed reconsideration request
If you had a manual action, this is the final step. After cleaning up your outgoing links, attempting manual removal of incoming links, and submitting your disavow file, you can file a reconsideration request.
In your request, be honest, transparent, and thorough.
- Explain exactly what the problem was, detailing the precise steps you took to fix it
- Promise to strictly adhere to Google’s Webmaster Guidelines going forward
- Link to your master Google Sheet as proof of your work
A thoughtful, well-documented request has a much higher chance of success.
Proactive strategies to prevent (future) unnatural link penalties
Recovering from a penalty is a painful process. The best strategy is to never get one in the first place.
Focus on building a natural and diverse link profile
Shift your mindset from “building” links to “earning” them. Create high-quality, genuinely helpful content that people want to link to. Pursue a digital PR strategy that earns placements in authoritative, relevant publications. Build trust with your content.
At uSERP, our entire link-building philosophy is built on this principle.
We focus on earning editorially-placed links on trusted domains that drive real authority and brand signals, which naturally prevents any risk of an unnatural links penalty.
Choose your link-building partner carefully
If you outsource your link-building efforts, perform rigorous due diligence.
Ask potential agencies for case studies, examples of links they’ve built, and a detailed explanation of their strategy. Any reputable link builder will be transparent.
Enforce a strong outbound linking policy
Create and enforce stringent internal guidelines for any content published on your website. Every external link should:
- Provide genuine value to your reader
- Use a natural and relevant anchor
- Direct to an authoritative site
- Be topically relevant
This simple policy will prevent your site from ever being flagged as part of a spammy link scheme.
Be extra careful with guest posts
Guest posting can be a valuable tool, but it’s also ripe for abuse. Be selective about your outreach link building practices and where you publish guest posts, ensuring they’re on high-authority, relevant sites.
More importantly, be even more selective about the guest posts you accept on your own site. Have your editorial and SEO teams carefully vet every submission.
Regularly monitor your backlink profile
Make backlink monitoring a regular part of your SEO practices. Set up Google Alerts for your brand name to catch new mentions. Review your backlink profile in Ahrefs or Semrush at least once a month.
Look for any suspicious activity, like a sudden influx of spammy links, which could be a sign of a negative SEO attack from a competitor.
Adhere to Google’s Webmaster Guidelines for sustainable SEO practices
Finally, always follow the rules:
- Read and re-read Google’s Search Essentials documentation
- Stay informed about major Google updates
Building a sustainable SEO strategy means playing the long game and focusing on creating a great user experience, not chasing short-term hacks.
Building a long-term, penalty-proof SEO strategy
A Google unnatural links penalty can feel like a death sentence for your website, but it doesn’t have to be. The best defense is a proactive offense: a commitment to creating exceptional content and earning high-quality, natural links over time.
By regularly auditing your site, being selective about your partners, and adhering to Google’s guidelines, you can build a powerful, resilient SEO strategy that stands the test of time.If you’re ready to build a truly penalty-proof backlink profile with a trusted partner, learn more about uSERP’s industry-leading Digital PR and link-building services.
