Surviving an Unnatural Links Warning: Important Steps for Recovery
Oct 10, 2025
Getting hit with unnatural links warning from Google isn't a hopeless situation. One website owner discovered their organic traffic dropped from 238,759 to just 23,268 visitors after receiving a penalty in April 2023. That's a 90% traffic loss overnight.
The reality about unnatural links penalties is sobering. They represent over 75% of all SEO penalties that Google hands out. When Google spots manipulative links trying to game your PageRank, they act fast. The same website we mentioned? Their top-ranking keywords fell from over 1,400 in the top three positions down to just 113.
Google usually triggers a manual action only after finding multiple problematic links, but the penalty hits your entire website, not just individual pages. With less than 1% of users clicking past the first page of search results, recovering from this penalty becomes important for your business.
However, you can recover from the unnatural links warning if you know the right steps to take. This blog covers exactly how to understand, address, and overcome warnings before they cause permanent damage to your search performance.
What Is an Unnatural Links Penalty?
Unnatural links are artificial backlinks created solely to manipulate your site's rankings in search results, violating Google's guidelines. When your backlink profile contains a high percentage of toxic links, it leads to serious consequences once Google detects them.
What triggers a manual action from Google
A manual action happens when someone from Google's webspam team reviews your site and determines it violates their guidelines. This human review gets triggered in several ways:
The competitor is filing a spam report against your website
Active monitoring of competitive niches like "payday loans" or casino sites
Detection of paid links or participation in link exchange schemes
Receiving numerous backlinks from low-quality directories or spammy websites
Google also uses SpamBrain, an AI-based spam prevention system they've been perfecting since 2018, to detect both direct and indirect link spam at scale.
Manual vs. algorithmic penalties: What's the difference?
Understanding how these penalties work is important for your recovery strategy:
Manual penalties come from Google's human reviewers who evaluate websites individually. These show up as warnings in your Google Search Console and require filing a reconsideration request after you fix the issues.
Algorithmic penalties are applied automatically through algorithms like Penguin, which quickly identify manipulative link practices. Unlike manual actions, algorithmic penalties don't generate warnings in the Search Console and don't require reconsideration requests.
How unnatural links destroy your search visibility
Once you're penalized, the damage happens fast:
Sites with manual actions experience reduced visibility or complete removal from search results
Your entire website suffers, not just specific pages containing unnatural links
Rankings drop significantly for keywords associated with your content
Organic traffic decreases dramatically as your site becomes less visible
Site reputation and trustworthiness decline in Google's assessment
Semrush classifies websites with 10% or more toxic links as highly toxic, making them prime candidates for penalties. The risks keep increasing as Google's detection systems become more sophisticated.
How To Identify Unnatural Links in Your Backlink Profile
Finding toxic links in your backlink profile requires systematic analysis. Regular backlink audits help you catch problematic links before they trigger penalties.
Use SEMrush Backlink Audit to detect toxic links
Semrush's Backlink Audit tool evaluates your link profile using over 45 different toxic markers. Here's how to get started: log into your Semrush account, click on "Backlink Audit," enter your domain, and select "Start Backlink Audit".
The tool sorts your links into three categories:
• Toxic (60-100 score): highest priority for removal
• Potentially toxic (45-59 score): review these carefully
• Non-toxic (0-44 score): generally safe to keep
Spot anchor text over-optimization patterns
Over-optimized anchor text sends red flags to Google. According to Neil Patel, "the keyword you are trying to rank for shouldn't be more than 10% of your anchor text links".
Watch out for these warning signs:
• Excessive exact-match keywords in anchor text
• Unnaturally lengthy anchor texts
• Keyword-stuffed anchors that disrupt content flow
Identifying low-quality directories and PBN footprints
Low-quality directories accept submissions without moderation and provide a poor user experience. Private Blog Networks (PBNs) are even more dangerous; they are website networks created specifically to manipulate search rankings. Both can trigger manual actions from Google.
What To Do Immediately After Getting Unnatural Links Warning
When Google sends you unnatural links warning, you need to act fast. This isn't just a courtesy notice; your site is likely already taking hits in the rankings.
Check Google Search Console for manual action details
Log in to Google Search Console and head straight to the "Security & Manual Actions" section. The manual action message tells you whether the problem involves inbound or outbound links. This detail matters because it determines your entire recovery strategy.
The notification usually explains why the action was taken and which parts of your site are affected.
Pause all link-building campaigns
Stop all active link-building work immediately. Building more links while under penalty investigation makes everything worse. It's like adding fuel to a fire you're trying to put out.
This pause also gives you time to evaluate your current strategies and figure out what went wrong. Better to halt everything now than dig yourself deeper into trouble.
Export your backlink profile for review
Next, download a comprehensive list of your site's backlinks from Google Search Console. You have two export options
By hostname: Top linking sites > Export
Chronologically: Links report > Export external links > Latest links
For a more complete picture, supplement this data with reports from tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, or Majestic SEO. If you've been tracking your link building, those existing records become valuable starting points.
The goal here is to get a complete view of your backlink profile before you start the cleanup process.
How To Remove or Disavow Harmful Backlinks
Once you've identified harmful backlinks in your profile, it's time to get rid of them. You have two main options: remove them completely or tell Google to ignore them through disavowal.
Contact webmasters for link removal
Start with direct removal whenever possible. Here's how to do it:
Step 1: Find contact information through "Contact Us" pages or WHOIS records for each problematic site.
Step 2: Write a clear, concise email explaining which specific links need removal. Include screenshots and exact URLs to make it easy for them.
Step 3: Use Semrush's Backlink Audit tool to speed things up. Select the problematic links, click "Remove," and send bulk outreach emails directly through the platform.
Create a disavow file for Google Search Console
When webmasters don't respond (and many won't), you'll need to use Google's disavow tool. Create a UTF-8 encoded .txt file with:
One URL or domain per line
"domain:" prefix for entire domains (e.g., domain:spammysite.com)
Optional comments using # symbol
Upload this file through Google's Disavow Links tool. However, Google considers this "an advanced feature" that should "only be used with caution". Don't rush into disavowing everything—focus on clearly toxic links first.
Use rel="nofollow" and rel="sponsored" properly
For links you control on your own site, apply the right attributes:
rel="sponsored" for paid links, advertisements, or affiliate links rel="ugc" for user-generated content like comments
rel="nofollow" for links you don't want to endorse
These attributes tell Google not to follow these links or count them for ranking purposes.
Track your removal progress
Monitor your cleanup efforts through Semrush's "Remove" tab, which shows email status as "Not sent," "Sent," "Opened," or "Replied". This helps you prioritize follow-up efforts and see which webmasters are most responsive as you work to clean your backlink profile.
The key is consistency. Most webmasters won't respond to your first email, so plan on following up at least once before moving to disavowal.
Submitting a Reconsideration Request to Google
You've cleaned up your backlink profile. Now comes the final step: telling Google about your cleanup work through a reconsideration request in Google Search Console.
This formal process lets Google know exactly how you've addressed the issues that triggered the manual action.
What to include in your reconsideration request
Your reconsideration request needs to cover three essential elements:
Explain the exact quality issue affecting your site
Describe specific steps you took to fix the problem
Document the outcome of your cleanup efforts
Honesty matters here. Acknowledge any previous link-building mistakes you made and clearly state your commitment to following Google's quality guidelines going forward.
How to document your cleanup efforts
Create a Google Docs spreadsheet that reviewers can actually access (they won't open external files). Include:
Complete list of problematic links you identified
Dates when you contacted webmasters
Response status from each webmaster
Screenshots of your outreach attempts
Final status of each link (removed, disavowed, etc.)
Expected timeline and follow-up process
Once you submit your request, Google will send a confirmation email. Don't submit multiple requests at the same time, as this can slow down the process. Most reconsideration reviews take several days to weeks. Link-related requests sometimes need more time since they require thorough evaluation.
Google will notify you when the review is complete. You'll either get confirmation that the manual action has been lifted or guidance on additional work needed.
Conclusion
Recovery from an unnatural links warning is absolutely possible with the right approach. Google penalties are wake-up calls. The process might feel overwhelming at first, but you've got a clear roadmap to follow. Regular backlink audits help you catch toxic links before they become penalties. Therefore, monitor your backlink profile at least quarterly to avoid unexpected traffic drops.
Rushing through link removal or submitting incomplete reconsideration requests usually leads to rejection. Document every step of your cleanup process. This shows Google you're serious about following their guidelines. Don't expect immediate results after your reconsideration request gets approved.
Your rankings and traffic might take time to bounce back. But maintaining clean link-building practices going forward builds a stronger foundation for sustainable growth. If your first reconsideration request gets rejected, don't give up. Take Google's feedback seriously, fix any remaining issues, and submit again. Patience and persistence often make the difference between successful recovery and permanent damage to your search visibility.
FAQ
What are unnatural links?
Unnatural links are backlinks made only to trick Google and boost rankings. They are not earned naturally. Examples include paid links without proper tags, links from spammy networks, excessive link swaps, or links stuffed with keywords.
How do you identify a toxic link?
Toxic links are harmful backlinks that can hurt your SEO. They usually come from spammy, irrelevant, or low-quality sites. You can spot them if they are from sites with no real traffic, use weird anchor text, link out to hundreds of random sites, or belong to niches like gambling, adult, or hacked websites.
How do you identify natural links?
Natural links are earned because your content is valuable. They come from relevant, trusted, and high-quality websites. These links are placed in context, use mixed anchor texts, and often bring real visitors to your site. They are not bought or forced.