Google update hit me hard - what to do next?

[Logan9]

Hi guys,

I'm facing a dilemma with what I should do next with my website.

I started my website in July of 2022 and since then have steadily improved in rankings and visitors.

Since the March update began, my website has lost all its top 10 rankings, and keywords have dropped from 3.6K to 430 and are declining. Impressions have gone down by 99%, and clicks have decreased by 65%-70%.

It has not been deindexed or received a manual penalty.

Now, besides refreshing the update status to see if the update is over, I'm not really sure what to do. I'm still updating the website on a daily basis.

According to Semrush, I have around 300 toxic backlinks out of 1.7K total backlinks.

Should I invest my time in acquiring good quality backlinks? Can my website recover from this update?

 

[bbrokeaf]

Is your website’s main language english?

 

[OccultKingdoms]

Maybe focus on the positive. You can forget this domain, rewrite content and do it better this time.

 

[Logan9]

Is your website’s main language english?

yes

 

[OccultKingdoms]

Sell this domain and don't do 301.

Write down your mistakes.

 

[Logan9]

Maybe focus on the positive. You can forget this domain, rewrite content and do it better this time.

it's not just the content. I have invested a lot of time and money for custom codes and plugins.
Can I just duplicate the site to a different domain name?

 

[SpaceTwitter]

Only take a new domain

 

[bbrokeaf]

yes

Ok, I think you should keep going. But instead focus on foreign languages cause there’s less competition.

If you’re dead set on letting go on the website, sell it on Flippa and cut your loses.

Good luck

 

[Logan9]

Ok, I think you should keep going. But instead focus on foreign languages cause there’s less competition.

If you’re dead set on letting go on the website, sell it on Flippa and cut your loses.

Good luck

Thanks. I didn't say I want to let it go. I really want to keep going but this update doesn't make it any easier.

 

[bbrokeaf]

Thanks. I didn't say I want to let it go. I really want to keep going but this update doesn't make it any easier.

I get it bro, google updates can lead to early baldness due to stress lol. But keep going and you’ll see good results soon.

 

[Bhikku]

Depends on the scope:
- Is it realistic that you can solve all the problems within 2 months? If yes, gogo, adjust the content. Most of the time it's the content, then the lack of link authority.

It was similar for me, I didn't get a manual penalty or deindexing of the articles. (I had about 300 articles that were completely rewritten / partly deleted).

How many articles does your site have? Depending on the volume, there are now a few paths you can take.

 

[OccultKingdoms]

it's not just the content. I have invested a lot of time and money for custom codes and plugins.
Can I just duplicate the site to a different domain name?

Yeah, pretty much. I would just not leave content as it is and instead rewrite + improve it. Make more sites of this kind. Just don't connect them together unless you do PBN but it's a different ballpark.

My way of seeing things is that this is something you can call business once you have 100+ sites where each site means something. I don't want to say one site is nothing. It's just not enough to learn what works, what does not.

It's not what real business is like. You need hubdreds of assets or thousands if you want to make decent cash.

 

[jamie3000]

I wouldn’t start again unless you know why it happened. How do you know it won’t happen again on a new domain?

I think before you take anyone’s advice you should answer the following.

What percentage of your backlinks are fully natural?
What percentage are brand and naked vs keyword?
Of the ones you paid for, what type are they?
Is your content AI?
Do you have affiliate links?
Do you have ads?
Have you made any changes recently in terms of site architecture?
How many pages does your site have?
What percentage of your pages are indexed?
What is your page insights score?
Have you checked for malware and weird pages?

 

[OccultKingdoms]

Yeah, just make 10 more similar sites. And fix this one. You'll learn if you can really fix it...

 

[RusPokerStarrr]

Should I invest my time in acquiring good quality backlinks? Can my website recover from this update?

Necessarily. Buy at least 5-10 non-anchor links from reputable sites/blogs. And be sure to buy several publications in thematic Facebook groups with good traffic (you need visits from real people).

 

[Ahmad333333]

Sell this domain and don't do 301.

Write down your mistakes.

i think its best solution sir for your website.

 

[Logan9]

Depends on the scope:
- Is it realistic that you can solve all the problems within 2 months? If yes, gogo, adjust the content. Most of the time it's the content, then the lack of link authority.

It was similar for me, I didn't get a manual penalty or deindexing of the articles. (I had about 300 articles that were completely rewritten / partly deleted).

How many articles does your site have? Depending on the volume, there are now a few paths you can take.

My site has around 750 posts. They are not really articles because the focus in each post is a video. the content itself is not the main thing (each post has around 200 words)

 

[Logan9]

Yeah, pretty much. I would just not leave content as it is and instead rewrite + improve it. Make more sites of this kind. Just don't connect them together unless you do PBN but it's a different ballpark.

My way of seeing things is that this is something you can call business once you have 100+ sites where each site means something. I don't want to say one site is nothing. It's just not enough to learn what works, what does not.

It's not what real business is like. You need hubdreds of assets or thousands if you want to make decent cash.

I get it, but the type of website I build takes me a lot of time and effort. It's not really possible for me to do it 100 times

 

[OccultKingdoms]

I get it, but the type of website I build takes me a lot of time and effort. It's not really possible for me to do it 100 times

So this is more than a website then. I wouldn't focus solely on Google in case you're running something more serious.

If it's just a website, it can be easily replicated.

If it's something like a brand, that's something you'll need to figure out yourself.

 

[Logan9]

I wouldn’t start again unless you know why it happened. How do you know it won’t happen again on a new domain?

I think before you take anyone’s advice you should answer the following.

What percentage of your backlinks are fully natural?
What percentage are brand and naked vs keyword?
Of the ones you paid for, what type are they?
Is your content AI?
Do you have affiliate links?
Do you have ads?
Have you made any changes recently in terms of site architecture?
How many pages does your site have?
What percentage of your pages are indexed?
What is your page insights score?
Have you checked for malware and weird pages?

The percentage of natural backlinks is really low
In the beginning, I bought some cheap, low-quality backlinks that I guess are now causing the issues
My content is generally AI-generated but rewritten
There are no affiliate links, just some ads, but not too many. My site has around 750 posts, all of which are indexed
The performance score is 81 on desktop
I haven't noticed any malware or weird pages, just some odd-looking backlinks