Hi everyone,
Hope this is the right place to ask.
I'm currently discussing an SEO contract with a client for two websites. The problem is that the previous SEO provider seems to have used some questionable tactics, mainly to artificially increase the domains' authority scores.
Both domains used to have authority scores above 30, but recently they've dropped to almost zero.
I've had a look at their backlink profiles and found quite a few suspicious links, although some seem to be good quality. Both domains are around 6–7 years old, so they do have some history behind them.
On top of that, one of the websites has been getting tons of spam lately, especially through its contact form.
I'm going to rebuild both websites anyway, so now I'm wondering whether it makes more sense to keep the existing domains and try to clean up the backlinks (possibly using Google's Disavow Tool), or just start over with fresh domains.
What worries me is that the domains might already have been affected by the previous SEO work, and I'm not sure if trying to clean up the backlink profiles could make things worse.
The strange thing is that, despite a recent drop, both websites are still ranking reasonably well for some keywords.
What would you do in this situation? Would you try to recover the existing domains or start fresh?
And what would you check before making that decision?
Curious to hear your thoughts, especially if you've dealt with something similar.
Thanks!
Hope this is the right place to ask.
I'm currently discussing an SEO contract with a client for two websites. The problem is that the previous SEO provider seems to have used some questionable tactics, mainly to artificially increase the domains' authority scores.
Both domains used to have authority scores above 30, but recently they've dropped to almost zero.
I've had a look at their backlink profiles and found quite a few suspicious links, although some seem to be good quality. Both domains are around 6–7 years old, so they do have some history behind them.
On top of that, one of the websites has been getting tons of spam lately, especially through its contact form.
I'm going to rebuild both websites anyway, so now I'm wondering whether it makes more sense to keep the existing domains and try to clean up the backlinks (possibly using Google's Disavow Tool), or just start over with fresh domains.
What worries me is that the domains might already have been affected by the previous SEO work, and I'm not sure if trying to clean up the backlink profiles could make things worse.
The strange thing is that, despite a recent drop, both websites are still ranking reasonably well for some keywords.
What would you do in this situation? Would you try to recover the existing domains or start fresh?
And what would you check before making that decision?
Curious to hear your thoughts, especially if you've dealt with something similar.
Thanks!
