Is this for a manual action penalty of purely from the algorithym?
@jstover77 I would like to know this as well.
Both. With a manual penalty, I let them know that I spent hours/days contacting webmasters and host to get the links removed. Obviously, I'm lying, but how do they know that? If you give it some time before you send in the reconsideration request (30-45 days is sufficient) there is going to be some natural link decay. So how does Google know if you contacted them or if the link was simply deleted. That and, I don't think their manual reviewers, which I believe are mostly overseas, are really putting that much effort into looking at your link profile in the first place. Reconsideration request are all about presentation, denial, and showing that you made an effort. IE - we hired an SEO company and had no idea this is what they were doing blah blah blah. It only takes one manual reviewer to feel sorry for you and boom, the penalty is removed. It may take multiple times, but eventually they will remove it.
As far as a purely algorithmic hit. There are different factors you have to look for. If the hit was small (went from #3-15 for example, or traffic drops of 10-50%), I usually will do a site audit to make sure there isn't something messed up with the on page (it isn't uncommon). I also look over their link profile. With sites like this, I will really be gentle as far as what I disavow, because you don't want to disavow a link that isn't causing any issues and is passing authority. In instances like this, I'll only disavow the links that are blatantly obvious. From there you want to continue to build quality links to push the site back into the love zone. In cases such as the above I have seen sites recover within 2-3 weeks. Some may take longer, but generally it isn't outrageously long.
If the site gets completely hammered (#3-4-5 to 50+, losses of 50%+ in traffic) I will go through the links with a fine tooth comb. IE - checking more metrics, look further upstream etc.. In cases such as these, I've seen it take over a year to recover a website. Google seems to throttle sites like this and it takes time to get back into their good graces. In the last year, they have certainly added filters for trust and authority and if you get in what I like to call "Goolge purgatory" it can take a good amount of time to get out of it.
All this being said, I'm certainly seeing Google getting better at this whole thing. Data recently is showing that they are ignoring shitty links, rather than penalizing a site for it. I think this is due to widespread negative SEO that is going on in the industry. They had to make a change, because it was starting to become a total shit show in many niches. Wouldn't be surprised if they changed back though. After all this is Google.
