Penalties & Recovery
SEO Spam And Rankings After A Hack
Get spam out of Google's index and your rankings back once the hack itself has been dealt with.
A hack does search damage that outlasts the hack. Thousands of injected spam URLs can stay indexed under your domain, Search Console can carry a hacked content or security issue, and pages that ranked can be replaced by Japanese keyword spam or pharmacy pages. This service is the search side of the recovery: clearing the index, getting the warning lifted and restoring rankings. Removing the malware and closing the hole is a separate job, and it has to be done first.
Why the SEO clean-up is a separate job
Cleaning the files stops new damage but does nothing about what Google has already indexed. Spam URLs can keep appearing in results for weeks, sitemaps injected by the attacker can keep pointing Google at them, and links built to the spam pages keep arriving. Each of those needs handling in Search Console and on the server, in the right order.
If the site is still infected, or you do not know how they got in, start with the security repair. Requesting a review before the site is genuinely clean leads to a rejected review and a longer wait.
You probably need this if
- Search results for your domain show pharmaceutical, gambling or Japanese keyword spam
- Search Console reports a security issue or a hacked content manual action
- Thousands of URLs you never created appear in the page indexing report
- Rankings and clicks fell around the time of the compromise and have not returned
What you get
- Index audit listing the spam URLs Google has crawled and indexed under your domain
- Correct status codes (410 or 404) for removed spam URLs, and removal requests where they help
- Clean-up of attacker sitemaps, Search Console users and property settings
- Security review request written and submitted once the site is confirmed clean
- Ranking and indexation monitoring until visibility is back to its pre-hack level
How we approach it
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Confirm the site is clean
Check with whoever repaired the site that the entry route is closed. If it is not, the SEO work waits, because a reinfected site undoes it within days.
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Map the damage in the index
Use Search Console, server logs and site searches to list every spam URL Google has seen, including pages only served to Googlebot.
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Clear the index
Return the right status codes for spam URLs, remove attacker sitemaps and owners, and use removal requests for the most visible spam while Google recrawls.
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Request review and recover
Submit the security review with a clear account of what was fixed, then track rankings and indexation back to their pre-hack level.
SEO Spam And Rankings After A Hack: common questions
How long does it take to clear a hacked site warning?
Once the site is genuinely clean, Google's security reviews often complete within a few days. The repair before that is the longer part, and requesting a review too early leads to a rejection and a longer wait.
Will a hack permanently damage my rankings?
Usually not, if it is cleaned up promptly. Sites generally recover once the warning is lifted and the spam drops out of the index. A long-running compromise does more lasting harm, because the spam pages become established and attract links.
Why does Google still show spam pages after the hack was fixed?
Google only drops a URL after recrawling it and finding it gone. Returning 410 or 404 for the spam URLs, removing any attacker sitemaps and using temporary removal requests for the most visible ones speeds that up.
Do you remove the malware as well?
No. The security repair is done by dijitul support, our sister company, at dijitulsupport.co.uk. We handle the search side once the site is secure, and the two can be booked together.
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Find out what is actually holding you back
A short conversation and a look at your site is usually enough to tell you where the real problem is. No obligation, and no pressure to sign anything.