Penalty Recovery – Affiliate Marketing – Health Niche Result: Profitable once again
An affiliate website in the health and wellness niche saw a major traffic drop following a core algorithm update, resulting in the loss of multiple top-ranking pages and significant drops in revenue. The client approached 1on1 SEO to diagnose the issue and restore rankings — fast.
Challenge
Sudden drop in visibility across high-traffic keywords
Google core update impact — suspected quality, trust, or backlink-related issues
Over-optimized anchor text and duplicate/thin content across multiple pages
Previously profitable, now in decline with minimal revenue
Recovery Strategy
Penalty & Algorithm Impact Audit
Identified patterns of keyword drops and toxic backlink clusters
Evaluated site against E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust) signals
Content Overhaul
Consolidated thin pages and removed outdated content
Improved topic depth, added author bios, sources, and trust signals
Rewrote affiliate-heavy posts to focus on informational + value-first content
Backlink Detox & Disavow
Audited and cleaned harmful backlinks using SEMrush + Google Search Console
Filed disavow file and rebuilt link profile with a safer anchor strategy
Technical Fixes
Improved page speed, mobile UX, and internal linking logic
Fixed indexing issues, duplicate meta tags, and broken schema markup
Results
| Keyword Position Change | Example Improvements |
|---|---|
| +53 | From #107 → #54 |
| +104 | #112 → #8 |
| +237 | #253 → #16 |
| +250 | #275 → #25 |
| +104 | #107 → #3 |
Recovered 7 key commercial keywords
Traffic and conversions returned within 6 weeks
Site is now profitable again, ranking in top positions for high-volume health affiliate terms
Key Takeaway
Google penalties don’t mean game over — but recovery requires more than surface-level SEO. By restoring trust signals, rebuilding authority, and following white-hat practices, even heavily penalized affiliate sites can return to profitability.
Experiencing a Drop in Rankings?
Let’s turn your penalty into a comeback story.
Book a Penalty Recovery Consultation
From The Client
"These guys have built such a strong relationship with our organization that we consider them an extension of our IT department. We always know that excellent service is just a phone call or e-mail away and that we will receive the same level of attention they always provide that makes us feel like we're their top priority."
