How do you recover from a Google penalty related to unnatural links?

Recovering from a Google penalty related to unnatural links can be a time-consuming process, but it is possible with the right approach. Here are the steps you should follow:

1. **Identify the cause of the penalty:** The first step is to determine why your site received a penalty. Log in to Google Search Console and look for any messages from Google regarding manual actions taken against your site. If there are no messages, it's possible that your site was affected by an algorithmic update, such as Penguin. In this case, you'll need to do some detective work to identify the types of links that may be causing the issue.
2. **Collect data on your backlinks:** Use tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Moz to gather a list of all the sites linking to your content. Export this data into a spreadsheet so you can analyze it more easily.
3. **Review and categorize your backlinks:** Go through each link and categorize them based on their quality and relevance. Some categories to consider include:
   * High-quality, relevant links
   * Low-quality, irrelevant links
   * Suspicious or spammy links
4. **Disavow suspicious links:** For any links that seem suspicious or spammy, you can use Google's Disavow Tool to tell Google not to take these links into account when evaluating your site. Before doing so, however, try reaching out to the webmasters of these sites and asking them to remove the links. This can be a time-consuming process, but it's worth attempting before resorting to the Disavow Tool.
5. **Create a plan for future link building:** Once you've cleaned up your existing backlink profile, it's important to focus on building high-quality, relevant links going forward. This can be done through content marketing, guest posting, and other white-hat SEO tactics.
6. **Submit a reconsideration request:** If you received a manual penalty, you'll need to submit a reconsideration request to Google once you've taken steps to clean up your backlink profile. In this request, explain what actions you've taken to address the issue and provide any relevant documentation.
7. **Wait for a response:** After submitting your reconsideration request, it may take several weeks for Google to review your site and respond. If your request is denied, review the feedback provided by Google and continue working to improve your site's backlink profile.

Remember that recovering from a Google penalty takes time and effort, but it's worth it to regain your site's visibility and traffic. Focus on building high-quality, relevant links and providing valuable content to your audience, and you'll be on your way to a stronger, healthier SEO strategy.