Link-risk audit ledger
Link manual actions need pattern-level review. The ledger format keeps source patterns, signals, and response decisions attached to one another.
Help searchers understand remediation for unnatural inbound link manual actions.
Commercial anchor text, repeated placements, weak disclosure, network footprints.
Old campaigns, low-quality guest posts, directories, article networks, or sitewide placements.
Scaled cross-linking, keyword anchors, widgets, badges, or templated partner pages.
Start with patterns, not panic
A manual action for unnatural links usually reflects link patterns that appear intended to manipulate PageRank or rankings. The review should group links by source, placement type, anchor pattern, campaign history, and relationship to the business.
Over-removal can create unnecessary damage, while under-remediation can leave the core issue unresolved. The work needs judgment, not a bulk export and a delete list.
Removal, nofollow, and disavow are different tools
When links are under your control, removal or qualification may be appropriate. When links are not under your control, a disavow file can be part of the response for link-related manual actions. The decision should be documented so the reconsideration request explains the cleanup logic.
The reconsideration story should be evidence-led
The request should explain what link schemes or risky patterns were found, what was fixed, what was disavowed, and what controls changed. If a legacy campaign or vendor created the issue, document the operational change without shifting responsibility away from the site.