Recovering from a Hack: How long until Google reindexes changes?
-
In a previous post I made, I was able to determine that one of my sites; http://pokeronamac.com/ was hacked and was feeding spam perscription drug content to search engines, then redirecting to another site when clicked on Google.
I then contacted my web host, and, after they did a scan of our files, they determined that something within the wp-includes directory was compromised and malicious. They removed the file, though they weren't able to determine the source of the attack, or how they god in (should we be scared?). Anyway, its been several days now ~5 and if I do a site search the spam pages still show up, but the redirect is no longer working.
At this point, I am at a standstill, because i'm loosing traffic on my site by about 90%, and google hasn't sent us any warnings of malaware or the like. I know I was recommended against this before, but should I attempt to submit a reconsideration request, or should I just wait it out?
Thanks for your help,
Zach
-
If I were going to name a plugin that was NOT likely to be the cause then Akismet would probably be top of that list. Nothing is guaranteed of course, but Akismet probably the mostly widely used wordpress plugin available. If there was an issue with that I think everyone would know.
-
I have had a word press site hacked in the past......
Once we eliminated the issue. I installed some additional security and changed passwords etc.
This seemed to take care of it.
I am not sure, but I want to say a plugin the customer had called Akismet may have played a role....?
-
I'm not an expert of wordpress. However my approach for any compromised CMS would usually be something like:
- Ensure that you have a full back up of all content and media
- Put up a test install of the core CMS (most up to date version)
- Import content and media to the test install
- test test test test
- Only install plugins that are ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL, and then only if they are well used by others, without reported problems and from trusted sources
- test test
- Once you are happy that your test version is good create a full backup
- Now delete the live site
- Change all passwords
- Copy the test install
-
I didn't realize that it was still redirecting. Do you recommend we completely replace the WordPress core? and then go through the plugins?
-
Your site appears to be infected with a trojan and still redirecting users. I wouldn't expect traffic and earnings to return until that issue is fixed.
Most WP hacks are down to either a bad installation or a bad plugin. The core files are pretty good as long as they are kept up to date. Get the mess cleared up and reudce your plugins to the absolute bare minimum. They research each one to see if others have had problems.
I wouldn't suggest waiting it out. That will achieve nothing.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Google Analytics Tagging
Hi. I'm trying to figure out a solution to three questions one of my current clients has asked me in regards to Google Analytics tagging, and I'm unsure how to respond. Can anyone help? See below the questions, 1. In Google Acquisition > Overview, their paid media is reporting as "Other". They do not run any Google paid ads. They only run Facebook paid ads. Is there a way to update the source so that it says "Paid" versus "Other" within the default channel? The current solution was advised to create a channel group that the client has to then tick on overtime they want to see this data with the correct labeling. They would prefer to see it in the default. Is it just a matter of going into the *default channel, choosing the "Paid" option, and then specifying the source/medium that contains Facebook, CPC, or referral to be categorized under this channel? Or is it something else? *Aware that changes to the Default Channel are permanent changes and will change how new traffic is classified. 2. In Google Acquisition > Overview > Referral, the clients website is showing up as a referring domain, both the TLD and the subdomain. My understanding is that it should actually be reporting under the "Direct" channel. How do I correct this? Is it just a matter of updating the Direct channel to include those domains? Or do I need to update the settings? The domain's www. http: all 301 redirect to their https://domain.com and https://subdomain.domain.com. Within settings it has been specified as www.domain.com and URL is http:// - also noticed that Bot Filtering has not been checked, assuming this could mess up the analytic data if not define? Do you know? 3. Audience segmentation > The client wants to be able to define it's audience by shopping intent and informational intent. Is there a clear way to do this, for example, by keywords used, e.g. buy, product name, entry (shopping intent), versus e.g. non-purchase intent, entry to the blog, length of time on site (info intent). Would be happy to have a conversation about the last question, since I'm conscious that there are probably multiple ways to define this - thanks. To the group, thank you for readying my questions and helping me with these solutions - your time is appreciated and valued. Sincerely, Amanda
Search Behavior | | AmandaValle.Digital0 -
How does Google treat significant content changes to web pages and how should I flag them as such?
I have several pages (~30) that I have plans to overhaul. The URLs will be identical and the theme of the content will be the same (still talking about the same widgets, using the same language) but I will be adding a lot more useful information for users, specifically including things that I think will help with my fairly high bounce rate on these pages. I believe the changes will be significant enough for Google to notice, I was wondering if it goes "this is basically a new page now, I will treat it as such and rank accordingly" or does it go "well this content was rubbish last time I checked so it is probably still not great". My second question is, is there a way I can get Google to specifically crawl a page it already knows about with fresh eyes? I know in the Search Console I can ask Google to index new pages, and I've experimented with if I can ask it to crawl a page I know Google knows (it allows me to) but I couldn't see any evidence of it doing anything with that index. Some background The reason I'm doing this is because I noticed when these pages first ranked, they did very well (almost all first / second page for the terms I wanted). After about two weeks I've noticed them sliding down. It doesn't look like the competition is getting any better so my running theory is they ranked well to begin with because they are well linked internally and the content is good/relevant and one of the main things negatively impacting me (that google couldn't know at the time) is bounce rate.
Search Behavior | | tosbourn0 -
Google Index Issue - Indexing pages that don't exhist
Hi All, I have noticed a weird issue when performing a search on Google to show me all the pages it is indexing of our site. site:www.one2create.co.uk It brings up most of our website pages but then is also brings up a few HTTPS urls (our site has not been converted to HTTPS yet) but also the URL path, Title, and Meta Description are from one of our clients websites (an Automotive Job site). When clicked they take you to a generic 404 server error page, not our branded 404 page. The site that it has taken the url, title and meta description from is on a different server completely so I don't see how it has even managed to get that information and linked it to our site? Has anyone seen anything like this before? And what is the best way to fix it? We have asked Google to re-index the site but still no luck.
Search Behavior | | Jvickery0 -
Setting up Google Analytics
Hello, I will try to explain what I want and I am not sure if that is possible. Firstly I want to set up my Google Analytics that I would know where people come from and how many of them click on Google Ads. For example:
Search Behavior | | FCRMediaLietuva
Facebook > 2% of them click on ads.
Google > 3% of them click on ads.
Direct > 6% of them click on ads.Or whatever the results are. Secondly I would like to take people coming from facebook and divide them into age groups. For example: 100 ad clicks from facebook.
25-34: 9 clicks (9% of total facebook clicks, 2% of total ad clicks)
18-24: 7 clicks (.....
35-44: ... and so on Thirdly I would like to know which group use the adblocker the most.
Any other stuff that would be interesting if working with adsense? I believe that this would help me working with my target audience the best on facebook. Should this be set as goals? Sorry I am not an expert of Google Analytics 🙂 Thanks for the help.0 -
& And + symbols - How does Google read these?
How does/can Google read the plus and ampersand symbols? For instance if I optimise a webpage for 'black & white football' and another page for 'black + white football' would there be any difference in ranking position? Does Google take notice of such symbols or will it only pick up on the keywords 'black white football'?
Search Behavior | | Adam_SEO_Learning0 -
Why do all traffic curves show a "saw tooth" pattern in Google Analytics
Greetings Mozzers This sounds like a dumb question, but it's bothering me just the same and I would like to think what the fine community of SEO experts at MOZ thinks I have taken a look at the traffic curve for about 20 different sites in very different industries (home improvement, wedding party supplies, pet feeding systems) and it seems to me that they all show a saw tooth pattern, more or less like the one below.
Search Behavior | | Masoko-T0 -
Google button +1 ( SEO point-of-view )
Hello Folks, First of all, I want to start by: this is a "discussion" topic, which theres no right or wrong answer. I would love to hear from everyone your toughts about the GOOGLE +1 BUTTON , for the SEO point-of-view indeed. I assume that I did not add it to my websites yet, theres some reasons why. You guys added it? How is your audience behaviors against the button, they often click on it? It changed anything in your ranks, after they clicked on it? Thanks in advance.
Search Behavior | | augustos0 -
Changing Site Structure Drastically
Howdy Guys, We are in the process of changing our sites structure dramatically, at the moment this is how an internal page / URL reads: Www.mydomainname.co.uk/ww.sys/pagename We will he changing our site over to wordpress very shortly and will have the correct permalinks in place. We are scared it's going to hurt our rankings as we are in the top 6 for a highly competitive keyword at the moment - the bouns is our domain name is 11yrs old and we have a PR of 4. We have setup all the 301s in web.configuration file just wondering if any of you have made a dramatic change like this and been dropped off the rankings.....
Search Behavior | | ScottBaxterWW0