links over the years could be the reason for their site falling in SERPs. The message from Google is loud and clear: There is more to come. And the ball is in your court now, as to how you will identify and deal with those 'unnatural' or bad links. The Best Way Forward: Backlinks Check You have to take up the mammoth task of a backlink audit to see where are the toxic links coming in from and how you can get rid of them. Analyzing your link profile can be a time taking and tedious task, but you will have to do it -- the sooner the better. Bad links may include: Links coming in from poor quality/spammy sites Disproportionate anchor text links Links from blog networks Links from paid posts Links from dead & rotting directories Links from irrelevant & 'untrustworthy' sites A great way to spot an unnatural link profile is to compare your site with your competitors . A thorough comparison will let you know of the major differences between their link profile and yours. To identify the 'unnaturalness' of your back links profile you will have to see: Site-wide links Anchor Text Distribution Link Networks Blog Links Blog Comments/Forum Links Article Directories links Web Directories links Footer Links Whether you have been hit by the Penguin or have been warned by Google for having unnatural links, you will have to analyze the backlinks mentioned above and make comparative analysis with your top five competitors (at