WordPress SEO Spam Links - Japanese Keyword Hack

Even in 2022, the so-called Japanese Keyword Hack is still widespread.

As a symptom of a WordPress hack, Japanese (Chinese) pages are auto-generated and placed in the search results, sometimes submitted to Google by the thousands via likewise compromised sitemaps.

If the SEO spam persists for longer, it can lead to significant ranking losses. We help you get the problem back under control quickly.

Track Down SEO Spam URLs - Analyze Japanese SERPs

SERP = Search Engine Result Page

A Google search for site:example.com returns all pages Google has in its search index for a domain.
Except for large news portals or online shops, the total number of indexed pages is usually in the double or triple digits. An SEO spam attack can easily generate many thousands of new pages. And it is not only new pages - existing ones are flooded with Japanese keyword spam as well.

Attention: In WordPress, SEO spam can also appear in the form of spam posts. So check the post overview to see whether any new posts have been created.

Fixing the Japanese Keyword Hack

After the hack has been cleaned up and the website has been secured when dealing with the Japanese Keyword Hack, the following steps are then required to remove the SEO spam from the titles and descriptions in the search results:

• Make sure (e.g. via .htaccess) that all newly created spam pages return the status code 410 - Gone when accessed. This signals to Google that the respective page has been removed and will not return. As a result, the URL disappears from the search index more quickly.
• Add the website to Google Search Console.
  • Check under Settings -> Users and Permissions, whether there are any new/unwanted users in Google Search Console - remove them.
  • Submit a spam-free sitemap to Google (e.g. from Yoast or Rank Math).
  • Request reindexing of the homepage and the most important subpages.

After 1-2 days, the meta tags of the existing pages should have returned to normal.

It can take a few weeks until all Japanese characters are removed from the search index. However, this is not a major issue, because regular searchers will no longer be confronted with it once the meta tags of all intended subpages (according to the sitemap) are intact again.

Full-Service WordPress Hack Bereinigung - 249 €
We take care of all the work required after a hacker attack. In addition to removing WordPress SEO spam, this includes cleaning up the search results as well.

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