Data-Driven SEO Expert Seeking Permanent Role

I have full permission to publish this case study and the site owner won’t mind me sharing with you that the volume of toxic backlinks was the worst case scenario I have ever worked with in my career. There were over 720 referring domains, however a lot of domains had hundreds of URLs apiece which means the total of toxic backlinks were several thousand.

Bearing in mind this was in the era of reduced and delayed Google support timescales during the pandemic.

Let’s start in June 2021 in the pre-penalty golden hour. The domain was thriving with 48,643 keyword positions across Google Search. Visibility was strong, with 367 keywords in the top 3, 1,276 in positions 4–10, and an expanding long-tail that showed authority and breadth. A solid performance by any SEO metric.

Then the penalty hit, and instantly overnight. By August 2021, that keyword visibility crashed by over 61%, plummeting to 18,862 tracked keywords. Top 3 rankings fell to 236, the 4–10 pack shrank by 40%, and anything resembling reach or SERP dominance vanished. Zero SERP features, a gutted mid-funnel, and a backlink profile flagged across major tools. The impact was not just significant, it was commercially devastating.

Semrush CSV Spreadsheet Extraction: Tens of Thousands of Spam Signals

11,384 URLs. I’m really proud of how my curious brain and hours of hands-on analysis uncovered issues that automated tools and internal teams overlooked – or didn’t laterally consider more beyond a SEMrush backlink spam alert. Never ignore the importance of thoroughly vetting every single element of your content, including external backlinks to a content piece which includes images and their metadata. Be wise that they could inadvertently trip Search Engine spam filters when at scale 11,384 times.

I was hired by BBNtimes to resolve a Google Manual Penalty. In the heart of the pandemic world of internet traffic volumes and news sources, ad revenue meant the rise, or fall, of any online business. A sharp decline in Search traffic, SEO rankings and company turnover prompted the owner to hire me as a keen (and underpaid) freelancer.

When disavow files failed, lateral thinking began: SEMrush spam flags revealed deeper hidden issues

Passion consumed, me, no one in their internal or external teams could solve this, several disavows has d been uploaded, and every reconsideration request was denied. I spotted a very interesting trend by tracking data manually – that tools couldn’t pick up, and the trend amazed me.

Having access to the client’s SEO Toolset, it seemed clear whys the manual penalty was put into place by Google because of the high indicators in Semrush spam data flags. I wondered “Was there was some metadata embedded in an image from 2021 which contained some kind of spam indicator”?

Attention Digital Agencies and In-House Teams: I’m immediately available for a permanent positions including aspects as a Head of SEO or Data Performance Analyst. Based in Somerset, UK (hybrid options welcome) or fully remote worldwide.

The unknown SEO risks of 2021 image metadata and black hat SEO

What 2021 technology do you think was behind this? I didn’t know, and I still don’t know, but I did know what the SEO recovery direction would take.

Exploring image metadata, cloaking and spam-spreading theories

I was exploring a concept “… maybe there is such a thing as including or embedding a link into an image which goes to a different website, something like a doorway or a cloak?”. 

“Is it actually possible to have a URL hidden in there with the technology available in 2021?”

What I discovered in 2025 using LLM and AI tools

Today, 2025 research has been helped with LLMs, my AI agent shared that whilst the technology behind embedded metadata is metadata based, which I already understood. Images often carry hidden metadata, known as EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) data, which can include normal details like the camera model, location coordinates, and timestamps.

Beyond these typical details, custom metadata fields can be added, sometimes unintentionally or maliciously.

The household garage image that triggered penalties

I really did feel that the image in question contained hidden spam signals or markers that triggered Google’s manual penalty. Especially as my data analysis uncovered in Google Search that this innocent looking household garage door photograph was masking a nefarious agenda.

In essence, this article – with the image – was shared thousands of times across the internet, spreading these imbibed signals so repetitively, it triggered Google’s spam filters.

While you can’t embed a clickable link directly into an image file itself in a standard way, there are techniques that can create similar effects. For example, an image on a webpage can be wrapped in an HTML hyperlink, making the entire image a clickable link that leads to another site. This method is commonly used in advertising or for navigation purposes.

As for hidden or cloaked links, there are more nefarious techniques that can involve steganography, the practice of hiding information within an image. However, such hidden links wouldn’t be directly clickable but could potentially be extracted by malicious scripts or used to signal something to search engines or other systems.

From an SEO perspective, Google’s algorithms and manual reviewers are quite adept at detecting these types of manipulations, and such tactics can easily result in penalties. It’s always best to keep things transparent and avoid any techniques that could be interpreted as cloaking or doorway tactics.

While a direct URL embedded in an image file isn’t standard practice, the concept of using images as hidden conduits for links or signals is theoretically possible, though not recommended or effective for long-term SEO health.

How cloaking and keyword spam were finally uncovered

This kind of embedded spam indicator could be anything from hidden keywords, cloaking attempts, or other manipulative signals that automated tools might overlook but human reviewers or advanced algorithms can catch.

Fast forward to April 2025 and this domain isn’t just recovered. It’s absolutely flying.

The client is now sitting on a staggering 92,098 total keyword rankings, almost double the pre-penalty visibility, and a 388% increase from the crash.

The Top 3 positions have exploded to 1,382 — that’s a 485% increase from the lowest point and nearly four times the 2021 peak. SERP Features? You’ve gone from zero to 5,301, slotting into featured snippets, FAQs, People Also Ask, and beyond.

This is what happens when you combine forensic fervour with technical SEO curiosity. A manual penalty isn’t feared; it’s taken on as a personal challenge. The trumpet? Fully earned. The chart? Case study-worthy. The domain? Dominating. I didn’t just lift the domain out of penalty. I drop kicked it into a flagship SEO success story.

After years of delivering exceptional results for freelance clients, I’m pivoting away from the uncertain freelance model to bring my proven expertise to a forward-thinking company on a permanent basis.