The topic of creating a new site versus fixing your old site after being penalized is not new. Even Google told us that sometimes it makes sense to start new versus fixing an older site. But here is John Mueller telling one webmaster that his current site is not good enough and he needs to start fresh.

In a Google Webmaster Help thread John wrote, “While it may be a bit harsh, I’d recommend taking your content and starting over with a new site.”

Here is the full message:

Here are some older stories on the topic:

Got A Google Penalty? Should You Start A New Site?
Google Penalties Might Follow You To A New Domain Name
Can You Redirect A Google Penalty? Probably.
Google: You Don’t Want To Dig Yourself Out Of A Hole
Google: Can’t Recover From Penguin? Start A New Site
Google Penalties Might Follow You To A New Domain Name
Google: Severe Enough Penalty, Delete All Of These Old Sites
Most SEOs Will Clean Their Site Versus Start a New Site After Being Penalized

It is never nice to hear this from Google but sometimes you need to be told the truth.

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.