Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Backlinks From Press Releases - Should I Disavow Them?
-
About 2 months ago, I published a press release through PRWEB with a link back to my website of course.
Now it must have been one of those morning where the coffee wasn't strong enough as my website already has a Penguin penalty I'm trying to get lifted. The intent wasn't to spam the web but rather to gain some traction in the business hosting world.
Like I've said, the coffee must've been too weak that morning as it didn't even cross my mind to see if I could "nofollow" the links in the press release. I just hit the submit button...
As I'm in the process of submitting a disavow links request to Google, I'm wondering if I should include the URLs to copies of those press releases?
I mean, there's no way I can find all those links as it was submitted not long ago. Google and link tools will keep discovering other copies of the PR for months to come probably.
-
You can remove the links from PR Web press releases, even after publication. No need to disavow unless they have been picked up by other sites and do-followed.
That said, I seriously doubt they can get you into trouble...unless they are part of a sustained pattern of misconduct, say dozens or hundreds of press releases from spammy press release sites (not PR Web, which is reputable.) Your backlinks from PR Web may even be helping.
There is much confusion on this subject. Two general and casual remarks Matt Cutts made years apart have been taken out of context and widely misinterpreted. The conventional wisdom seems to be that all backlinks from all press releases are always and everywhere useless or harmful.
This suffers from the defect of being untrue.
And it's s just as silly as saying:
"All directory listings are useless -- or harmful."
or
"All guest blogging is useless -- or harmful."
or
"All infogrpahics are useless -- or harmful."
Life is complicated. Context is everything.
And much depends on your overall link portfolio.
-
If they are spammy, anchor-text rich links then you should disavow them with the rest of your links. If the press release is being syndicated to other sites, it may be worth disavowing those as well, especially if they are low quality sites.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
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
-
DA not increased as backlinks generated...
Hi,
Link Building | | p4pakao
I would like to discuss my issue as my site's some backlinks are generated but DA is still there. Can anyone make me understand the reason?0 -
Are Sidebar Backlinks worth for SEO?
Hello! Let's use the following example: I have a blog (let's call it Blog A) and I find another blog in the same niche (this will be Blog B) that has higher DA and PA than mine. Will Google penalize me if the Blog B puts a link to my blog in their sidebar? Remember, the Blog A and Blog B are from the same niche. I ask this because Google says that links on sidebars appears in every page and in some pages the link may be useless. But if both blogs are from the same niche, there won't be pages where the links will be from different themes and with less relevance. So, is my thought correct: we can use sidebar links without caring about penalization ONLY if the blogs are from the same niche? Thanks in advance!
Link Building | | btqkelvin0 -
Press releases and duplicate content
Hi Mozzers, What does Google think about a press release, appearing on lots of websites (relevant websites) as part of a link building campaign. Does the fact that this press release content is duplicated across lots of sites have a negative impact? Thanks in advance
Link Building | | A_Q0 -
How to classify backlinks types
HI GUYS， I don't know how to classify backlinks types. Any kind of software can process those backlinks? Thank you.
Link Building | | primomc0 -
Mat Release SEO Impact
How do Mat Releases affect SEO? Does google recognize that your are syndicating duplicate content even if the content is being syndicated across top media outlets? Do these back links still carry any authority or can we even be penalized for the duplicate content? I came across mat releases here: http://matrelease.com/ An example of article syndication outlets: Guaranteed Placement on 800+ Media Sites. Generate guaranteed article placement on more than 800 respected online media outlets. Our digital distribution network includes: The LA Times; The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (JS Online); Las Vegas Review Journal; Hearst media sites for the San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle and Connecticut Post and others; local TV news affiliate sites from ABC, CBS, FOX and others; and hundreds more trusted sites.
Link Building | | bloomnation0 -
How to get BackLinks?
What is the best site to get backlinks ? Not for free, i mean a paid premium services . I think i need backlinks for the authority of my sites. My sites are indexed, but when i search for different keywords on google, i find them on page 5-7 . I need to see them on page 1-2 . But my site's authority is : 1 .
Link Building | | vende123450 -
How good is a backlink that's in the footer
Hello, The strongest site in our industry (according to domain authority and excluding wikipedia) said that they would put a sitewide link to us in their footer. We're good friends with them. It would be right next to the copyright. Our site is nlpca (dot) com The partner site is nlpu (dot) com The link will say something like "More NLP Training" with the "NLP" as the link. We're targeting the keyword "NLP" How much will this move us up for the keyword "NLP"? Right now we're on the 3rd page for that term. I also want to make sure that it's a white hat move. Thanks!
Link Building | | BobGW0
